Pupils compare and contrast specific characters in the book, "Old Henry." They discuss similarities and differences between people and define character traits. They assess one's own character traits and have a class discussion about how...

Third graders are given an opportunity to create a visual to accompany their presentations of their persuasive essays. They may use the computer or other media as resources.

Young scholars brainstorm a list of places where garbage is disposed. Working in groups, they discover through a classroom simulation how garbage can wither be recycled or hauled to a landfill. they complete the activity with a worksheet...

Young scholars create a solution to a problem related to the environment. They work together to develop the plan and pitch the plan to their class. They discuss the action steps taken in a story they were read.

Students discuss favorite books. They listen to the teacher tell how Book Week started. Students participate in a variety of activities designed to help them focus on books and reading. Some may create covers for the older books,...

Students read one book together about the immigrant experience. Teacher asks students to identify some of the themes around immigration contained in the book (example: prejudice).

Students are read numerous examples of strong poetry. Individually, they brainstorm a list of interests or attributes about themselves and choose the most important one. They write a poem using the attribute and shares the poem with the...

Students contrast the traditional Cinderella character with a modern, independent and socially conscious Cinderella. To activate prior knowledge by eliciting from the students some of the familiar story elements of the traditional...

Third graders explore the adventures of an immigrant as she comes to the United States. They discuss the difficulties the immigrants had and they research the Mexican culture and society. Students create a diary of their own.

Learners compare the differences in insects and spiders and design a worksheet that teaches the differences. Students record on chart organizing the information about the pet, its food, habitat, exercise, and other ways to care for...

Reading guide on Natalie Babbitt's "Tuck Everlasting" with a variety of resources, discussion and writing questions, and brainstorming activities. Provides pre-reading material, such as an author biography, novel introduction, and...

A great resource for students reading "Missing May," complete with a brief biography of author Cynthia Rylant, pre-reading material, diagramming activities, personal response and analysis questions, and an essay prompts for students who...

Check out this informative site about "A Long Way From Chicago" by Richard Peck and learn about small-town life during the Depression in seven short stories for the years 1929 through 1942.

In this 3rd through 5th grade lesson, students read the book Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse and write responses as Tovah to three of Rifka's letters in their journal.

What are the major roles in literature circles? Check out this site to learn more about the individual roles needed to form a literature circle. Includes links to various reading handouts and lessons.

Run' by Eric Walters is a fictionalized account of Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope run across Canada. This teacher's guide has discussion questions and response journal prompts for each chapter as well as extension activities for the novel....

Read two poems and reflect on the numerous teaching strategies featured in Teaching Multicultural Literature . Choose strategies to explore, and consider how you might adapt them for these poems and your students. Then compile and print...

A brief biography of Lea Goldberg (1911-1970) who wrote poems for children, a novel, a play and was responsible for translating other works into Hebrew.

In this lesson, students read blogs written by students their own age and learn to shape a well-thought-out response that addresses and answers the questions posed in the blog. Then, after reading, discussing, and deciding what makes a...

This instructional activity fuses fictional literature with technology through a project-based experience. Learners will use the free online resource Voki to bring a fictional character to "life" and deepen their understanding of...

What do you know about Richard Peck's life and work as an author? Use this informative site to learn more about this young adult author and to find resources for lesson plans.

Analyzing a book takes the form of creating their own when students complete this activity. The stated goal is to help students "Read like writers." Includes link to a template for student use.

This site features an interdisciplinary lesson plan for the book "Letters from Rifka" by Karen Hesse. Discover how this twelve year old girl's struggle to get to America from Russia.

This multipart lesson plan the cost of opportunities when you have limited resources. It uses the hilarious children's book, "Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday" by Judith Viorst to drive the lesson plan home.