Students examine how African Americans escaping slavery used storytelling to communicate. They listen to and read the lyrics for the song, Follow the Drinking Gourd, view the Reading Rainbow video, and write and illustrate their own story.

Students complete a variety of activities related to the folktale from India, "The Drum." They listen to the story and answer comprehension questions, construct a coffee can drum, and complete a phonics and matching worksheet.

Read the story of Roger Robot included in the lesson and have kids move creatively by interpreting how a robot might move. Read a part of the story, then stop and let the class act it out. Read some more, and let them move some more....

Get in touch with Charlie Parker's jazz beats as learners explore new words in Chris Raschka's onomatopoeic book Charlie Parker Played Be Bop. Scholars are acquainted with some musical terminology before they hear these terms in the...

For small children or learners with disabilities, learning to wait patiently and taking turns is very important. In pairs, two children with visual impairments take turns asking for, waiting for, and playing with a musical...

To foster concept development and auditory discrimination skills, learners with visual impairments listen to identify a variety of common sounds. The teacher makes recordings of various sounds, including those found in the home, at the...

Students learn about a variety of sea creatures. They look at sea creatures pictures and identify the creatures by name and by their unique characteristics. Phonemic Awareness skills are reinforced using the beginning sounds of the...

The final resource in a series of 16 phonemic awareness activities, designed to develop the awareness skills needed to detect the vowel sounds in words, features the /ue/ sound. Kids identify and highlight the /ue/ sound in a list of 13...

Explore expressive reading through the read-aloud Summertime: From Porgy and Bess. Readers will make predictions about the text and listen to the song Summertime. They will also identify how the story relates to the song lyrics.

Read Allen Say's classic tale Grandfather's Journey as scholars expand their vocabulary in context (note: this strategy could be done with any text). Wondering what words they will learn here? Although you could easily include...

Now here is a great set of activities that will make learning about long vowel sounds a snap. The activities cover two days and include vowel identification, reading, and several great games. Kids will hunt for long vowel words, play...

Although this vocabulary-in-context activity is focused on Judith Viorst's book Alexander, Who Use to Be Rich Last Sunday, the strategy can be applied to any book budding learners read with you. First, introduce the three...

Combine counting and vocabulary practice with Susan O'Keefe's engaging story One Hungry Monster, which you can find on YouTube if needed. Introduce learners to the following in-text words: doubt, gargle, rude, swear, and...

Kindergartners practice the important skill of placing things in their correct categories. They must discern between items of clothing and items of food. The use of the Inspiration 7 educational software is effectively used in this...

Students sing songs, recite a poem, share what they can now do that they couldn't before and explain how they see their accomplishments. They read "Leo The Late Bloomer" and create graduation hats.

Help learners identify initial consonant sounds and letters that represent that sound. They indicate awareness of consonant sounds and letters by responding with a physical movement. They also sing using "Sing Your Way Through Phonics"...

Promote clothing identification, body part identification, and dressing skills acquisition with a fun and lively game. Each child takes turns grabbing a clothing item from the central clothing box. As he puts the item on, he sings,...

Students play a musical Alphabet game after listening to the book "Alphabet Letters" by Rolando Merino in this Language Arts lesson for early-elementary classrooms. The lesson includes an idea on how to evaluate student comprehension.

Students identify and demonstrate a positive learning attitude. They also demonstrate responsible emotional and cognitive behaviors and identify how to communicate clearly in oral, artistic, written, and nonverbal form. Finally, students...

Students study language. In this word fluency lesson, students play a version of Musical Chairs in which they must correctly say an irregular word, pulled from a bag, to keep their chair. The game is played with a small group of...

Students explore the history of our mail system. For this postal lesson plan, students evaluate mail as a means of communication, create a mail system in their classroom where they can send and receive mail. Once the students receive...

Students research and develop a report on birthday rituals around the world. In this research lesson plan, students compare birthday rituals from other cultures to their own. Images and resources are included.

Students draw conclusions about an mystery person based on documents and artifacts provided. In this drawing conclusions instructional activity, students become detectives by reading and analyzing evidence provided. This instructional...

Students create their house to add to a class "neighborhood". For this lesson on family and community, students read the book Family by Todd Parr and discuss how all families and houses are different. Then, students create their own...