It's hard to imagine that life on Alcatraz could be dull. A series of intriguing lessons take readers through the novel Al Capone Does my Shirts. Pre-reading questions introduce the text and a range of suggestions, from comic strips to...

Movie theaters, shopping malls, television, the Internet ... no matter where people go, they are inundated with advertisements. Scholars discuss the topic of ad awareness using the first of four Admongo lessons about advertising. Pupils...

Betty Botter and Theophilus Thistle provide models for willy writers to wrestle words into tricky tongue twisters. 

Scholars learn about the Hero's Journey as they read Ray Bradbury's "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh." They analyze the story's structure and narrative techniques. Finally, they write summaries of the text's central idea and use their...

To underscore the importance of being informed consumers, kids check out youth consumer magazines and websites and then create their own. Although no detailed plans are included in the resource, it is packed with ideas and suggestions.

How would you use census data from 1880-1900? Here are a set of ways you can incorporate the book Little House on the Prairie and US census data from that time period. Learners will research the validity or the book based on factual...

Listening to poems about feeling lonely and feeling like an outsider set the stage for a group activity that focuses on Stevie Smith's "Not Waving But Drowning." Groups examine the three stanzas of Smith's poem separately and identify in...

"Tone means attitude." Or so says this resource that uses Jordan Pruitt's "One Love" to model for songwriters how to develop an attitude in their lyrics. Class members engage in a number of exercises designed to give them direct and...

Research various types of bridge designs. Your class will be asked to consider what it would be like without bridges while learning about how they work. They will construct a model bridge based on given parameters. They then calculate...

S1 and S2 language learners practice the skills of predicting and scanning as they examine images and read the script of interviews with two young students.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" serves as an exemplar for a mini-lesson on semicolons. Working alone or in small groups, class members first circle all the semicolons in the letter, and then consider how this...

Invite your pupils to create original Greek characters and myths for their characters to star in. Similar to a traditional Greek myth, the story must explain a natural phenomenon, depict a struggle between good and evil characters, and...

What does empathy look like? Encourage your pupils to put themselves in another person's shoes with several writing and discussion activities that relate to a featured short film. Over the course of the instructional activity,...

What makes your pupils happy? Find out with a lesson centered around this theme. Class members come up with things that make them happy and write about them in preparation for quick group project. Learners watch and discuss a short film...

Whether or not you are new to using The Odyssey with your classes, this publisher-produced teaching guide deserves a place in your curriculum library. The packet includes background information, chapter by-chapter summaries, study...

Learners read short paragraphs, summarize the passage in one sentence, and then develop an appropriate title that indicates the main idea of the selection. Part of a series of exercises designed to build literary skills.

Does your class or do individual learners need more practice determining the main idea of a passage of informational text? Here is a instructional activity containing seven exercises that asks kids to read short paragraphs, summarize the...

After reading a story or informational text describing an animal, your class gets creative and collaborative with paint. In groups, they brainstorm all the parts of an animal, they then take turns painting those parts. One child starts...

Kids create a free-form art piece using paper, water-based paints, markers, and imagination. They allow the paints to randomly bleed, mix, and move on the paper, then they look for forms in the organic images. They black-line the shapes...

You want to make a sandwich out of fabric and paper? If so, this art project provides the instructions needed. Learners will use a variety of fabrics and paper to construct a sandwich through collage. Tip: Have leaners describe the...

Learners of any age can make the most out of their pipe cleaners. This art project idea is very simple and yet, it could result in some amazing works of art. They use pipe cleaners, flat styrofoam, straws, pasta, and beads to create...

Put the Romantic Age into context for British Literature classes with a PowerPoint that defines and characterizes this movement in literature, music and art. Notable painters, writers, and musicians are listed, as are key romantic themes...

Sometimes all you need is a quick and easy outdoor art project. Perfect for the end of the school year, this mural project allows kids to make a mess while creating art. They use spray bottles full of paint to "spray" paint a large sheet...

Young or old, the prospect of finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow captures the imagination of us all. Encourage children to explore the possibilities of this interesting myth with a fun and simple creative writing prompt.