Young scholars study classic paintings by masters like Monet. In this art history instructional activity, students listen to the story Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert and sing flower songs with the rest of their class. Young scholars...

The emotional and spiritual oppression of slavery in the African-American experience is the focus of this lesson. Middle schoolers analyze various texts by Frederick Douglass and Maya Angelou related to freedom and oppression....

"Tone means attitude." Or so says this resource that uses Jordan Pruitt's "One Love" to model for songwriters how to develop an attitude in their lyrics. Class members engage in a number of exercises designed to give them direct and...

Full of good information and photos from the 1700's to the 2004 election, this powerpoint could be a great resource in a lecture about American nationalism. While the slides require commentary and smooth transitions (as well as a little...

A gold mine for American history teachers, this presentation cascades through the middle of the 19th century with the central themes of moral and social reform. Between the blossoming Mormon church, the tightening of the Temperance...

Pupils determine the meaning of tier-two vocabulary words. They explore vocabulary while reading Amigo. As they read, they record their words in a word journal or on a discovery chart. The words bold, content, pleasant, seek, wise, and...

The story Franklin's New Friend contains three tier-two vocabulary words! Your class reads the story, identifies the vocabulary words, and then works to construct their meanings. The new words are recorded either in a journal entry...

First graders will learn the words to two American ideals songs: "My Country 'Tis of Thee" and "America the Beautiful." They will also learn the Pledge of Allegiance and what it means to recite it. This is a great resource for your...

Go back to the basics with this quick PowerPoint. Review present, past, and future tenses, and introduce present progressive. Provide additional verbs for pupils to conjugate after the presentation. 

Discover the cultural practices and unique value systems of a group of native peoples from Canada called the Kwakwaka'wakw. Your young historians will discuss how conceptions of wealth can vary and how these native...

What's the difference between an adverb and an adjective? And aren't all -ly words adverbs? Reinforce the difference between adverbs and adjectives with a straightforward exercise.

Here's a two-part reading comprehension worksheet that asks kids to read a short passage about the customs and traditions of Native American tribes and then to answer a series of questions based on the article.

My, how Japan has changed! From Hogaku to karaoke, this slide show provides an overview of the culture, instruments, and periods of transition through Japanese music. Here you will find 21 text-rich slides which are great for note taking.

Your class will find using similes as easy as pie after completing this figurative language exercise. Provided with a list of incomplete similes, young writers must use their creativity to fill in the blanks with nouns that accurately...

Help your English language learners deduce meaning from context clues. Eight multiple-choice questions are provided here; each one has five answer options. Example vocabulary words include refused, absent, and original. 

Amigo by Byrd Baylor gives learners a chance to practice with unknown words and context clues. Choose several vocabulary words to focus on as you read the picture book, or use the ones provided here (the book is in English...

Franklin the turtle makes a new friend as youngsters learn vocabulary in context using Paulette Bourgeois' story (tip: this strategy can be applied to any book). Brief kids on the new words so they can raise their hands when they...

How would you feel if you lost your belly button? Read about Billy Brown in Billy Brown and the Belly Button Beastie by Bobby and Sherry Norfolk. Young learners retell the story, answer questions, focus on the letter B and...

Greed is the theme of the West African folktale, Anansi Goes to Lunch and this multidisciplinary collection of lessons. First, scholars listen to a read aloud and participate in a grand conversation about the book's key details and...

Readers are asked to respond to QAR questions drawn from Chapter 8, "The Quidditch World Cup," of J.K Rowling's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Get youngsters moving by teaching them some basic dance moves. This dance can be done in a circle, a line, or scattered around the gym. There are four movement combinations that are taught to the song "Purple People Eater" by Sheb...

Here's a pretty comprehensive lesson on the polka. There is information on the origins of the polka and the history of Oktoberfest. There is even a list of how to count to ten in Polish, Czech, and German. Include or skip whatever you...

There are eight different steps in this line dance lesson: angle step, jump step, punch step, marching step, grapevine step, turn step, stop step, and down step. Each step has it's own eight-count. Teach these steps to youngsters and...