Third graders answer text-dependent questions of the story Nasreen's Secret School both independently and then collaboratively through using the carousel of questions strategy. This plan is the seventh instructional activity in a...

Whales are all big, but some are larger than others! Kids will love sorting the 10 whale species by size at their desk (whale cut-outs provided). Next, use a whale rope to visualize how long each of these whales actually is. A large...

Students examine public opinion about the war in Iraq. They read and discuss an article, participate in a poll, analyze statistics, create annotated scales demonstrating their findings, and write a reaction paper.

Third graders develop their reading superpowers in a lesson plan on fluency. After first listening to an audio recording or teacher read aloud, the class works together identifying criteria for fluent reading, focusing on phrasing, rate,...

Explicitly explained and delightfully detailed are two ways to describe this tenth lesson plan in a larger unit designed for the first few weeks of third grade. Learners continue to use and develop previously learned close reading...

Young readers continue to strengthen their fluency skills with a text of their choosing. The teacher first engages the class with an audio recording or read-aloud of a short poem, modeling for children how to read fluently. Next it's...

The engaging story Rain School is further explored in the third lesson of a larger unit that explicitly teaches close reading skills by answering questions whose answers can only be found inside the text. Through teacher...

In the second lesson plan in a series that revolves around the story, Thank You, Mr. Falker, learners practice the skill of answering direct questions from the text while using complete sentences. After a teacher-led review of how to...

Fourth graders examine slavery and Reconstruction in Virginia. For this Virginians during Reconstruction lesson, 4th graders research primary sources for the story of William Jasper and other slaves. Students hypothesize how rights...

Students read an article on the first crew of the international space station and answer a series of critical thinking questions.

While reading Wild Swans by Jung Chang, guide your scholars with these questions. Twenty-nine questions challenge their comprehension, which they use to create a double-entry journal for marking down important quotes and their relevance...

Learners have tournaments in teams after learning information about The Middle Ages. In this Middle Ages lesson plan, students learn that tournaments are mock battles, but that they will have these battles by answering questions in teams...

Students explain the importance of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March and the long term impact in the US of non violent civic participation.

In this global studies activity, students read the noted pages in their textbooks and then respond to 9 short answer questions about Communist China.

Students explore the stereotypical American images of China. In this English and World History lesson, students read a novel to become familiar with China and its people. Students research various events in China's history and report...

Here is an activity that you can use to help upper elementary or middle schoolers to meet Common Core literacy standards for science and technology. Youngsters read the article on extreme weather patterns, "Weather Runs Hot and Cold, So...

With so many tons of trash going into landfills each year, your environmentalists can calculate how much the average person is tossing away. This activity has a series of questions not only requiring math, but a conscious thought of how...

How far would your pupils go to be able to have access to books? Revisit Heather Henson and David Small's That Book Woman and challenge class members to take on the role of Cal or the Book Woman. By putting themselves in someone else's...

Oh your eyes are going to pop when they see this long list of are recipes! Each of the 29 links redirect you to an art supply recipe that will help you make a number of art supplies. Doughs, paints, clay, glue, paste, and chalk are a...

After delving into the proper use of conjunctions, learners write their own stories focusing on using connecting words. First, they discuss the different types of conjunctions. Those include conjunctions used to add further information,...

"Things are not what they seem" in this poetry activity, which discusses Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life." Your learners will see the world through the eyes of the transcendentalists after analyzing the meaning, context,...

Third graders continue to practice the close reading skills of capturing the gist and reading again for important details in the sixth lesson in a larger unit. This is a great beginning-of-the-year unit for establishing visible thinking...

As the final lesson plan in a larger beginning-of-the-year unit to establish routines and teach close reading skills, this plan is designed as an assessment piece. Using the story, The Librarian of Basra, learners independently...