Introduce expository writing to your elementary learners. Young authors write a three-paragraph informational paper using the steps of the writing process. They follow guided lessons to experience each of five steps. Included are tons of...

Direct your class’s attention to the elements that make their community unique. After examining sample travel brochures, groups select something from their community to use as the subject, and then research, create, and publish a...

The details in the new Common Core standard for producing informative/explanatory texts is different from what you have in your current curriculum, and now you are confused on what to do. Keep calm and carry on, because not only does...

Start a lesson on poetic voice with a peer to peer discussion on what characterizes the strength in the voice with which a writer chooses to express himself/herself. In pairs, readers are tasked with reading and creating T-charts for...

Here is a poetry lesson that begins with a free-association activity focused on the word voice. Learners each sit alone for a moment and make sounds that express how they are currently feeling, and then turn to their partners to share...

To celebrate National Poetry Month, young writers focus on the role letter writing has played in the development of poets. They begin by journaling three to five associations to a writing prompt that requires them to identify their...

After reading "The Bullet," a particularly intense chapter in Victor Martinez's Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida, class members listen to the Spanish and the English versions of "Dimelo" by Enrique Iglesias. They then discuss how the...

Students examine the protest by Gallaudet University students concerning the hiring of a new school president. They investigate laws related to protests and present their findings to the class in a multimedia show, oral report, or debate.

Students work with a partner to compile a new movie. They comprehend tat the movie requres a lot of preparation and media releases. Students use one computer, create the serval different materials for their film: A Publisher Flyer...

Students explore images, symbols, and the relationship they establish with their own personal heritage. They discuss Aztec, Inca, and Maya civilizations. Students interview their family about their own personal heritage. Additional cross...

Students chose a topic from the current curriculum to develop a PowerPoint presentation about. They present the PowerPoint in a professional manner which includes the way they are dressed and the way they interact with the audience. Each...

Students explore paper cranes. In this Japan and paper cranes lesson, students discuss Japanese culture and history prior to creating their own paper cranes. 

Young scholars engage in a lesson that is concerned with the creation of music using ostinato patterns. They listen to music composed with these patterns and focus upon compositional techniques. Students examine the pattern with the help...

Explore communication through media by analyzing different advertisements and artwork. Budding artists view videos, websites, plays, and other artistic endeavors while discussing the true meaning of the work with their classmates. They...

Fifth graders answer questions such as: Where does my family come from? What was it like for my ancestors to grow up as America developed? What differences in society were present then? What was similar to today? students conduct...

Sixth grade students mentor third graders to create an "All About Me" presentation in Spanish. They design three slides in PowerPoint and compare their information to their classmates. At the end of the project, each pair presents their...

Young writers identify and generate words using the strategies of phonics on the Making Words computer program. Words are typed instead of having to use tiles or paper. Extension activities such as playing the memory game, drawing...

Bring the Internet and the Renaissance together in this presentation assignment. Middle schoolers give a presentation on the Renaissance, using computers to both research and create the slides. The instructional activity includes a short...

Students explore the concept of design, and identify items in their lives that have been designed. They explore the concept of book design and create and arrange their own page layout.

Sixth graders use Inspiration, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Publisher, digital camera, scanners, and video camera

Students explore the history of Valentine's Day and how paper valentines became a tradition in Victorian times. Using a photo organizer, they select photos using tags. They use a software program to create a special image for their...

For many emerging writers, essays are completed step-by-step. With the help of this lesson, learners will narrow down a topic, develop a thesis statement, develop a preliminary outline, conduct Internet research, and understand the...

Students search the World Wide Web to locate an artistic image that inspires an aural composition. They compose a musical piece using loop-based composition software and use file management and storage techniques to archive project work....

Students examine the use of titles with video. They create a short horror film based on a classic work of literature or other subject area writing. Students use a single camera and a single shot. Using Adobe Premiere Elements, students...