The advent of paper has made a huge impact on society and we wouldn't be the same without it. This project allows learners to explore and create paper of their own using recycled materials. The how-to is all laid out, just follow the...

Haikus by Basho, Buson, Issa, and Shiki are used as models for a brief lecture on the importance of poetry in Japan's history and the structure of this poetic form. Students then go on a nature walk, record impressions, and return to the...

Students decorate a clay pot with a variety of craft and clay materials and a craft stick with their photographs. They decorate and label their clay pot with their name, school, year, and designs, then sculpt fruits and vegetables using...

Have your class look for a pot of gold. Learners create a St. Patrick's Day mini-book. They use the worksheet pages included to cut out and color St. Patrick's Day symbols. They staple the pages together to create a booklet.

Examine three perspectives of the slave trade - captain, sailor, and captive - through this collaborative analysis activity. Small groups study one perspective with a primary source to analyze. They discern what is a historical fact and...

Here's a fresh take on a mythology unit. Use the myths of the Mayan and Aztec peoples of Mesoamerica instead of the more traditional Greek and Roman stories. This abstract suggests possible approaches and resources that can be...

Is your Kindergarten class about to read the book, Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom? If they are, and you want a few wonderful activity ideas to reinforce phonemic awareness and letter identification skills, look no further. Here you'll find over...

What can your pupils do to promote better conditions for wildlife? After researching issues around wildlife management, class members use the Internet to locate three different organizations devoted to protecting wildlife. They then...

A reading of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech launches a study of rhetorical devices such as hyperbole, allusion, metaphor, simile, personification, connotative language and parallel structure. Class members then...

Fourth graders, while visiting a colonial farm, are shown artifacts and participate in a craft instructional activity. They write about the experience at a later date.

Have your pupils just finished reading biographies? Extend their study by having them craft a biography newsletter about the subject of their biography.  Using a word processor, they create, revise and edit their report, and add...

Young readers assume the role of Genre Sleuths to investigate the characteristics of folktales, fantasies, and mysteries. For this session you will need to collect a variety of books on a topic you have been studying. Groups then examine...

Begin at the end. Present your class with an expository essay and ask them to create an outline of the article, paying particular attention to the main ideas and the details supporting these ideas. After a discussion of what they have...

A reading of Theodore Roethke’s dark "Root Cellar" and Sylvia Plath’s more abstract "Mirror" launches a discussion of imagery and personification in poetry.  After finding examples of personification in the poems, class members...

Spanish learners will follow directions given in Spanish (provided here) to craft an "ojo de dios". Learners will also discuss where it originated from and what its purpose is. 

C.S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength provides the model for using dreams in narrative writing. After a discussion of the purpose of dreams in Lewis’s tale, class members craft a story in which their dreams play an essential role.