Students read the books Diary of a Fly, Diary of a Worm, and Diary of a Spider and write diary entries about them. In this reading lesson plan, students also draw pictures to go along with their diary entries.

Students investigate spiders. In this spiders lesson, students create a habitat for a spider with a jar, twigs, and dirt. Students observe the behavior of the spider and record how they spend their days.

Students follow an overview of the American Civil War from a film, the text and/or teacher direct instruction. They create a timeline with a large map of the U.S. in the 1860's available for student reference as they do the spider activity.