Second graders investigate self- and teacher-selected literature (e.g., picture books, nursery rhymes, fairy tales, poems, legends) from a variety of cultures. They re-enact and retell stories, songs, poems, plays, and other literary...

Second graders explore the geography, holidays, important teachers, and inventions from China in the nine lessons of this unit. The results of their inquiries are expressed through a variety of products, writings, and presentations.

Learners write and publish a short story using KidPix computer software. They discuss the basic elements of a story, observe a demonstration of how to use KidPix, select a setting and characters, and print out their background picture to...

Young scholars create a "Noh"-style mask, based on Japanese Noh theatre masks. They experiment with different colors of modeling clay and explore ways to show facial character.

Students discover how everyone is special in his or her own way. In this character traits lesson, students demonstrate how they are special by drawing a picture or writing. Students listen orally to the book We Are All Alike...We Are All...

Students draw pictures to generate ideas about a character. They use prewriting skills to plan written work. They then dictate or write detailed descriptions of familiar person, places, objects, or experiences.

Students listen to story The Hundred Dresses, and use adjectives to describe each character.

In this story grammar worksheet, students are asked to describe the setting, main characters and events from their book in short-answer form.

In this dot-to-dot instructional activity, students connect the dots from one to seventy-eight to form the main character from the book, The Cat In The Hat, the cat. Students color the dot-to-dot page with appropriate colors for...

Keeping a journal can be one of the most enjoyable writing tasks that children engage in. They get to write about what they want to write about - not what the teacher tells them to write about! Here, young writers pretend they are a...

Stereotyping and discrimination are explored in this social justice lesson.  Learners listen to the book Dragon of Brog, in which mythical characters experience discrimination. Then, they sculpt a magical character out of plasticene...

A wonderful presentation explains a musical fairy tale. Perfect for an independent work station or as a link to send home for homework, this slideshow comes equipped with full audio. Each character, theme, and instrument from the piece...

Arthur, the main character in Marc Brown’s books, is the star of this lesson. Pairs of researchers select one character from the Arthur series and use the internet to access Brown’s web site and learn more about their chosen character....

Learners retell a story using the correct sequence of events for a story they have listened to five times. They identify the characters and the setting for the story, and sequence the events using a dissembled copy of the book.

Read the story Gingerbread Baby and use these various activities to connect to grammar, art, and point of view. In one activity, learners create character masks. They practice writing verbs on the back of the masks to tell what each...

Complete a series of activities based on the Flat Stanley books in this literature study lesson. Introduce the book with a discussion of supernatural qualities, then studentscan create character webs, write news articles, build kites and...

Students describe and compare characters and situations in dramas from and about cultures and historical periods, illustrate in improvised or scripted scenes, and discuss how theater reflects a culture.

Youngsters retell the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. They write a sentence for speech bubbles for a character in the story, identify the phrases that can be used for retelling a story, and in small groups write a sentence for the...

Popcorn is a tasty part of a culminating activity designed to motivate readers to share important literary elements. The popcorn fills the inside of a white paper bag that is transformed on the outside into a presentation tool with the...

Here is a way to build your pupils' public speaking abilities. The lesson describes a reader's report chair, which is used each week by a student who has just finished reading a book. The featured reader sits in the chair and talks about...

Young readers use this book review instructional activity to evaluate a book they have read. After recording the title and author of a book, reviewers color in the appropriate bubble rating the book as exciting, boring, funny, or scary....

Second graders identify story elements in familiar stories from their lives. In this story elements lesson, 2nd graders act out familiar activities  by following directions. Students read a story and discuss the story elements....

Students complete multiple lessons to study various literature including poetry, fiction, tall tales, and phrases. In this literature lesson, students complete six lessons about poetry, fiction, and idioms.

Second graders read chapters 2 and 3 of The Secret School and answer discussion questions as they read. In this reading lesson plan, 2nd graders also read aloud in pairs and complete a worksheet.