Through the journey of four stories of immigration, scholars complete graphic organizers and apply knowledge to create a visual representation of their findings on a large poster. Third and fourth readers write a letter to their...

Read Clap Your Hands to explore new vocabulary with your class. In this three-tiered vocabulary activity, youngsters read the book and identify the plot, setting, and characters. They also define vocabulary terms from the book and...

Using the internet, class members research the biography of Willa Cather, view photographs of Red Cloud, Nebraska, and read the novel, The Song of the Lark. They discuss the film, its setting and characters, and explore the...

Fourth graders study Chaucer as a master of details. Then, they create a short story linking unrelated details into a logical plot with a clear setting and established characters. This instructional activity has some excellent worksheets...

Take a trip to the library! Elementary schoolers visit the library and choose books to read independently. They use the cover-up method of deciphering unknown words and use timed-readings to increase fluency. They discuss characters,...

Paul Langan's novel The Bully is the core text in a six-session unit plan that engages high schoolers in an in-depth examination of bullying and its effects on bullies, victims, and bystanders. The richly textured and carefully...

The courage of Las Mariposas, the Mirabal sisters, is the focus of a series of activities designed to accompany a reading of In the Time of the Butterflies that ask readers to consider what it means to be courageous. Beautifully crafted...

Young artists will respond to reading children's literature, by engaging in original storytelling and representing their own images through the visual arts. Then they orally describe details of people, places, and things in their stories...

How do you know what a character's personality is like if an author doesn't tell you? With a focus on character development in Esperanza Rising, pupils complete a jigsaw activity to analyze the actions of Mama, Abuelita, and Miguel. Once...

A six-week unit takes high schoolers through various works of African-American literature, including poems, plays, and short stories. The lesson plan format includes a week-by-week description of activities, goals, materials, and...

Engage further in Esperanza Rising with a focus on close reading and metaphor. Class members zero in on the tenth chapter, examining characters and big ideas. Pupils discuss the text in small groups and as a whole class, and...

Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...

That's not what I said! My message did not arrive in the correct order! Introduce the concept of packets and the transmission control protocol used to send and receive information over the Internet. The class participates in an...

Research information and find pictures of Contemporary Native Americans in order to help 3rd graders understand what images are available from a variety of resources. They will present their research and pictures to the class. In turn,...

Give this skills-based assessment halfway through your unit on Esperanza Rising. After a brief review, class members take the test, which asks them to show that they know how to analyze the novel independently. They are asked to...

Accompany the African folktale, Anansi the Spider, with a collection of five lessons, each equipped with supplemental activities. Lessons offer multidisciplinary reinforcement in English language arts, social studies, science,...

After class members have read and discussed Act III of The Winter’s Tale, groups select one line from Act III, scene i that they feel captures the essence of the entire scene. They then create a tableaux that best depicts the scene’s...

Study historical events by combining the study of historical fiction and non-fiction. Learners read about true past events in historical fiction novels and then research non-fiction accounts of the same events. What are some differences...

The odds are in your favor that your pupils will love this lesson that uses The Hunger Games to launch a study of gender empowerment, as well as the influence of social constructs of gender. Groups discuss how Katniss Everdeen and Peeta...

You might love this instructional activity, or you might not. Basically, high school scientists read through a script in which someone interviews a physicist, a biologist, and a chemist in regard to their use of nanotechnology. The names...

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...

How would you use census data from 1880-1900? Here are a set of ways you can incorporate the book Little House on the Prairie and US census data from that time period. Learners will research the validity or the book based on factual...

Primary readers predict and check for understanding by using comprehension strategies. Prepare readers the first day by frontloading vocabulary and using pictures to visualize the words. On the second day, read the story The Old Woman...

High schoolers read and analyze Iago's rhetoric in specific monologues and dialogues with other characters, examine what Iago says and how he says it, define some basic rhetorical terms, and discover the sometimes dangerous power of...