First graders practice their letter writing skills by writing to a fictional character.  In this formal writing lesson, 1st graders read the books The Jolly Postman and Frog and Toad are Friends to examine the different parts of a...

Engage conversation and explore the journey as you challenge young readers to interpret the german folktale, "The Fisherman and His Wife" written by literary brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.

Who says you need a human to be your valentine on Valentine's Day? Give your dog-loving readers an inspiring perspective on how a sister givdes her brother a valentine from the family dog. They then answer 10 questions thatd involve...

With 52 task cards, learners will not run out of things to do with a book they are reading independently or with the class. Tasks include making a poster on a specific topic, writing a summary, drafting a sequel, creating a windsock,...

Use drawings as inspiration. Have learners doodle for 10 minutes before beginning the lesson. Then, have them use their doodles to inspire a story. Several writing activities are included here to play with writing. One of my favorites...

Students listen to the teacher read a book entitled, Hoot by Carl Hiaasen. In groups, students create KWL charts concerning the book, the author, and the author's writing style. In groups, students research topics about the book and its...

To better understand how the author Kevin Henkes uses the theme of friendship throughout his books, learners engage in several compare and contrast activities. The class reads several Henkes titles and discusses the similarities in...

The Magic Pot by Patricia Coombs is the theme of this multidisciplinary lesson plan. Early readers first take part in a read aloud and grand conversation about the story's details. Then, they get to work practicing their skills in...

Scholars read a brief informational text about the famous inventor, Alexander Graham Bell and his invention of the telephone, then show what they know by way of eight questions—six multiple choice and two short answer. 

Seventh graders word process business letters using proper tab settings, spell checking, grammar and punctuation. They use the Internet to search for names and addresses.

Looking for spring-themed literacy centers? Look no further because here is a resource packed full of literacy skills practice, including spring verbs, ABC order, spring synonym match, spring phrases, abbreviation match, and a sentence...

Build the skills your budding authors need to develop to compose well-structured paragraphs. Give them the topic sheet (included here), and have them write a cohesive paragraph using the ideas listed. Consider having them include two...

Students study credit and interest in a novel and consumer math activity. In this credit lesson, students read the book Bingo Brown and the Language of Love. Students discuss the book and the ideas of credit, interest, and loans....

Students read OGBO: Sharing Life in an African Village by Ifcoma Onyefulu. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the study of Nigerian culture. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social...

Did you know that Marie Curie's papers, as well as her cookbook, are radioactive and stored in lead-lined boxes? Did you know that Nikola Tesla developed a death ray? Famous scientists and inventors are the subjects featured in a series...

Reading snail mail is a great way to go back into history and to understand others' points of view. The resource, the second in a five-part unit, covers the Dreyfus Affair. Scholars, working in two different groups, read one letter and...

The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien's powerful collection of vignettes about the experiences of a platoon of soldiers during the Vietnam War, serves as a text for a crossword puzzle. The 23 clues asks readers to recall characters,...

Students debate the limits to celebrity privacy and to paparazzi rights after learning about some recent incidents. They imagine how their private lives might change if they became overnight celebrities.

Twelfth graders rewrite a story in a different format to understand the effects of the author's style. In this writing style lesson, 12th graders read Mark Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and rewrite the...

Students recognize the difficulty of knowing who wrote a letter from the envelope. In this writing "voice" lesson, students understand the meaning of voice in writing and detect who the writers are in a worksheet.

To develop their reading comprehension skills, learners read short paragraphs, summarize the passage in one sentence, and then develop an appropriate title that indicates the main idea of the selection.

Students research the life of the first family. In this U.S. Government lesson, students take a White House quiz, read an article about the first family and write in their journals about a typical day in their lives versus what a day...

Third graders practice replacing words in a sentence to make it more interesting. In this word choice lesson, 3rd graders listen to the story The Hard-Times Jar by Ethel Smothers and discuss the author's word choice. Students then...

Students explore new words through letters or letter groups. In this lesson about words, students use index cards to build new words. Each index card contains one letter or letter group. Students utilize different strategies like...