Why do readers need to know an author’s purpose? How do you figure out what that purpose is? Guide your pupils through a series of activities that show them how to identify various techniques and structures used in persuasive writing....

Read an article about the migration of our ancestors and write a paragraph. Pupils paraphrase and summarize to restate the information found in a nonfiction text. They write a shortened version of the reading to demonstrate the...

Explore communication through media by analyzing different advertisements and artwork. Budding artists view videos, websites, plays, and other artistic endeavors while discussing the true meaning of the work with their classmates. They...

Split the class into two groups for a fishbowl discussion using of Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee. The first group initiates the conversation by reviewing the important points of Chapter thirteen while group two...

Elementary schoolers learn about young John F. Kennedy. After a teacher-led discussion about his high school years, pupils examine a photograph of Kennedy and four of his friends taken on the grounds of the Choate School in Connecticut....

Having trouble evaluating your kids' handwriting? Print an evaluation guide and match their writing to the excellent, good, average, fair, and poor samples.

Hop, skip, and jump your way to picking up letters for a word spelling scrabble game. Get a little aerobic conditioning in while having fun with words. Keep the game simple for the younger learners. You might try putting the letters face...

After listening to the story, The Best Part of Me, learners will identify a positive physical feature of themselves, and create a descriptive poem about their favorite feature. Photographs are taken, and a nice final draft of the poem is...

Groups of learners research a city in Arkansas, then plan and create a brochure which would promote business growth in that city. The groups access the Internet in order to find out the necessary information about the town to put in...

Show youngsters how objects can tell a story! Here your class will learn about Cuban salsa dancer Celia Cruz by analyzing pictures of her dress, her shoes, and her marriage certificate. After describing Cruz's items and imagining what...

Individuals complete a pre-assessment to gauge their ability to determine the main idea and supporting details in nonfiction text. They examine a new piece of nonfiction reading by looking at the table of contents, headings, and index...

This clever lesson has your learners listen to story about bugs, work together to brainstorm list of "ing" words that describe bugs, create t-chart of words, choose words to place in poem template to create class poem about bugs, and use...

Read and analyze the book, The Teacher From the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler with your class. They will compare/contrast the two Mrs. Greens with a Venn diagram, design a new book cover, create a paper mache mask, and complete a story...

When Ruby Bridges entered an all-white school in New Orleans in 1960, she also entered history. Scholars consider what the experience must have been like for the young girl using two books that document her experience as well as a double...

Pop, pop, pop! Can you hear the sound popcorn makes when it's being made? Start the day by reading The Popcorn Book. Youngsters will love stringing together popcorn necklaces and learning about popcorn. There are separate prompts and...

Help your class explore the question "Is it ever right to disobey a law?" With a strong base of knowledge about the Civil War, anti-slavery movement, and Underground Railroad, your class explores civil disobedience in Marshall, Michigan...

Don't get caught plagiarizing! Before starting your research unit, use this lesson plan to help your young writers identify plagiarism. The truth is, many kids don't even realize when they're doing it! They practice citing sources when...

Young scholars identify why the Hopi tribe practiced running as it relates to health, delivering messages, defeating other tribes, and for ceremonial events. In this social studies lesson, students use maps to identify latitude and...

Teach your kids about FANBOYS! Coordinating conjunctions, or FANBOYS, join two independent clauses to make a compound sentence, but don't forget the comma! Review this popular comma rule, and give your learners this short worksheet. An...

Which word is correct: he or him? Your pupils can practice determining if a sentence needs a subject or object pronoun by completing the 12 sentences on this worksheet. For each sentence, they are given an object pronoun and a subject...

Show your scholars how adding an affix changes the entire meaning of a word; they focus on the suffix -able. You'll find a complete script here, but if you don't want to read this verbatim, use it simply as an outline. Learners...

Instruct your pupils to make those simple sentences complex! For this exercise, learners are given eight pairs of complete sentences and subordinating conjunctions. It's their job to transform each sentence by using the subordinating...

For those class members who have mastered the basic concepts and need extra challenges, here's a packet of activities sure to engage them in stories about American immigration and exploration. Kids may design a dramatic...

When is it okay to go against authority and what can happen if you do? This is the leading question in this activity to accompany your classroom reading of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. After reading...