Find key details in books using this note card strategy. Each reader gets six cards with the classic who, what, where, when, why, and how detail prompts. After they read the book, they choose a card and locate a key detail...

If forced to move and give away almost everything you own, what five non-essential things would you take with you?  Prior to reading about Mrs. Bentley in chapter 15 of Dandelion Wine, individuals are asked to respond to this...

Although this is part of a series, lesson plan nine has your class take a break from their close study of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) text to read the firsthand account “Teaching Nepalis to Read, Plant, and...

Focus on complex characters with a lesson from a series that teaches individual skills from the Common Core. Specifically, this resource provides practice with standard RL.9-10.3. Get pupils thinking and talking about characters with the...

How far would your pupils go to be able to have access to books? Revisit Heather Henson and David Small's That Book Woman and challenge class members to take on the role of Cal or the Book Woman. By putting themselves in someone else's...

Old MacDonald had a ... dragon? A shared reading of this funny take on the classic children's song engages beginning readers as they learn about phonemes and alliteration.

Cover Freytag's Triangle and examine Anton Chekhov's "The Bet" in this third lesson plan in a series of fourteen based around short stories. Learners take a quiz and discuss Freytag's triangle. They apply the triangle to "The Bet" and...

Comparing two texts can build a greater understanding of the texts and themes of the works. Take some time to follow the steps here to guide your pupils through the process of composing compare-and-contrast essays.

Let's go to the zoo! Take a pretend trip to the zoo with a lesson plan about animals that live at the zoo. Kids sing, match animals, practice animal sounds, and read about Sammy the Snake's birthday party.

Make note of what readers know, what to know, and have learned during a unit on Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. As class members read the book, they jot down their ideas on a KWHL chart, and consider what they have...

Do you have what it takes to survive in the wilderness? A high-interest reading passage offers practical advice while incorporating vocabulary practice. Follow-up worksheets focus on skills such as defining words, making inferences, and...

Set in Oklahoma in the 1930s, The Grapes of Wrath presents a powerful view of life during the Great Depression. An insightful lesson plan takes a closer look at the characters in John Steinbeck's classic novel, combining the...

Students prepare for a trip to a museum and review the elements of art. In this museum and art lesson, students define the difference between looking at a reproduction of art and an original. Students identify the elements of art in and...

High schoolers explore figurative language. In this Fahrenheit 451 lesson, students read the Bradbury novel. As they read, high schoolers note the simile, metaphor, and personification examples that they encounter.

Students read two stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne and write an essay comparing plots and themes. In this Nathaniel Hawthorne short stories instructional activity, students read "Young Goodman Brown" and "The Minister's Black Veil." After...

Before reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, take part in this thought-provoking, pre-reading activity that invites discussion about the story's theme using universal adages.

Tenth graders examine the role that aesthetics play in the publication of books. In groups, they apply the concept of physical affectation on each reader's experience to literature. They also compare and contrast the varied types of...

Technical and informational writing is the most common type of writing that students will encounter. Using this SMART board activity, teach your 10th graders the four different types of technical writing. They can then practice following...

Who purloined the poodle? Class groups read police reports and theorize whodunnit. The sixth of a ten-lesson series on mysteries.

Students are able to use the library and/or computer lab to research reliable information sources supporting arguments being put forward in the position paper. They are able to find examples of mission statements from various...

Young scholars examine the expressive and descriptive language used in the books "Dr. Xargle's Book of Earthlets" and "Planet of the Robots." In pairs they take notes about each other's physical appearance and conduct interviews,...

Students identify rhyme scheme and meter in a poem and respond to the message of the poem.  In this sonnet rhythm and meter instructional activity, students take notes on a lecture about rhythm and meter in sonnets and work in small...

Students discover pictures are worth a thousand smiles. In this early childhood language arts instructional activity, students use their growing powers of observation and language skills to get to know their classmates.

Learners read The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark and view A Debt to Honor to identify ways that Christians helped the Jewish people during the Holocaust.  For this Holocaust lesson, students discuss...