Explore expressive reading through the read-aloud Summertime: From Porgy and Bess. Readers will make predictions about the text and listen to the song Summertime. They will also identify how the story relates to the song lyrics.

The raven is the focus of a lesson that examines trickster tales and the different stories about the bird. After listening to three tales about the raven, scholars pinpoint and discuss descriptive words. Pupils use one story to...

This was written for ESOL learners, but could work for any elementary class. Learners read about the American dance style known as Square Dancing. They explore its use in literature, write a friendly letter about it, and then use their...

Teach children that just because something is old, doesn't mean you have to throw it away with a reading of Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback. Engaging children with an arts and crafts activity in which they patch the...

Conduct a Reader's Theater. Third, fourth, and fifth graders rewrite books with a baseball theme to a Reader's Theater format. They form groups of four or five, practice reading the script, and then perform it for an audience.

Spruce up a class reading of the children's book Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback with this fun series of activities. Starting with a list of reading comprehension questions and key vocabulary to address during a teacher...

Learners participate in a variety of emergent and early-literacy activities based on a "friendship" theme. Learners listen to the book Do You Want to Be My Friend by Eric Carle, then echo read, choral read, and independently read...

Fourth graders read passages of Koya's Cousin Del before answering questions in a discussion setting. They listen to a variety of musical pieces before detailing how the music makes them feel in a short piece of writing. They share their...

Put on an eight-actor show based on Pan Munoz Ryan's When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson. The resource comes with a color-coded script that includes some images from the picture book.

As the instructor reads aloud several quotes from five chapters of the story Matilda, class members mime their interpretation of the scenes. Then, after reading "Miss Honey" and "The Trenchbull" (chapters seven and eight), the...

Learners discuss their personal connections with stories they've read in the past and identify techniques to connect with more stories. They create illustrations, construct task cards, and complete sentence stems based on books they read...

Learners apply word analysis skills to recognize new words, identify genres of fiction and nonfiction, and identify important themes and topics. They explore differences in plants, flowers, and vegetables. A book bag full of activities...

After examining a piece of art, scholars discuss what they see, paying close attention to details and space. A read-aloud introduces the topic of family traditions. Pupils interview their family members about a tradition in preparation...

Our uniqueness should be celebrated, not teased. The story Chrysanthemum addresses having a distinct name and dealing with different perceptions. Pre- and post-reading questions are listed to help your learners understand...

As learners read each chapter of Eric Schwartz's Crossing the Seas, they analyze the actions of United States in Venezuela, Hawaii, Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and the intent of the Monroe Doctrine. They then compare...

What if the Gingerbread Man was trying to catch you, rather than the other way around? Pupils can find out what happens by reading the story The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School by Laura Murray and enrich their experience with the...

Students create stories using only pictures.  In this visual storytelling lesson, students read Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie de Paola and analyze the wordless story.  Students create new text for the book by writing on...

Young readers explore reading comprehension by creating a class presentation. In this storytelling lesson plan, puils read an assigned text in class and analyze the characters, settings and story. They create an illustrated presentation...

Young scholars create an illustration based upon a read-aloud. In this visual arts instructional activity, students listen to the book The Tarantula Scientist and listen for details. Young scholars create a picture based upon what they...

Immerse your class in a good story with an extensive resource featuring reader's theater techniques. The worksheets are designed for both teacher and student, and carefully explain how to organize, write, and perform stories in a...

Figurative language is the focus in the book Teach Us, Amelia Bedelia. After reading Peggy Parish's book, class members dramatize idioms from the text, using dramatic strategies such as characterization, exaggeration, and...

Assign parts to read aloud Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag and have your young mimes act out their roles. This story focus on how beauty within is more important than outward appearance. Conclude by having your class provide an illustrated...

Students study the season of spring and create stories about the season. In this spring season lesson, students read books about spring and discuss the season. Students then color and create a mini-book about Spring.

Students write a fictional story into a comic book format. In this creative writing lesson, students analyze example comics and discuss the format. Students create a comic book using imaginary characters that find a solution to a problem.