Lensey Namioka’s Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear provides an opportunity for young readers to observe how writers bring their characters to life. Each class member selects a character to trace through the novel, recording...

Explore single-gene traits in humans. After viewing a video introducing genetic vocabulary, individuals identify their phenotype and possible genotypes of specific traits. They consider both dominant and recessive traits. This is the...

Here is a lesson which is "flexible," and can operate as an individual or whole class activity. After reading a book of their choosing, with the use of a semantic map, learners identify character traits. They infer how their feelings...

Students brainstorm and discuss essential traits for success. They develop a group list that displays essential traits of the successful classroom and journal about the experience.

Young scholars create a chart with two columns. In one column include good and bad character traits of historical figures in biographies and historical fiction. In the second column include good and bad character traits of current famous...

What makes each one of us unique? Lead your class in this exciting and educational activity as you uncover traits that show how each individual is different from another. Pupils explore facts about DNA technology and predict the...

Consider the riddle of dragon genetics. Young scientists simulate being dragon parents and determining which traits their child will have. Then they learn of a new relative and must determine how they are related using probability and...

Should school and professional teams test athletes for sickle cell trait? Will it protect them by providing knowledge or lead to discrimination by not allowing them to participate in sports? After learning about this genetic disorder,...

Everything is in the genes. Individuals observe 14 different traits of themselves. Using pipe cleaners and beads, the learners create models of a chromosome representing their traits. The class then compares and contrasts everyone's...

Can peas have grandparents? Learn about inherited traits and heredity with a set of activities focused on Mendelian genetics. As your class learns about the process of passing traits along in Punnett squares, they take on the role of...

Young learners examine how different traits could give one organism an advantage over another. In groups, they view two different organisms in different environments. To end the lesson plan, they complete a Venn Diagram on the two...

Young scholars work with a partner to complete an inventory of their traits and compare and discuss their unique qualities. In this biology instructional activity, students determine percentages for the frequency of observed traits of...

Here is a fun resource that your kids will love. While reading the book Because of Winn-Dixie, they analyze the story's main characters by creating an online scrapbook. The purpose is to have them identify character traits and use...

Useful in an Of Mice and Men unit, or in a unit that focuses on descriptive writing, this lesson prompts young authors to impersonate John Steinbeck's writing style in the opening passages of the novel. A Six Trait writing activity...

Host a fishbowl discussion to help your class recognize and articulate the relationship between words and the character traits they describe. They analyze Holocaust survivor testimonies and apply the character traits they observe. No...

Caring, trustworthiness, and responsibility—these are only a few character traits in focus of a lesson based on stories from the Civil War era. Class members explore several influential lives while reading biographies that highlight...

Three apples—green, red, and rotten—exemplify character traits, negative and positive. Following a discussion about the classroom community, scholars complete an apple-themed worksheet that challenges them to read each trait, color it...

How did Mendel know which pea plants would demonstrate certain characteristics? Pupils explore the answer this question, among others, as they complete Punnet squares, research dominant and recessive traits, and explore hereditary...

Build your classroom community with an activity that uses apples to examine oneself and their classmates. Participants draw four large apples on blank paper then exchange them within a small group. Group members write a character trait...

Small groups brainstorm their roles in the community. Then, individually, complete a community roles web worksheet. Peers share their completed product and extend the conversation to include the feelings and character traits that go...

After a read-aloud of the story Goldielocks and the Three Bears, scholars gather into small groups to answer a series of questions. Peers examine the idea of smart decisions and identify three feelings of characters alongside three...

What does your class know about GMOs? Are they savvy to selective breeding? Challenge young minds to engineer the greatest crop of all time using a hands-on genetics unit. Learners discover the good and bad details of selective breeding,...

"A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly." The second lesson in an 11-part unit that accompanies The Twits by Roald Dahl uses poetry to encourage positive character traits. Mrs. Twit has ugly thoughts, but those...

One way to assess improvement in writing is to conduct a district-wide assessment program. This resource details the Wisconsin Dells approach to assessing freshmen 6+1 Traits writing. The format could be adapted to any district or used...