A carefully crafted three-day lesson integrates poetry and visual art. By analyzing and comparing Langston Hughes' poem "Mother and Son" and Romare Bearden's collage "The Dove," readers explore the theme of hope. The lesson activates...

Fifth graders research one of the 50 U.S. States that they were unfamiliar with.  In this U.S. Geography lesson, 5th graders utilize encyclopedias as well as the Internet to research a chosen U.S. State in order to write a report....

Begin this activity by asking third graders to bring from home pieces of cloth that represent something important to them. (Have extras for students who need them.) They reflect on important events in their lives, compose narrative...

Students research the surrealism movement and its primary artists. Language is also analyzed, and students will create their own original poem utilizing surrealistic techniques.

Readers reflect on enjoyable stories they know, brainstorm criteria that make a story "good," analyze a New York Times article about innovative children's performances, re-envision classics on their own, and peer edit drafts. Use this as...

Learners write their own story using as much descriptive language as they can. They peer edit each other's stories and create illustrations to accompany their writings. They place their story in a booklet and give it to a needy recepient.

Engage your class in art analysis of Indian Look-Alike by Melanie Yazzie. Using this work of art as inspiration, writers compose a poem or short story. After a peer review session, the teacher conveys information about the work of art as...

Explore self and social construction with a hands-on art project. After studying and discussing bullying and other social experiences, individuals create three paper dolls that represent specific social constructions. Included here is a...

Students determine how to use a digital camera, edit the photos using PhotoShop Elements, and how to make a PowerPoint presentation. They use the PowerPoint as a digital portfolio which is an archive of their work. Finally, they write a...

Fifth graders create a graphic organizer after it is modeled by the teacher.  In this graphic organizer lesson, 5th graders complete a graphic organizer describing chapter 1 of a book.  Graphic organizers will be revised and...

Students analyze art to determine themes for the Great Depression Era. In this Great Depression instructional activity, students identify themes for the era and research evidence for the themes to present to the class. Students interview...

Your class can build strong, well-represented opinions about the music they hear. They listen to, and share thoughts about, a piece of classical music. Then they write a piece of music or a poem, and analyze their peers' work and their...

A challenging lesson on writing a book for children awaits your fifth-graders. They must use laptops, document cameras, and a projector to create and present an original piece of writing. A checklist that has all of the requirements for...

Students apply computer-assisted design programs to develop sketches and technical drawings for a three-bedroom house. Working together, they develop strategies for presenting their designs, investigate building codes, and hone skills...

Students review the elements for a successful play review. In this play review lesson, students work in groups to complete peer responses, a consensus activity, and tally activity. Students write a play review. A Peer Review Sheet is...

Fifth graders write a paragraph titled "All About Me" in the computer lab after they have drawn graphic organizers to fill in background information about themselves and used a "10-Point Writing Checklist" to do peer editing.

Students brainstorm animals with unusual characteristics such as a giraffe with a short neck or a zebra without stripes. They write paragraphs about their animals and work in peer editing groups to refine their stories.

Students examine the art form of the glass sculpture. After viewing a three dimensional object, they write creatively describing the object through the use of metaphors. They use peer editing to check for grammatical and spelling errors.

Young scholars design their own playground equipment. In this design lesson, students take pictures of equipment they like and make a class pictograph of their favorite ones. They investigate the design, research equipment around the...

Students organize a newspaper article using a worksheet that helps them study the vocabulary of news articles. They write newspaper articles about mythical creatures invading contemporary Los Angeles.

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

Students create a bulletin board using a digital camera. In this creative arts lesson, students take photos of one another's faces and eyes. Students try to match the eyes to the face.

Students identify the ideas and themes that are most significant in a work of literature, then propose ways to visually represent these themes through art.

Young scholars integrate the patterns of Fibonacci into music. For this geometry lesson, students apply the concepts of recursion, pattern and Phi or Golden Ratio to composing and playing music on various instruments. They lesson is...