Explore poetry, personification, and multiple languages with a poetry reading and writing lesson. After the teacher reads the poem to the class, a discussion about personification follows. The class then writes a collaborative poem...

After reading "The King of Mazy May" by Jack London, learners reinforce their literary analysis skills in this SMART board instructional activity. The provided SMART board file allows themto define elements of a short story, and then add...

Looking for a great lesson plan on how to write a biography? Here, middle schoolers draw from magazine articles, novels, historical figures, and current events to choose a person, or character to write about in a biography. They follow a...

If you're reading the story "Merry Christmas, Geraldine" by Holly Keller, this is a fantastic cross-curricular resource to use. Complete with activities for language arts, science, social studies, art, and math, you'll get the most out...

Little Man, in Vince Vawter's Paperboy, is a great baseball player, but due to stuttering he'd rather not speak to a soul. Scholars read how Little Man deals with his fears as they use vocabulary words to complete sentences,...

Some say a dog is a man's best friend. However, in Rascal, it is not a dog that captures a boy's heart—but a raccoon. Scholars read about the boy and Rascal's adventures while they complete activities about the story. Activities include...

Sixth graders hear the book "Tornadoes" by Peter Murray, they use a hot list to research information on tornadoes. Then they create a group PowerPoint on the information they have gained on their research. They share these PowerPoint...

Middle schoolers summarize a one to two page article of informational text. They compose a summary according to the guidelines on the "Five Rules for Writing a Summary" chart. They take turns reading their summary to the group, and...

Discover details about 1920's America. In this American history lesson plan, students read From the Great War to the Great Depression. Students then research famous Americans from the time period and present their findings to their...

If you like poetry, wait till you try backward poetry! Young writers read Shel Silverstein's "Backward Bill" before writing their own funny poems that are full of backward imagery and phrasing.

Discuss movies and movie enjoyment with your middle school language arts class. They interpret movie review information, determine appropriate movies, and then write film reviews to share with the class. Focus on using context clues to...

Is Phoebe a good friend to Sal or not? After reading chapters twenty-five and twenty-six of Walk Two Moons, class members use the provided graphic organizer to develop an argumentative piece. Writers must decide if the two...

Apply reading standards to your science curriculum by asking pupils to complete this guide. Individuals note down important vocabulary as well as two ideas they learned and two supporting facts for each idea. They then take this...

Hold a brief discussion about the death penalty with your English language learners. The resource includes vocabulary words to examine, three different viewpoints for learners to consider, and a list of discussion questions. The resource...

Do young people have rights in the United States? Your pupils will not only learn the answer to this important question, but will also build vocabulary through cloze activities and gain a thorough introduction to the Bill of Rights.

A fan of Ari's Crispin trilogy? Here is a packet that contains study guides for all three Crispin novels: The Cross of Lead, At the Edge of the World, and The End of Time.

What are the differences between coniferous and deciduous trees? Supplement your tree lessons with a set of activities that has learners describing, naming, comparing, and reading about deciduous and coniferous trees. The activities are...

Understanding different verb tenses begins with knowing how to decode words. A lesson on the -ed suffix with unchanging base words introduces readers to the past tense. Teachers present the skill with oral reading and spelling...

Closed syllable words contain short vowel sounds. A phonics lessons introduces readers to consonant-vowel-consonant words. Guided instruction introduces the words with a series of dictation activities, and then learners practice reading...

If you are beginning Laurence Yep's Dragonwings, this will provide activities for the first five chapters. The objectives include making connections to oneself and the world, organizing information and events, vocabulary acquisition,...

Young scholars examine the trade network in Old Babylonia. They analyze maps, explore various websites, develop a list of goods imported to and exported from Babylonia, and write an essay.

Students compare and contrast family life today with family life in the 1830s. They conduct research on Old Sturbridge Village, read primary source documents, and develop a list of generalizations comparing/contrasting families of the...

Beginning biologists learn the characteristics of the five classes in the arthropod phylum. A student handout lists characteristics to help them identify five specimens. You will need to collect an example of each: arachnida, crustacea,...

Students read and discuss the story "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" and design a structure that will withstand a clay bear's force sitting on it. They develop a list of activities that the three bears do that real bears can't do, and in...