21st-century learners live in such a visual world that many are unused to letting their minds imagine the picture that words create. An excerpt from Carl Sagan's lecture, "The Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space,"...

Hummingbirds and seagulls—how different and alike are the two birds? At her brother's birthday party, Camelea taps into her inner bird as she dances like a zippy hummingbird. But when it is time to sleep, she thinks of the calm seagull...

Teaching children to read is no simple task, but this collection of phonics resources will make the journey a little easier. From simple activities and games that improve young children's letter recognition, to a reader's theater script...

Third graders continue to develop their reading fluency in preparation for their assessment in the tenth lesson plan of this unit. Young readers are provided with a short passage on Helen Keller, which they use while working in pairs...

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...

You wrote it, now what? Learners take their writing to the next level when they perform it for classmates. They then engage in a self-reflection and assessment of their work to determine how well they hit targets such as identifying...

What skills do storytellers employ to bring to life the characters and events in their tales? After listening to a recording of a Haitian folk tale, class members consider how tone of voice, pace, and gestures can be used to enliven a...

Celebrate April's National Poetry Month or enrich a poetry unit with a wealth of language arts material. Class members develop an oral interpretation of a poem and/or develop a podcast interview with a poet. 

Combine skills practice and a playful read aloud of Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll to enforce mathematical concepts in a learning game focusing on counting, adding, and subtracting up and down to 10. 

Animals are the theme of this series of challenge activities. Extend scholars' learning opportunities by writing personal narratives and book reports, creating picture and alphabet books, and drawing scenes from stories read aloud.

Unfortunately, not all students learn to read at the same pace, but with the help of this resource, you can ensure that they all receive the support they need to reach this important goal. Comprised of short literacy activities, these...

Show young readers how to put some personality and voice into their storytelling with an in-depth assignment. Kids practice saying the same thing, such as counting from one to ten, in different tones and perspectives, and then work on...

Nothing helps you identify your reading fluency like hearing yourself read aloud! Increase reading fluency and expression by having young learners podcast a weekly high interest piece of literature. Assign a different star or featured...

Third through sixth graders complete a unit on the art of storytelling, folktales, and fairy tales. They explore various websites, create a story, and demonstrate storytelling techniques. Additionally, they listen to classmates retell...

Discuss what the class should do if they are not being treated fairly. Several prompting questions are provided! After discussing the questions, read, The Hyena and The Hare. This lesson is very complete and contains all necessary links...

Aid readers in achieving fluency! Hone in on appropriate pacing, accurate pronunciation, and varied intonation through modeling and ample practice. In one-minute bursts, individuals rehearse reading a passage aloud, recording where they...

These activities center around acting out a play to help create fluent readers who use expression and emotion. As readers work through the play the first time, they also practice decoding strategies. In small groups of four, they then...

Students read several fairy tales of Russian origin. They brainstorm common elements of a fairy tale and identify those elements in several examples. They retell a favorite fairy tale through a skit, oral storytelling, a sketch, or a...

First graders examine compound words and what they look like.  In this compound word lesson, 1st graders read the book, My Baseball Book, and compile a list of compound words from their reading. 

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is known for its fantastical imagery and nonsense verse. This unit plan offers a basic exploration into nonsense verse through poetry and teacher read-alouds. It incorporates activities involving poetry...

Emerging readers practice reading fluency. First, they listen to the teacher and classmates model fluent reading, and then they practice fluent oral reading with a partner. To close the day, they participate in a Reader's Theatre based...

Elementary learners practice reading short passages to increase their fluency. They work in pairs to do repeated readings of Jane and Babe, recording their times. They switch roles and time one another in an effort to decrease the amount...

Readers listen and critically read fictional prose to answer prediction questions at designated stopping points, and then they give a summary of the short story. This instructional activity is ideal for English language learners...