Fourth graders create journals with explicit descriptions of objects found on the school yard.  In this descriptive writing lesson, 4th graders read some of Lewis and Clark's journal entries before they explore the school yard, then...

Students conduct interviews. For this interviewing lesson, students read an interview of Pam Munoz Ryan to see where she got her ideas from in her story.  They interview someone and create a scrapbook to show details of the...

Students read, analyze, and solve a mystery using problem-solving skills. They explore the History Detective website, discuss the difference between clues and red herrings, complete a dot-to-dot sheet, take notes in a detective...

Students explore the visual information a diorama artist provides by thinking of all the details for the background of a location described by their teacher. They investigate diorama artists and their importance in creating the illusion...

Learners use Web technology to access immigration history and develop an understanding of the concept of immigration. Then they develop oral history writing skills, including note-taking and conducting an interview and read for detail....

Students critique the transition of "Holes" from a novel to screenplay and consider how the details in a book are brought to life in a movie. They then choose a scene in a book and transform it into an original script after brainstorming...

Third graders write a thank-you note and a formal letter of request that included relevant information, such as a return address, date, inside address, proper salutation, body, closing, and signature. They write an imaginary letter to...

Students create stories using only pictures.  In this visual storytelling lesson, students read Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie de Paola and analyze the wordless story.  Students create new text for the book by writing on...

Students assess the ways in which editorial cartoons, both current and historic, offer insight into events that shape our world. They create a poster that includes a current editorial cartoon and their explanation of the details of the...

High schoolers analyze the American Bill of Rights, compare it to the English Bill of Rights and note the differences in an essay. They access websites imbedded in this plan to do their research, then present their findings to the class.

Fifth graders give presentations on colonial research. The others take notes on the presentations. They play a card game which helps them review content. They take a summative assessment and present their research notebooks.

Students describe places using language that is as vivid as possible. They will examine the writer's craft in describing a place by reading and discussing "Resurrecting the Miner's World." They will then revise their descriptive pieces...

Students are introduced to news writing being a concise, factual, and informative type of writing. They assess that publishing an article in a newspaper style utilizes a word processing program. Each student researches the Titanic and...

Students study the nature of hurricanes and examine in detail the effect of Hurricane Georges upon the Dominican Republic. They explain the way in which physical systems (e.g., a hurricane) can affect human systems (e.g., the life of a...

In this adjective games worksheet, students use adjective wheels, practice spelling adjectives, combine roots words to create an adjective, and explain how different objects using adjectives. Teachers are given detailed information on...

Students investigate a city in England by analyzing images on the web. For this listening comprehension lesson, students practice remembering details after hearing an audio tape about a city in England called Dorset. Students discuss...

Students compose business letters. In this writing skills lesson, students use the business letter format as they note cause and effect relationships between the weight epidemic in the United States and changing menus in American...

Students express themselves through art and writing at the same time in this lesson plan. Students create paper doll versions of themselves. Students write a biography of their dolls.

Students consider the role of Sacagawea as part of the Corps of Discovery. In this Lewis and Clark expedition lesson, students discover details about Sacagawea's wampum belt and then create their own wampum belts using their computer and...

Students explore different news angles relating to a local sporting event, then create a detailed treatment of the story prior to reporting it.

Learners discuss superheroes, focusing first on the details of creating the character of Batman. They work in small groups to develop superheroes for the 1990s, and write stories or cartoons about their superhero's adventures on their own.

Students investigate the details of the October 27, 1999 assassinations in Armenia's Parliament - by developing a series of questions related to the causes of the attack, the effects on national and international scales.

Fifth graders connect reasons for coming to the New World with identity. The create identities and place them in one of three settled regions. They refer to prior study notes in their Colonial Notebooks to establish their identities.

Students research the experiences of specific immigrant groups in the United States. Letters are written from imaginary immigrants to relatives in their countries of origin, including historically accurate details.