Fifth graders read the story of "Katie's Trunk". They identify the traits of integrity and fairness in the characters John Warren and Katie. Students explore how people can experience the same event but interpret it differently. They...

Students explore American culture by reading classic literature in class. In this African-American history lesson, students read the story Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree while identifying the work and contributions of the real life...

Second graders review the process of plant reproduction and the role of seeds in that process. The students dissect a seed, analyze their finds, collect and record data, and make predictions about seed germination and plant growth.

Young scholars take notes and summarize information. In this communication lesson, students summarize information by taking notes using the various methods that their instructor presents to them.

Students view and read portions of John F. Kennedy's Cuban Missile Crisis speech from October 22, 1962. Later in the year, students recall what they remember about the speech and use a Venn Diagram to compare it to Patrick Henry's...

Students answer questions about families and what they do together. Students discuss different types of families and draw a picture of their family, discussing similarities and differences in the pictures and in families in general.

Students read several fictional pieces which examine issues of urbanization and rural cultures. They discuss how the place a person lives affects the kind of person they become.

Fifth graders brainstorm known features of science fiction books and titles read. They pair up and discuss the possible physical characteristics fo a creature that could appear fron an excerpt of SCI-FI TALES.

First graders listen to and discuss historical fiction and bigraphies from the early American time period. They role-play, draw, write stories and dress up to re-create events from these historical characters.

Third graders identify words that are related with 80% accuracy. Given a list of four vocabulary words, 3rd graders identify specific relationships between three of the four words. They also identify which of the four words are not...

Sixth graders investigate tall tales as a literary genre. They listen to a number of tall tales to discover how exaggeration is used as a story element. They write and publish a tall tale using word processing software. They illustrate...

Students engage in a reading activity to learn about the Appalachia Mountains. The use of literature is important to provide context for the geography lesson. This lesson is strong because it allows the teacher to teach across the...

Fourth graders investigate the early explorers of New York state. They identify their country of origin, reason for exploration, and the results. They produce a PowerPoint based on their results.

Students write a story using their journey to school as the setting. In groups, they discuss their experiences and browse through books to get ideas for their story. They practice using a thesaurus to find new verbs or adjectives they...

Students conduct research and create an eponym dictionary. They use their imaginations to create their own monster. They have a Monster Mash day to show off their creations.

Students read and analyze the novel, The Prince and the Pauper. They examine character development, discuss opinions using text, and develop and present a slide show demonstrating the development of a character from the beginning to the...

Young scholars research, brainstorm and analyze the events that lead up to the Revolutionary War. They critique a piece of artwork depicting a scene from the Revolutionary War. Each major battle is plotted on a map to show a visual...

Creating a good main character is a must when writing a creative narrative or novel. Elementary aged writers create main characters for the novel they are writing. They first use themselves as a models, then create a character as a...

Cyber Dewey? Dewey Made Fun? Do the Dewey Game? After a librarian-led tour of the school library and an explanation of the Dewey Decimal System, class members use the Internet to access MAGNOLIA, a site with resources devoted to library...

Third graders pair up with a partner via an online classroom. They analyze half of the story "Enemy Pie" and communicate with their online peer to predict the outcome of the story.

Students watch the movie Jane Eyre and complete a viewing log. They take a test on their findings.

Audience, novel, plot, style. Young readers are asked to match words associated with literature to the provided definitions. Might be fun to use as part of a literature review contest.

Learners read several poems related to the life and culture of the Appalachia region. They are introduced to the poetic forms of simile, alliteration and onomatopoeia and respond to the poems through journal entries and poetry of their own.

Sixth graders demonstrate the ability to process and evaluate content from a variety of sources and apply comprehension skills to the material read. They organize information for practical use and design and develop an informational...