Build understanding of theme with an activity designed for The Cay and the Common Core. Small groups or pairs use graphic organizers to determine themes, find and record related details from the text, and formulate theme statements. In...

Look back at the third chapter of The Cay with your class. Pupils will conduct a close reading, taking a second look at a chunk of text and responding to a series of text-dependent questions. Wrap up with an analytical writing prompt...

Encourage your learners to examine the setting in Theodore Taylor's The Cay. Pupils work in small groups to put together a description of the setting before reading two more chapters of the book. They use their double-entry journals to...

Focus on plot and the impact-specific events in The Cay. Class members use their double-entry journals, created in a previous lesson in this series, to record their thinking about the guiding question as they read chapters 15 through 17....

Building upon prior lessons in the series, this reading and writing exercise requires pupils to look back at their own writing, track character development in the novel The Cay, and analyze how Phillip has changed. The reading focus is...

After watching a three-minute video detailing the life of William Shakespeare, scholars take part in several activities designed to show what they know about the famous writer. Learners read a series of eight sentences and put them in...

Discover, document and share the knowledge of family food and ways special occasions are treated. Your class will explore the context in which food traditions are created and adapted in their families and communities. Each student also...

In this matching terms and phrases worksheet, students use the words in the word bank to fill in the blanks about Nevada. Students write 10 answers.

In this Nevada worksheet, students explore the state of Nevada. Students complete a crossword puzzle containing eight different facts about Nevada.

Figures of speech, sensory details, and academic language are all targeted while reading Chapter Two of J. Ferris’ Go Free or Die. First, learners engage in an exercise to practice describing with detail. Then, partners use a...

What is stereotyping, and how do we handle stereotyping in our daily interactions? Your young historians will not only have the opportunity to learn about the first African American woman to publish a short story–Frances Ellen...

Address any kind of math concept or problem with a series of problem-solving strategies. Over 12 days of different activities and increasing skills, learners practice different ways to solve problems, check their answers, and reflect...

Students research and use their discoveries to create a computer presentation and a quilt block on Nebraska. They will tell the story of Nebraska in an oral presentation using each piece of the quilt.

Sixth graders invite members of their community to a celebration in which they present information about what they have gathered during the Aqua Pure project. Using art, they unveil their projects to the community and extend their thanks...

Learners discuss the right and wrong actions of a young Navajo boy. Using that information, they compare and contrast his culture to their own. In groups, they create a newspaper or poster showing the cultural contributions of the...

Learners prepare for and respond to literature selections. This package includes nineteen lessons, each covering a different reading selection. Pre-reading and response activities are included for each lesson as well as extension and...

Students examine portraits for different images they project, cite three purposes a portrait can serve, analyze portraits of historical figures, and relate biographical research to portraits.

The idea of having a Healthy Heart Night at your school is a fabulous thought. Here are a few ideas that detail was done at one elementary school. It would take a lot of organizing to make it happen, but seems well worth the effort. This...

Fifth graders explore cool jazz and how it reflected American culture in the 1940's and 1950's.

Fifth graders explore the current jazz scene and how it reflects American culture. They listen to jazz recordings of current artists and speculate on which direction jazz is likely heading.

Make a study of Timothy and his development as a character over the course of the first half or so of The Cay. This idea focuses in particular on chapters 10 through 12. Learners start out by working on double-entry journals created in...

Conduct a close reading of chapter 9 of The Cay. Read the chapter again and ask pupils to respond to a list of included text-dependent questions. Finish the class with the provided writing assignment, which asks learners to use textual...

Take a break from literature study to address some grammatical concerns. Using a text you've already read in your class, show how to analyze pronoun use. After watching the master, pairs analyze a short excerpt on their own, identifying...