Introduce young explorers to the music and history of Jamaican culture through game songs and dances. As a bonus, class members get to play simple songs transcribed for the recorder.

The opening chapters of Mark Twain's masterpiece, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, can be daunting for some readers. A reader's theater assignment divides the second chapter of the novel into a seven-role script, allowing...

Upper elementary learners explore and practice identifying poetry in the ABAB rhyming format. In groups, they participate in choral reading of the poem, "The Ballad of Dirty Joe," emphasizing words appropriately and speaking in the...

Students investigate the concept of developing a daily plan. They have discussion about the elements that should be included with a home and school plan. Students draw a picture to depict how one could stay on schedule with a daily plan.

"Once upon a time . . ." Language learners examine the key elements of well-known fairy tales and then craft their own.

Use this lesson to focus on a compare and contrast writing structure in your middle school language arts class. Here, young writers compare and contrast two texts using graphic organizers. They use a double bubble format for their...

Make some sense out of Lewis Carroll's famous nonsense poem "Jabberwocky." After reading through the poem, introduce the word portmanteau and send small groups off to alter the original poem. 

Combine your friendly letter lesson, grammar lesson, and technology lesson with this fun activity! Young writers compose letters to friends, and then convert the text to Webdings font. Their friends then decode the letter based on a key....

This lesson plan is more of a series of tips for you, the teacher, to implement when standardized testing comes around. The strongest component of this guide is that it invites the teacher to reflect on what worked the best, and what...

Aladdin, Disney's Broadway musical comedy, is a magic carpet ride. Prepare your class for a field trip to the show with a study guide that is a treasure trove of activities, cultural connections, and background information.

Fifth graders explore historical fiction. In this genre study lesson, 5th graders go on a text feature scavenger hunt to identify the parts of a historical fiction text. Additionally, students read the book, My Secret War and discuss...

Blue is sad, and red is angry, but why is that? Young artists explore the expression of emotions through art by observing and creating artwork. Starting with a questioning session about images of art, this plan moves into a sculpture...

Take a trip down Pearblossom Highway with this lesson about comparing and contrasting. Using David Hockney's Pearblossom Hwy and another image of the same highway (photograph or other image), students compare and contrast the two...

 Students research people who have contributed to making life better for the disabled.  In this advocacy lesson students enter the names of advocates on cards and divide into groups. Students complete a worksheet...

Write with the senses! Try using art to inspire writers to consider all of the senses. Here, the class is divided in half. Each group looks at one of two images, imagines the senses that would be engaged, and records answers to five...

Encourage your young writers to thoughtfully plan and organize their work. First, model how this is done and vocalize your thought process as you work. Next, create a class list of strategies that they can use during independent writing...

Everyone has different preferences when it comes to food. Kids discuss the foods they like and dislike in a series of activities that include magazine cut-outs, singing a song about cheese, playing a group game, and reading a short story...

Work on shapes and body parts at the same time with a fun set of activities. Kids sing and read about Mr. Shape Head, who has shapes on his face, before making their own Mr. Shape Head.

Ambition is the keyword of a lesson that focuses on the contributions made by famous female artists. Specifically looking at European artists, Luisa Roldan and Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun, scholars examine a piece of their work then...

Your kids can identify the plot sequence of a short story, but what about an informational article? Have them examine the chronological order of events in informational texts with a lesson on the sequence of events. 

Each color holds its own feeling and these feelings are used to describe the four seasons. Youngsters create a color palate based on the four seasons, assigning various colors to each season. They each create four clay tiles, painting...

Learners research Kwanzaa, focusing on the seven principles used in celebration, with an artistic instructional activity. They design their own window books to demonstrate comprehension of the principles and symbols of Kwanzaa...

The first of a three-part series on bullying, this plan has class members present skits about bullying, write and sign an anti-bullying pledge, and complete a service project. For the skit, learners use information from previous lessons...

Identifying themes in literature is the focus of the language arts lesson plan presented here. Learners read short pieces of fiction and practice the skill of identifying the themes present in each one. The bulk of the lesson consists of...