Students explore how to summarize a text while reading. They discuss what it means to summarize. Students read a non-fiction text and practice summarizing the pages they read. They highlight the main ideas and important details within...

Middle schoolers explore the culture of classical Greece by examining The Statue of Zeus at Olympia. In this Seven Wonders of the World lesson, students will expand their understanding of Greek mythology, the Olympics and the Greek...

Eighth graders research the career of Arctic transportation. In this arctic transportation lesson, 8th graders read a book about Arctic truck travel and review the historical aspects of transporting goods in the Arctic. Students review...

Students explore the Holocaust through the eyes of survivors. In this Holocaust lesson plan, students talk with Holocaust survivors and create timelines that feature their stories.

First graders identify words associated with the -ar sound. They read sentences and compose a story that include words with the -ar sound. The assessment portion of lesson involves students in spelling words with the -ar pattern.

First graders identify words with the "sh" pattern. They participate in phonemic awareness, decoding, blending, spelling patterns, and dictation exercises. As the assessment portion of the instructional activity, they may write a story...

Young scholars explore the conditions of life in Zimbabwe. In this global studies lesson, students research selected websites to discover information about the people, culture, and statistical information of Zimbabwe.

Students study the lives of homeless children who rode the Orphan Train by reading first person essays of the children's experiences. They examine what rights were denied to the homeless children during the late 1800's and decide whether...

Learners practice recognizing the elements needed to produce a piece of creative writing and become aware of those elements in their own original pieces of writings. In groups, they creatively write a new story utilizing all the major...

Students compare and contrast creation stories.  In this Bible studies lesson, students work in groups to read and summarize creation myths and share with their peers.  The class goes on to create a chart to compare and...

Learners use old "B-Movies" as a springboard to discuss and analyze traditional plot structures. They form groups and make their own 'movie' to demonstrate their knowledge.

Middle schoolers work on summarizing a story, and they determine if it is a legend, a myth, or a fable. Working in groups to read and summarize stories, they then list evidence whether the tale is a myth, fable, or...

Help readers learn to create their own open-ended questions for any text you are working with. Using Bloom's Taxonomy, learners begin on the lower levels and work their way up to form questions that focus on synthesis instead of simple...

Middle schoolers write an editorial giving an opinion of whether or not Quetzalcoatl has arrived and if so, what the Aztecs should do.  They discuss whether or not they believe Quetzalcoatl is a god or a man, and use an Editorial...

Elementary schoolers explore the concept of a memoir. The teacher tells a story from his/her childhood as an example of what a memoir is; a written account of one's past. The kids are asked to pretend that they are now adults, and are...

Sarah Stewart’s The Gardener and Food from Farms by Nancy Dickmann display the importance of community farms. After reading these short picture books, class members draw connections between farms and the food we eat each day. As a...

Here is an inventive, and educationally rich way to conduct a literature study of the book, The Midwife's Apprentice. After the book has been read, learners get into three groups. One group is assigned the task of being the writers....

First graders explore vowels and consonants by participating in a flash card activity. In this phonetics lesson, 1st graders discuss the difference between short and long vowels and identify them within a story told to them by their...

Students read stories. In this culture lesson, students read stories from different regions around the world. Students look for each region on the map and listen for interesting cultural details in the story. Students then discuss the...

Students goal is to achieve summarization. They read familiar words and decode words at their reading level. They summarize articles through the use of an outline in order ot improve reading comprehension. Students complete a basic...

Students complete pre reading, writing, during reading, and interdisciplinary activities for the book Fishing Fun. In this reading lesson plan, students complete journal entries, go over vocabulary, answer short answer questions, have...

Students complete pre reading, writing, during reading, and interdisciplinary activities for the book Big or Little, . In this reading lesson plan, students complete journal entries, go over vocabulary, answer short answer...

Young scholars complete pre reading, writing, during reading, and interdisciplinary activities for the book Big Snowball Fight. In this reading lesson plan, students complete journal entries, answer short answer questions, have...

Learners read "the Interlopers" and define the four conflicts in the story.  For this conflict lesson, students write an original story about three of the four conflicts in the book.