A six-week unit takes high schoolers through various works of African-American literature, including poems, plays, and short stories. The lesson plan format includes a week-by-week description of activities, goals, materials, and...

Help your pupils build narratives and stories that capture the attention of their readers with this set of worksheets. The first focuses on active introductory sentences, the second on exciting transition words and phrases, and the third...

Is there a way to connect creative thinking, logical reasoning, mathematical understanding, and humor? You bet there is! Kids begin by creating creative math quizzes, which require creative thinking to solve. For example, 1+1=24, one...

Fourth graders view examples of help-wanted ads as they plan and create their own writing in the fourteenth instructional activity of this unit on colonial trade. The engagement of the class is captured when the teacher shares an actual...

You could spend a full day discussing The Phantom of the Opera and not scratch the surface, but a set of lessons about the literary elements and themes of the musical production is a great start. Young thespians build upon the...

Get to you know your new class members with an ice breaker activity that uses their name and creativity. Scholars write their first name in cursive on a folded sheet of paper, cut around the curved lines, open the paper to view its new...

Ever have students complain that they don't know how to write a poem? Turn those complaints into magnificent works of writing with an independent poetry lesson about not being able to write poetry.

Creative activities help bring literature alive. The first of a set of lessons designed to accompany selections from Theme 4: Problem Solvers uses activities such as skits, responses to music, and social studies projects. These...

"Everything we have seen and touched and heard and experienced has, in some way, made us who we are." Your young learners will use this resource to create lists of influences (people, animal, nature, places, etc.) in their lives and to...

High schoolers analyze photographs as a development activity for their literacy skills. They will review the 6 Q's feature for analyzing photographs and analyze a variety of photographs and then write comments in the space around the...

Scholars become familiar with tagline literature with the help of the story, Alexander and the Horrible, No Good, Very Bad, Terrible Day by Judith Viort. After a read-aloud and whole-class discussion, leveled groups complete...

Does pride really goeth before the fall, or can it be essential to one's development? Second graders read two of Aesop's fables that refer to pride in their morals, and write a short essay about whether pride is good or bad, based on...

A three-part assessment challenges scholars to write opinion essays covering the topic of the student council. After reading three passages, writers complete a chart, work with peers to complete a mini-research project, answer...

Work gets done faster when people work as a team. The ninth installment of an 11-lesson unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl combines character education with research skills and creative writing activities. The lesson ends...

Celebrate the legendary Dr. Seuss on Read Across America Day with a plethora of activities set to five stories—The Cat in the Hat, The Lorax, Horton Hears a Who, Oh, the Places You'll Go!, and Green Eggs and Ham. Activities...

Students practice creative writing. They write an imaginative story in which quarters escape from the space shuttle and ends up in the hands of an alien. Students brainstorm ideas, write a draft, revise, and edit their composition.

As the story unfolds, readers discover Matilda has a superpower. Take part in an activity that has learners talking about what superpower they would have, how they would use it, and how it could help others. Then, after reading the...

When it comes to teaching writing, it helps to start small. A supplementary guide to A Writer's Guide to Powerful Paragraphs provides suggested activities to help writers craft a variety of paragraphs. Each assignment covers a...

Are you working on an autobiographical or narrative writing unit? Bring this instructional activity to your class, as it takes young writers through the process of drafting and sequencing an autobiography. After observing and...

Explore the structure of narrative writing with this fun, collaborative lesson plan. Start by reading aloud a short story, asking small groups of learners to fill in key events on a large story board prepared on the class whiteboard....

Finding the central idea is the focus of this lesson. Middle schoolers write descriptions of different animals using details and descriptive language. They watch a video of kids using descriptive language, and then use showing language...

This activity may have writers evaluate short compositions, but their subjects are quite tall: great Americans. Pupils read one another's compositions and closely examine how specific phrases and diction contribute to shaping American...

Honor the great poet, Shel Silverstein with eighteen activities and lessons showcasing his collection of poems from the book, Every Thing On It. Activities challenge scholars to rhyme words, make inferences, recite a poem, and...