Creating a good main character is a must when writing a creative narrative or novel. Elementary aged writers create main characters for the novel they are writing. They first use themselves as a models, then create a character as a...

Imagine how the wolf would tell the tale of Little Red Riding Hood or The Three Little Pigs. Young writers re-imagine classic tales by adopting the point of view of another character in the story. After reading models like The True Story...

Young scholars, after reading Chapter One in the book, "Finland," design and create in the computer lab a wildlife journal from an imaginary trip to Finland. They include different animals and plants that live in Finland as well as...

Students define adjectives and use adjectives and descriptive phrases to write a descriptive paragraph. They write a description of a sensory item, and read and discuss a five senses chart. Students then complete a chart using adjectives...

Shed light on what antonyms, synonyms, and homophones are. In this lesson, upper elementary schoolers create pairs using an antonym, a homophone, and/or a synonym. Then they play an antonym matching game.

Direct instruction on punctuation rules for titles is followed by collaborative practice in class. Two worksheets with aesthetically engaging graphic design provide practice. For 12 examples, small groups either underline, italicize, or...

Who helps our community run smoothly? Read a short passage about community members and helpers. After kids finish the passage, they answer five short questions on the other side of the page.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," is a popular phrase in our society. The lesson plan here puts the phrase to the test as pupils explore what truly is beautiful through a study of some Japanese folk art. A careful examination of...

Analyze characters and stories to identify stereotyping. Learners will examine the concept of character gender to evaluate bias in classroom story books. They are asked to read a story or play and change the gender of the character to...

What makes up a society? Read a passage about culture and community and answer five reading comprehension questions.

Use Aaron Copland's symphonic piece, "Lincoln Portrait" to engage learners in a cross-curricular experience. They'll listen to the piece, watch a video, read the Gettysburg Address, and write a series of fact or opinion sentences. An...

Create a cross-curricular learning experience around a shared reading of Cynthia Rylant's book Snow. From writing poetry and a singing a song about snow, to creating paper snowflakes and solving math story problems, this resource...

Why does an author write an informative article? Learners examine passages of a short reading on Spain and determine what the author wanted to inform the reader about.

Using correct grammar is a capital idea! Elementary readers review the rules of capitalization, including proper nouns, abbreviations of organizations, and holidays, before correcting the errors in two sets of sentences.  

Even though this is technically an art lesson, haiku poetry is actually the main focus! Learners view photographs of Japanese tea caddies. They list five descriptive words for the caddies, then write haiku poems using the caddies as...

Strengthen your high schoolers' writing with a series of steps for writing successfully. With sections on organizing an essay, choosing a topic, crafting a thesis statement, and revising a draft, the lesson encourages your class to...

Younsters are exposed to classic stories of Arkansas Folklore including The Arkansas Traveller, and Davy Crockett. They discuss if the stories they hear are examples of folklore, or some other kind of story. Then, each puil is required...

The first of a three-part series on bullying, this plan has class members present skits about bullying, write and sign an anti-bullying pledge, and complete a service project. For the skit, learners use information from previous lessons...

What happens when a species becomes extinct? Sharpen your reading skills with a passage about how koalas have gotten close to being an endangered species.

What are the most prominent symbols of the United States? Learn about the bald eagle, the American flag, and the Statue of Liberty in a reading comprehension activity that includes a short passage and five reflective questions.

Here is a great way to bring core content to your special education classroom. Included is a set of instructional ideas intended to help learners increase their verbal and written expression through storytelling. Tape recorders, story...

Teach your young readers how to summarize a text using a strategy called Somebody Wanted But So. Kids identify the character (Somebody), the motivation (Wanted), the conflict (But), and the resolution (So). The resource comes with...

How do you talk about things that have already happened? What about things that happened in the past and are still happening? Explore past, past perfect, and past progressive verb tenses in a helpful slideshow presentation.

Help young readers find, identify, and use their voices with a set of empowering activities based on Peter H. Reynolds' trilogy of books. Sky Color, Ish, and The Dot focus on recognizing moods and treating each other...