Define words with numbers in a fun vocabulary activity. Using words from Hoot by Carl Hiaasen, learners use a grid to match words and their definitions, and to find the magic number that is the same when the numbers are added from...

Organize the characters in Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic according to their shared character traits. After listing character traits as a class, kids note which characters exhibit particular characteristics with a...

Kids paraphrase an entry from The Elements of Style, and then revise a sentence. They use the Visual Thesaurus and find synonyms for the phrase very pretty, brainstorm a list of intensifiers (as alternatives to really and very),...

"Once upon a time . . ." Language learners examine the key elements of well-known fairy tales and then craft their own.

Students practice the art of storytelling using realistic art. They pick one illustration of a character in the book and create a story about the possible life he lived. The important details that are needed is the name, occupation,...

Students design theater programs which show their understanding of William Shakespeare's plays. They design original art to include in the programs.

Students research the art of storytelling. The stories were used by societies to tell about significant events in the lives of individuals. There are important aspects of storytelling composition and performance that make the delivery...

Anita's iconic rooftop ode to American life in West Side Story is the focus of a lesson on immigration. As class members listen to "America," they follow along with printed lyrics, and discuss whether they agree with Anita's...

What do you usually do on Saturdays? What will you do on Thursday? Class members practice the simple future tense and the days of the week with a series of activities and questions. They then share their answers with a partner.

A four-part worksheet challenges scholars' knowledge of American, Australian, and British slang. Learners use context clues to decide which country a slang word is from, complete sentences, decipher a conversation, and answer...

Does your class need some practice with writing yes or no questions in the present tense? This worksheet offers learners some choice as they pair activities with subjects to form questions. Pupils also write a quick response to each...

Eight graphic organizers to choose from? That's right! Each of these organizers relates to writing or reading. From narrowing a writing topic, to responding to literature, to planning a writing project, you'll find many purposes for...

Do wolves ever attack humans? An informative novel study for Old Wolf helps pupils conduct research to answer the question. They also decode anagrams, learn about onomatopoeia, and write quatrain poems about themes from the novel. 

Julilly dreams of freedom after being taken from her mother by a slave trader. Will she ever be free again? A resource focuses on the first chapter of Barbara Smucker's book Underground to Canada, and includes 10 vocabulary...

Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American fiction writer whose biggest claim to fame was the creation of Tarzan. Using the novel study for Harper Lee's beloved novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, pupils research and list facts about him or another...

A child lawyer is exactly what people need ... not! With the novel study for John Grisham's Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer, pupils use their imaginations to create their own examples of sarcasm. They also research a chosen famous lawyer and...

What items would most people want to have with them if they were stranded on a desert island? Using the novel study for The Swiss Family Robinson, scholars attempt to answer the question from their own perspectives. They also explore...

Have you ever gone looking for one thing but ended up discovering something else? That is exactly what happened to Gaylen, a character in The Search for Delicious. Gaylen begins looking for a food to label as delicious, but...

Everybody has a special place they like to go. I hang out on top of the fridge, for example. Upper graders analyze the painting Mountain Lake, in terms of technique, style, and imagery. They then write or draw a place that expresses...

The blanket being analyzed here seems simple and plain, but it reflects the culture and geography of the people who made it. Learners critically examine the influence geography and culture had on the creation of the blanket and on...

Compare and contrast while challenging your class with this higher-level thinking and reading comprehension lesson. After observing the teacher model comparing and contrasting bats and birds, learners read passages about two towns. They...

How do you spell great? G-R-E-A-T! Ensure that your pupils can spell great and so much more with this effective app.

Readers are asked to evaluate Helen Keller's claim, and the evidence she uses to support her argument, that it is more difficult for hearing impaired children to learn to talk with others.

How can a screenplay create meaning and drama in ways that other forms of writing cannot? That is the question class members must answer as they compare the cantina scene of the screenplay for George Lucas's Star Wars: A New Hope...