Explore San Francisco's Chinatown in a lesson about the first few chapters of The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. Kids research Chinatown on the Internet and create a virtual tour of the neighborhood, including the foods, cultural events,...

Sometimes one trip shakes up the entire world. When President Richard Nixon traveled to China, he defied international and political boundaries. Nixon was the first American president to visit mainland China, which was a communist nation...

Some words are best left unspoken.  Words matter, according to Benjamin Zander, conductor, teacher, and lecturer. To illustrate his point, Zander recounts a story told to him by a survivor of Auschwitz. As a result of her experience...

Readers take the main characters in Matilda and individually describe them through a mnemonic. To get there, group members create an acrostic poem describing the character they were given, and choose one of the words from the...

A series of hands-on activities follows a reading of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Learners create a paper collage to explore the beginning, middle, and end of days of the week, numbers, and more. They grow a butterfly...

Over four weeks, fourth graders study King Arthur and the Round Table, retold by Alice M. Hadfield. Fifteen lessons take pupils through each chapter, complete word work, and the writing process to draft paragraphs, sentences, dialogue,...

Imagine having to give up cell phones, computers, and TV? What would be lost? What gained? An examination of the Drokpa, a nomadic people who live in the grasslands of Tibet, provides class members an opportunity to consider how access...

Young readers access prior knowledge of how wheat becomes bread. Using "The Little Red Hen" story, learners make predictions of the events. Extension activities include singing a song about the story and making a list of...

Your plane has crashed in the Sahara desert. What do you do? Explore the possibilities with a role-playing activity based on Antoine de Saint Éxupery's The Little Prince. In groups, kids decide whether they would walk to find help...

For twenty-two lessons over five weeks, scholars practice sound-spelling correspondence, spelling patterns, tricky words, and reading decodable text. Assessments aid in small group formation and gauge comprehension. Lessons begin with a...

A read-aloud anthology explores the ancient greek civilization. Over four weeks, second graders explore Mount Olympus, Sparta, Athens, the olympic games, philosophers, and Alexander the Great. Scholars listen to and discuss a reading,...

A read-aloud anthology focuses on Earth's history. Over three weeks, young scholars listen to and discuss stories about the layers of the Earth, minerals, fossils, different kinds of rocks, and dinosaurs. After the lesson's text, each...

Over three weeks, second graders listen to stories about the United States Civil War. Informational texts explore the war, slavery, Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Clara Barton, the Emancipation Proclamation, and Ulysses...

A read-aloud anthology explores the human body. Over three weeks, second graders listen to and discuss texts related to the cells, tissue, organs, digestive system, excretory system, nutrients, and a balanced diet. Learners practice word...

Nine lessons over three weeks explore the human body through read-alouds. Third graders listen to and discuss a reading followed by extension activities, including word work and comprehension practice. Learners draft a narrative essay.

The Renaissance is the theme of a five-week unit designed to boost reading comprehension, spelling, vocabulary, and expository writing skills. Scholars listen to and discuss daily readings and engage in skills practice activities...

The threat posed by super volcanoes is explored in a short video that reviews the destruction caused by Mount Tambora in 1815 and by Peru's Huaynaputina in 1600. Think it can't happen again? The narrator contends that the explosive...

A unit covers many aspects of the Civil War. Over six weeks, fifth graders delve deep into the history of slavery, the Civil War—before, during, and after—Abraham Lincoln, women's contributions, the Emancipation Proclamation, and...

Young lawyers put Goldilocks on trial as they develop an understanding of the legal system in the final lesson of this five-part series. After learning about key terms relating to litigation, young scholars are assigned roles...

Introduce learners to The Silk Road, the first world-wide web. The narrator of this short, animated video traces the pioneers of globalization and the impact they had on culture and economy. The Scythians, Darius the First, and Alexander...

Did you know that the World Wide Web and the Internet are not the same thing? Did you know that Tim Berners-Lee is considered the father of the Web? Networks, web servers, web hosts, website addresses, domain names, web languages,...

Need a instructional activity to fuel young minds? A variety of hands-on activities is sure to get your class fired up! Beginning with an introductory slideshow and culminating with group presentations, the week-long unit has something...

How did the beginnings of genetic research influence the Nazi party? A thorough, engaging unit incorporates the work of Gregor Mendel, the study of inherited traits, and the use of racism and discrimination during the Holocaust.

Looking for some ideas for how to celebrate September 17, Constitution Day? Check out a packet that focuses on the factors that are considered in the amendment process. Class members examine the amendment process and the types of...