Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is a literary masterpiece as well as a timestamp of the formative mid-nineteenth century in America. Using a primary source set of photographs, letters, and portraits, readers discuss the ways...

Imagine being one of the painters in 1910 at the Lyme Art Colony in Connecticut. Using the Florence Griswold Museum's on-line resources to gather information about the daily life of artists at the boardinghouse, learners write a letter...

Young scholars listen to Picnic In October and Memory Coat to explore the concept of memoirs. They interview a family member and write a personal memoir that reflects their own family history.

Pupils can write down all of the major plot elements of My Antonia by Willa Cather on this straightforward worksheet. Learners note down themes, characters, the chain of events, and more.

Scholars read a short story about a girl visiting her grandmother, identify the main idea of the tale, and then write a sentence about this idea. Learners practice their phonics skills by filling in word blanks with letters to complete...

Holidays bring their own special joys and stresses. Prepare learners on the autism spectrum for Christmas family get togethers using this social story that not only lets them know what may happen, but also details how they should...

Extend learning through summer with these activity ideas! Individuals can choose one or all nine of the activities, which range from a summer reading goal to an examination of local insects (with accompanying story prompt). See the...

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...

Encourage focus and organization in the writing of your second, third, and fourth grade classes. Learners are asked to select a room in their house and narrow in on how it looks, smells, or feels. After writing a short paragraph...

Learners watch an online slideshow that shows Cornelia Funke's transition from an illustrator to a writer. They discuss her writing process from the way she gathers ideas to how and where she writes. Next, they work in groups to choose a...

Students participate in an author study about Patricia Polacco focusing on her use of family and friendship as themes in her books. They write a letter to the author and compare her life to that of Beatrix Potter. They examine how their...

Provide extra support with a unit that follows a teach, blend, guided practice, and practice/apply routine to reinforce reading, grammar, vocabulary, and writing skills. Reading and writing lessons include supporting details,...

The 2016-2017 protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) motivated Camille Seaman to create "We Are Still Here," a photo essay featuring portraits of contemporary Native Americans who protested the pipeline. This eight-page...

The Pilgrims may have arrived in North America by way of the Mayflower, but chances are, your class members' ancestors came to the United States in another way. Guide them through an exploration of their own heritage, countries of...

Family and Friends is the theme of a unit offering extra support lessons. Follow each lesson plan's teach, blend, guided practice or practice/apply routine to reinforce concepts such as clusters, responding to reading, drawing...

Honor family traditions with a lesson plan that examines the variety of winter celebrations. Class members discuss their family's traditions then complete a cut-and-paste practice page in which they match a picture to the name of a...

Drama is ever-present in our daily lives and eloquently depicted on stage. Middle schoolers practice writing scenes based on different prompts and frameworks, and then perform those creative scenes for their classmates. The...

After watching West of the West's documentary The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, class members imagine how Juana Maria/Karana may have felt about living alone on the island for 18 years and craft a blackout poem or a narrative in...

For some people, the force of addiction can be as biologically compelling as the drive for food or water. High schoolers watch a video segment about Ryan, a recovering addict, and learn more about how opioids and other drugs can affect...

After viewing The Last Roundup, a documentary that examines the transitioning of Santa Rosa from a privately owned island to a National Park, class members adopt the point of view of Tim Vail, a member of the family that once owned the...

Provide parents with the tools they need to bridge the summer learning gap with this collection of fun activities. Whether it's creating an alphabet poster with illustrations for each letter, playing a game of sight word concentration,...

Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American fiction writer whose biggest claim to fame was the creation of Tarzan. Using the novel study for Harper Lee's beloved novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, pupils research and list facts about him or another...

Students learn characteristics of an effective personal narrative.  In this personal narrative lesson, students discover ways to show rather than tell, adding richness and detail to their writing.  Students evaluate a news...

Students use dance to better understand the writing process. In this interdisciplinary lesson, students use their critical thinking skills to connect dance with writing. Students use thinking maps to follow the writing process, write a...