Write and work with authors on the Scholastic Website to promote the recognition of various genres.  Young writers will participate in activities based on the type of writing such as biography, descriptive, folktales, mystery, news,...

Looking for a instructional activity about differing sentence types? Use this instructional activity on compound and complex sentences in your grammar unit. After composing simple, compound, complex and compound-complex sentences...

Transform your class into a butterfly museum! Research different types of butterflies, their habitat, and life cycle. Interactive components such as PowerPoint presentations, Claymation movies, and webpages add pizzaz to the museum...

Students analyze and appreciate various types of poetry. In this poetry unit, students read classic and contemporary works to discover ways in which poetry expresses strong feelings. Students identify key vocabulary used to analyze...

Mystery is an exciting genre for young readers to investigate. The plots are so intriguing! Here is a series of lessons featuring Sherlock Holmes stories that invite learners to enter the world of the mystery genre.  Based on what...

Students play a Jeopardy game in which the questions are about different genres. They can use this activity as a review before a test.

Fourth graders read the book, Good Dog by Alexandra Day. In this writing lesson plan, 4th graders re-write the story from a chosen character's point of view. This lesson plan can be used with many other wordless picture books.

Students orally tell different types of stories using the assistance of props. For more advanced students, stories may be told according to a specific genre, or the story may have to include a given condition, setting, situation or theme.

Develop fluency with a variety of works. Help kindergartners use multiple strategies to understand text and decoding. They will create an alphabet poem book on Kid Works 2 to illustrate and write their own poem. In the end, they will...

Second graders complete a KWL chart about libraries. They create a book using writing patterns of a particular author. Students decide criteria for awarding the Second Grade Librarian Award to books in the classroom library, and use a...

Learners examine genre painting. They explore the Illinois State Museum website, identify how genre paintings were composed, analyze the activities of an Illinois farm in the 1850s, and create a genre painting of current everyday...

Before you jump into this lesson, be aware there is little to work with. That being said, the ideas are solid and will be brought to life with a little Halloween spirit. Learners examine horror as a sub-genre, and contemplate what makes...

Eighth graders imagine they are getting ready to "take off." They may imagine themselves in any type of aircraft or spaceship. They may then sketch themselves as passengers anticipating this moment.

Students discuss the characteristics of several different writing genres. They are given a prompt to and work in groups to continue writing in the style of a humorous, fantasy or suspense story. They share their stories with the class.

Students investigate researching techniques by exploring their library. In this literature references lesson, students identify the different types and genres of books that are readily available at their local library as well as proper...

Class members use e-mail and the merry-go-round story format to create a science fiction story. Each writer begins by selecting one of three prompts, crafting the introductory paragraph and sending the paragraph to the next person on the...

Students complete activities using apples that help improve their science, math, and reading skills. For this apple lesson, students read the book Apples, Apples Apples and visit an orchard or farmer's market to buy a variety of apples....

Young scholars examine the basic characteristics of jazz, and its relationship to African-American culture and history. They listen to examples of jazz, conduct research, and create a 20th century timeline of music and historical events.

Students study the tale of Robin Hood to further their knowledge of character traits, improve their vocabularies, and increase their knowledge of the Medieval Ages. In this Robin Hood lesson, students complete 14 lessons that help them...

Third graders explore different types of poetry and illustrate their own experiences through creating their own poem. In this getting to know you lesson plan, 3rd graders create and recite their poems with a self-portrait.

What is figurative language, and why do we use it? Introduce your high schoolers to some examples and discuss the importance of including this element in your writing. After studying a text and searching for examples, writers will...

Young scholars read and understand a variety of genres in a library setting. In this library activity lesson, students act as detectives and use clues in text and pictures to hypothesize the title of the missing book for the library...

Learners cut out nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs from newspapers and create poems using words they have found.

Third graders research what a Haiku is and be able to answer related questions on an example of a Haiku. They create an original Haiku of their own using general Haiku characteristic guidelines. Students use Kid Pix to type in and...