Students examine and discuss animal adaptation. They read an article about snakes, conduct research on ways animals adapt, develop a diagram, and write a short story written from the perspective of the animal they researched.

Students learn how other countries celebrate Christmas. In this Christmas lesson, students read a story about Christmas celebrations in other countries, discuss how they differ from U.S. celebrations, color pictures of traditional...

Students discover the history of the Oklahoma Territory and what foods cowboys used to eat while on the move.  In this culinary lesson, students read the ingredients to Oklahoma Stone Soup and prepare them in a crock pot over the...

Pupils practice summarization by creating a story map. After reading Freckle Juice, students working in groups, create a story map of the main events of the story. Groups use their story maps to summarize a chapter of the story and...

Students read and discuss the book, Who Am I Without Him? In this fluency lesson, students practice reading with expression and making text to self connections. Students practice writing expressively in their journals.

Learners read the assigned pages in a textbook and answer the associated questions. They write a paper based on the creationist view of origin of the Neanderthal man. They determine what is meant by a land bridge.

Young scholars write their own books based on a life experience that they have had. In this life experiences lesson plan, students practice the writing process along with illustrating their book.

Learners are introduced to the characteristics of fables and folktales. In groups, they read and identify the various elements in the stories they read from around the world. For each story, they analyze the setting and the various...

Students complete close reading activities to analyze Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome. In this literary analysis lesson, students analyze key quotations from Ethan Frome and respond to contemporary reviews of the text. Students use textual...

Students read The Tell Tale Heart and practice critical analysis while reflecting on its underlying meanings. In this reading lesson, students make predictions, monitor their own comprehension and adjust their reading accordingly....

Young scholars investigate family philanthropy. For this family philanthropy lesson, students review vocabulary such as community, family, service, volunteer, tradition, and caring. They listen to Valerie Flournoy's, The Patchwork Quilt....

Sixth graders begin reading "The Lotus Seed" before determining a plant that is a representative of their country or region. They illustrate the plant and write sentences about it and locate the region on a map. Finally, they make a...

Young scholars write a script, planning and recording improvisations based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature and history.

Looking for a great lesson plan on how to write a biography? Here, middle schoolers draw from magazine articles, novels, historical figures, and current events to choose a person, or character to write about in a biography. They follow a...

Learners read Spelldown, by Becky Mushko and consider how it portrays the Appalachian community. They define and discuss vocabulary presented in the story and write a comparison/contrast paper analyzing two of the story's characters. The...

Rather than who done it, the mystery literary detectives have to solve as they examine the evidence found in Edgar Allan Poe's famous "The Tell-Tale Heart" is why did he do it?

Did you know that modern Chinese literature “grew from the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud”? Designed for a world literature class, seniors are introduced to “One Evening in the Rainy Season,” Shi Zhecun’s stream of...

Young historians study civilian Arkansas during the Civil War. They look at the many challenges they faced to keep their homes in order while the men were at war. Learners hear stories of bands of outlaws who ravaged the state during...

Using the book Bandits, Bears, and Backaches, learners develop an understanding of the pre-history of Arkansas. They follow the trail ofthe giants mastodons and paleo Indians who lived there long ago. The emphasis on this lesson is on...

What skills do storytellers employ to bring to life the characters and events in their tales? After listening to a recording of a Haitian folk tale, class members consider how tone of voice, pace, and gestures can be used to enliven a...

If you really want to know, this is a terrific lesson all about narratives, which is just a fancy way of saying telling stories. And you get to do it without being phony or anything. My favorite part is that you get to read a passage...

Learners practice using a digital camera and identify the various parts. As a class, they review recent vocabulary and signs used in their community. In groups, they take pictures of various items and write complete sentences describing...

Students edit and improve their short stories by examining character description, dialogue, and plot elements. In peer editing groups they correct gramatical and spelling errors. they read aloud their new story drafts.

Second graders write a short story about train track safety and make a train shaped book.