At over 450 pages, John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Grapes of Wrath can be a challenging choice for full-class, book circle, or independent reading. The activities in a 10-page sample The Grapes of Wrath...

Students investigate precedents set during George Washington's term in office. They conduct Internet research, develop a list of the responsibilities of the President, match Washington's accomplishments with the list, and play a game.

Young readers explore philanthropy and its effects on the public good. They discuss athletes and their examples as philanthropists. They research a sports hero and play "The Match Game" to determine what they know about other sports...

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...

Link language development to literacy skills. This lesson template provides a comprehensible way to use the Braidy Web to maximize language and reading skills. It would be appropriate for developmentally disabled pupils reading at a K-2...

Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...

Grab a debatable (or controversial) moment from your current reading, and use this task to progress the persuasive writing skills of your high school scholars. Divide your learners into four small groups and let them collaborate, debate,...

If you are reading works by Walter Dean Myers in your class, this resource might be worth a look. Included here are activities and discussion questions for Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary, Somewhere in the Darkness, Scorpions, Fallen...

Provide this packet for your pupils as they pour over The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. The study guide includes graphic organziers and comprehension as well as higher-level questions. Class members briefly summarize each chapter, compare...

"What is the theme of this story?" The very question can spark fear in the minds of readers and incinerate confidence. Here you will discover an exercise that shows how writers use the tools of setting, plot, conflict, and...

Should primary graders have their own computers? Should animals be kept in captivity? Young writers learn how to develop and support a claim in this short unit on persuasive writing.

A 32-page instructional pack contains eight lesson plans for use with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Lessons include an examination of the role of superstition in the novel, Twain's use of satire, and a discussion of the...

Students participate in various shared reading and writing activities related to the book "The Selfish Crocodile" by Faustin Charles. They identify descriptive words from the story, and write sentences describing how the crocodile...

Students read the opening scene of the play, The Merchant of Venice without receiving any background information. They analyze and discuss the relationships between the six characters, and determine the social status of the characters.

Learners retell a story using the correct sequence of events for a story they have listened to five times. They identify the characters and the setting for the story, and sequence the events using a dissembled copy of the book.

What does it mean to be a hero? Who qualifies as a hero? In groups, middle and high schoolers brainstorm a list of heroes and create a list of characteristics that a person must possess in order to be a hero. Extend this lesson plan by...

Do your youngsters realize that they are constantly making inferences? Expose this inner process by bringing out the book they will be reading. Ask scholars what they think the plan is, and explain that their answers are the product of...

What are the pros and cons of prolonging life? Incorporate real-world issues into the study of literature using Dr. Heidegger's Experiment. Through the exploration of pre-determined websites, scholars consider several related...

Examine persuasive literature and writing. In this persuasive literature lesson plan, pupils work through a variety of activities over the course of three weeks (each week is planned by day). The unit's purpose is to examine examples of...

Examine the idea of perpetual youth and immortality while you read Nathaniel Hawthorne's Dr. Heidegger's Experiment. Some links work to direct your learners to information about the Fountain of Youth. Using this information, scholars...

Afrikaans, a language derived from Dutch, is spoken by almost 10 million people! Introduce your scholars to South Africa, discuss the evolution of Afrikaans, and look at Apartheid.

Students write letter from historical figure's point of view using proper letter writing conventions, write about two props/artifacts that are representative of their subject's life, and use Internet resources to gather images to use in...

Pupils role-play the position of Lady Macbeth's nurse. They are to create a project or service that can cure her sleepwalking. They create their own commerical to sell their product.

Students examine how their feelings make them unique. They read and discuss a poem, develop a list of feelings, and create a drawing of them feeling happy and healthy.