Pupils participate in a lesson about ancient pottery making in Korea. The time of the research goes back to the 12th century. They read a story and study the attributes of characterization that the author uses.

Students break into groups of 4 or 5 and choose an option to demonstrate a different cultural perspective in a fairy tale or other folklore that they are familiar. Possible choices are: PowerPoint presentation, video, digital...

Students write a Thanksgiving Day Story using some or all of the words included in the worksheet. These stories can be fiction or non-fiction (Personal Essays). They are graded on sentence structure, paragraph structure, grammar,...

Students examine the Wild West as it was depicted in films and books. In groups, they compare this information to what it was really like as they find out in books. They also discover the role of the Native Americans in the Wild West...

Students examine websites about the fourth book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.

Who would have thought to explore the concept of race through children's literature?  After reading Bell Hooks' picture book, Skin Again, and chapter sixteen of Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee, class members...

Encourage text-to-self connections with a prereading strategy designed for Flipped. Clear steps are included, and the actual anticipation guide is the final page of the three-page packet. Ten statements are provided, and class members...

As part of the introduction to Edward Bloor's Tangerine, class members generate a KWHL chart listing what they know, what they want find out, how they plan to find this information, and what they have learned or still want to learn.

Focus on chapter two of Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science with a questioning activity. After teaching and modeling several types of questions, learners work with partners and then independently to answer and...

What makes a good question? Middle schoolers explore the use of questioning through QAR, the question answer response strategy, while reading Where the Red Fern Grows. They learn about the four types of questions: right there, think...

Assign this narrative essay after finishing Puddn'head Wilson. Learners write about their own experiences with overcoming obstacles. A five-step process is laid out on this assignment page.

Students read and demonstrate competence in the general skills and strategies of the writing process via the novel "Finding Buck Henry." They recognize complex elements of plot. Students analyze devices used to develop characters in...

Students participate in book club forums where they write descriptive, evaluation, analysis, synthesis, or inference essays. They take on the role of a character in their bok and publish a web page.

Students role play one of the three given situations. They discover how to deal with a conflict in a positive way. They discuss the role of radon in their community and complete another role-play scenerio.

Students create a super-sized creature in the round. They use the novel Charlotte's Web as a bounce off board to their creations. Students read the novel and brainstorm ideas with each other.

Students read the novel "Selavi". They relate the story to their own experiences. They also make predictions as they read the story. They research a specific aspect of Haiti once they have finished reading.

Learners read Katherine Paterson's book, A Bridge to Terabithia, and select small groups to complete a project based on a chapter of the book. They create a story web for the chapter, summarize it, design a brochure or advertisement,...

Use the Visual Thesaurus to predict the subject matter of Rick Riordan's book The Lightning Thief. A pre-reading activity encourages middle schoolers to use context clues and word meaning to discover what the book is about. After...

Developed specifically for AVID students, this packet of materials that includes an explanation of the Socratic seminar, the preparation materials, and tips and protocols, is a must-have resource for any class. 

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...

Every culture has its own stories to tell. An interesting educator's guide shares a large collection of fairytales and folktales, some from different cultures and some re-creations of classics. A summary and brief teaching ideas...