Students create CVC words with picture identification. In this phonics lesson, students look at pictures and come up the correct CVC word that matches. Students will work with their teacher and their peers.

Discover the difference between area and perimeter. Learners are grouped in twos and threes and each group has one advanced/gifted learner to serve as the peer helper. They receive manipulatives to help them determine the area and...

Who do your scholars imagine when they think about the civil rights movement? If only a few faces come to mind, this instructional activity will expand their concepts of the movement's leaders. Learners examine an image of the 1963 March...

Have your learners review what they know about camouflage using this instructional activity. Learners fill out a graphic organizer listing what they know or have questions about. This could be enhanced with the addition of a writing...

Fourth graders go online to critique the organization of student writing. They access the Yahooligans website to view the writing pieces. They utilize a worksheet imbedded in this plan which guides their scoring.

Readers of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings are asked to craft an essay in which they compare how Maya Angelou uses figurative language to depict herself and Mrs. Flowers. 

After completing an evaluation worksheet that asks learners to rate their skills honestly, individuals create an action plan that includes specific steps to improve in these areas.

Choose a side! Pupils watch and read several nonfiction resources about zoos. After gathering their research, they choose a side either for or against closing zoos. Scholars complete KWL charts, anticipation guides, flow charts, and...

Can you put that in writing? Scholars work with a partner to write a practice claim before writing their own claims. After writing their claims, learners share with class using a Concentric Circles activity.

An activity challenges scholars to sort picture cards based on the number of syllables they count as they say the item's name on each card. Depending on how many syllables they count, they place the card in the corresponding box...

Try to match the final sounds in this memory game! Learners place all 24 cards upside down and take turns flipping them to see if the final phonemes match. If they do, remove them; if not, put them back. Partners play until all cards...

Wonderful worksheets and activities complementing six sequential lessons are what you'll find in this unit on folklore. Pupils create folktales using literary devices and included story starters, compare and contrast different...

Practice sight words with an array of fun activities. Kids focus on like, is, my, and it with bingo games, connecting the dots, and tracing activities.

Throughout 10 lessons, fourth graders learn how to plan, organize, write, and edit their own personal narratives. In the beginning, young writers come up with ideas of personal experiences and the emotions linked with those experiences....

Introduce young learners to the idea of disabilities and making friends with children who are different than they are. Using Don't Call Me Special - A First Look at Disability by Pat Thomas, learners are guided through the new...

How can negative thoughts affect your life? Learn about the ways you think about yourself can define your personality, and how self control can be the answer to higher self esteem.

After researching an issue introduced in Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America, writers develop an original thesis statement and craft an analytic essay using evidence collected in their research.

What are the effects of competition in an academic environment? The competition between the main characters in A Separate Peace motivates a series of activities that asks readers to take a stance on competition, and then to develop a...

Making inferences and drawing conclusions is a key component to successful active reading. Encourage your class to use context clues and prior knowledge to infer different elements of a story, including the setting, plot, and character...

As part of their study of Things Fall Apart, class members conduct a close reading of a section of Chinua Achebe's essay, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Jigsaw groups then compare the voice in the essay...

Tone and mood are easy to use interchangeably—and yet they are very different elements of literature. Help middle schoolers discern between the way a speaker feels about his or her subject and the way the audience is meant to feel with a...

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...

Growing up within a culture leaves a lot of ideas and values unspoken. Take a closer look at the cultures in which your learners live with a discussion activity that addresses cultural identity and traits of those living within the...

Saturn's rings are made of dust, ice, and solid chunks of material. Individuals use spectrographs in this final installment of 22 lessons to determine the atmospheric elements. They analyze spectrums from Titan's atmosphere and...