Explore vocabulary in context with emerging readers using Leo Lionni's whimsical story Matthew's Dream, which you can find on YouTube if you don't have it. Kids expand their word base as you pre-teach the...

Learning new vocabulary words is best done in the context of an engaging story like David Kirk's Miss Spider's Tea Party. New readers (or almost-readers) focus on any of 12 new words: conceal, courtesy, demand, descend, dread,...

Anyplace can become a beach! Budding readers explore Faith Ringgold's world of imagination in her book Tar Beach, which can be found on YouTube if you don't have it. What words will budding readers learn? They focus on the following...

Engage your youngsters in basic economics by connecting the terms to dessert and pizza! After a discussion about intermediate goods and natural resources, learners read and connect a pizzeria to economic terms.

Delve into the heart of dramatic dialogue with a unit focused on Oedipus the King by Sophocles. Having completed an online exploration about ancient Greece beforehand, ninth graders read the play's opening lines and analyze how...

Compare and contrast two pieces of literature with this lesson. With the use of a Venn diagram, pupils make connections between literature and real-life situations. They practice skills of surveying a text looking for important details,...

What are the most prominent symbols of the United States? Learn about the bald eagle, the American flag, and the Statue of Liberty in a reading comprehension activity that includes a short passage and five reflective questions.

Learn new words in the context of Kathleen Hague's whimsical alphabet book, Alphabears: An ABC Book (note: you can use these strategies for any text). Get pupils ready by introducing the new words they will...

As you work through Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, try out some or all of the 20 questions and activities included here. Useful for discussion questions, group assignments, or individual projects, this resource covers plot as...

What is the connection between greed and mercantilism? Historians consider this question by analyzing a fairy-tale like story about King Midas from the nineteenth century. The background information and excerpt help pupils understand the...

The United States Civil War forced Northern and Southern societies, as well as the people who made up those societies, to reconstruct their vision of themselves and their identities. A series of video-based web lessons look at the great...

A 32-page instructional pack contains eight lesson plans for use with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Lessons include an examination of the role of superstition in the novel, Twain's use of satire, and a discussion of the...

The first pioneers faced many obstacles on their journey west. Middle schoolers read different historical fiction texts (ideas are provided), make connections, and complete a detailed packet (included). Reading guides, journal ideas, and...

Fourth graders engage in a instructional activity that is about the concept of rounding decimals. They review place value and focus it upon the practice of rounding. Students use 10 base decimal grids or models to help make connections...

Break down the parts of argumentative writing with a critical thinking activity. High schoolers read an article of your (or their choice), and use a graphic organizer to delineate the ways the author structures his or her arguments.

Students make thematic connections and organize their ideas using a Venn Diagram. For this Venn Diagram instructional activity, students compare 3 different stories from a novel and fill in a Venn Diagram. Students then discuss their...

Accompany The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis with this activity worksheet. Spark a discussion about the story's characters' decision making skills while making inferences and allow learners to connect personally by...

“There is no story that is not true.” And Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, uses proverbs (“. . .the palm-oil with which words are eaten”), a compelling tragic hero, and historic events, to engage readers in the truth of his story of...

The next time you read a magazine or watch the news, make note of how many graphs you see because they are everywhere! Here, scholars collect, enter, and graph data using computers. The graphs are then analyzed to aid in discussion of...

The Silk Road connected the European, Middle Eastern, and Asian worlds. It also helped create the modern trade world. An analysis activity makes the importance of this Chinese innovation clear by asking participants to evaluate trades...

Revolution and counterrevolution. Protest and counter-protest. Collaborators and bystanders. The focus of the fifth resource in the Reconstruction Era and Fragility of Democracy series is on the political violence that followed Radical...

First graders complete activities with the story The Great Big Enormous Turnip by Alexel Tolstoy. In this language arts lesson, student view the story as a Cloze passage and work with a partner to fill in the blanks. They check to...

Even animals that are part of the same species have differences. Learners read a passage about white and brown pelicans and compare their features. They recognize that although the birds look very similar, they also have their own unique...