Third graders divide into teams and select a country to research. They read and review "Notetaking Skills" and begin their research. Next, they work together and share the information they have located. Each team fills in a template with...

Fourth graders view a teacher-created PowerPoint presentation. They read and conduct research, taking notes as they go. Students build a storyboard of their projected slide show. They create a PowerPoint show based on their storyboard....

Students use the life cycle of an ant to learn about their own self-esteem. In this self-esteem lesson, students read books about ants and discuss obstacles from the stories as well as the ant behavior.

Connect to real-world experiences by having your primary learners create an award certificate based upon literal and inferential information from a story. They present the award to a character from a story and explain the criteria used....

Prepare your readers for Briar Rose with an Anticipation Guide that asks them to agree or disagree with a series of statements that reflect issues raised by Jane Yolen’s narrative about a young girl’s research into her grandmother’s...

Shed light on what antonyms, synonyms, and homophones are. In this lesson, upper elementary schoolers create pairs using an antonym, a homophone, and/or a synonym. Then they play an antonym matching game.

What brings happiness? An anticipation guide for Dandelion Wine asks readers to ponder the concepts in Ray Bradbury’s novel about the joys of summer. The scripted plan includes the guide, additional activities, and assessment options. Do...

Students examine the consequences of time travel through the analysis of the short story "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury. They watch a PowerPoint presentation, conduct Internet research on endangered ecosystems, and create a...

Get your kids up and moving with this prereading activity for A Clockwork Orange! After your class completes the anticipation guide (included), they walk to the corner of the room that you've deemed for those who strong disagree,...

Christopher Columbus: hero or villain? Prepare class members for the debate with activities that asks them to think critically about how history is reported.

Like Yuki, Mrs. Sakane, and Ken, characters in Journey to Topaz, class groups must reach a consensus on 12 items they would bring if forced to relocate.  The activity provides readers with an opportunity to make text-to-self and...

Get a glimpse of Anne Frank's years in hiding with this activity, which introduces The Diary of Anne Frank. Readers complete a journal entry about how they would keep themselves occupied if they were forced into hiding (without personal...

An activity based on the young adult novel Flipped, groups work to make the same difficult decision a character in the novel faces. Each group is given the same scenario about caring for a mentally disabled brother personally...

Friendship, family, and violence are the subjects of an anticipation guide designed to accompany Rodman Philbrick's young adult novel, Freak the Mighty. Individuals complete the included guide, discuss their responses in groups, and then...

Continue your study of the short story with the next lesson in this fourteen-lesson series. After wrapping up a study of "Hills Like White Elephants" through a quiz and discussion of the setting, learners are introduced to the final...

Readers of Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, James L Swanson’s young adult novel, use a Venn diagram to compare information about Abraham Lincoln and the events surrounding his assassination, with the images and information presented in picture...

Why is visual literacy so important in understanding Maus? Introduce your class to basic elements of graphic novels with a game of pictionary. A list of 13 words are included, but you could potentially add some World War II-related...

The Bard? Folly? Tragedy? How familiar are your pupils with terms associated with Romeo and Juliet? Class members rate their knowledge of a list of words and then share what they know with the class. The worksheet, discussion questions,...

Learn about the events that helped shape the United States of America. Elementary schoolers explore the Civil War with six different activities. Each activity has a different focus: literature connections, primary sources, vocabulary,...

Ninth graders compare and contrast different Carnavals throughout Latin America. In this Latin American lesson, 9th graders study the geography and colonial history of Latin America.

Fourth graders combine listening and writing skills in this lesson. After listening to Up North at the Cabin, Students are asked to write a piece from a specific viewpoint about a place that they like to visit.

Students explore the terms and structure of a bluegrass tune. They participate in a listening exercise that will challenge them to identify specific elements within a bluegrass musical arrangement.

Students engage in a math lesson that is concerned with developing problem solving skills. They emphasize the cognitive reasoning of seeing parts as pieces to a whole. Writing is integrated into a cross-curricular study of math.

Students become familiar with the Federalist papers and the work of the federal government.  In this federalism instructional activity, students find similarities and differences between state and federal government.