Students examine the writing process of Kate DiCamillo, the author of "Because of Winn-Dixie." They read author's comments, watch a slideshow narrated by the author, complete a free-write activity, and discuss Kate DiCamillo's top five...

Students examine a letter written by Thomas Jefferson. In this lesson on the Thomas Jefferson Library, students discover a methodology for creative writing by examining Jefferson's letter to congress explaining why they should purchase...

Mount a variety of pictures (fantasy, rustic, portraits, action) on large sheets of paper and post them around the classroom. Groups rotate from poster to poster, adding adjectives to describe each of the pictures. Writers use these word...

Is that the Easter bunny hiding an egg? First graders use the lines provided on an illustrated wroksheet to tell a story about what they see. A reference web site for additional activities is given.

Pupils participate in a computer game which helps them develop their hand-eye coordination and imagination. They can use this activity before doing writing activities or show and tell.

For this writing worksheet, students write a short story about a picture of a family. Students are given lines on which to write. A reference web site is given for additional activities.

Perfect for both classroom and homeschool settings, this 72-page resource packet, designed for C.S. Lewis's The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, is a must-have for your curriculum library. Chapter-by-chapter vocabulary lists and...

Talk about technology in the classroom. This plan has all the resources needed to create a non-linear or branching story. Included is a step-by-step tutorial that walks middle schoolers through the project description, a model of a...

An excellent series of five lessons on China awaits you and your young geographers. In these lessons, learners engage in hands-on activities, watch streamed video, access websites, and complete activities in cooperative groups in order...

Introduce your class to ekphrastic poetry with an exercise that asks them to examine Edward Hooper's painting House by the Railroad and Edward Hirsch's poem "Edward Hopper and the House By the Railroad." After a close reading...

Encourage close reading of the text and a focus on how Sandra Cisneros' develops her characters with an activity that asks teams to sort, group, and label character descriptions from The House on Mango Street.

Using a potter’s wheel to make functional art is an experience not common to most people. Provide your learners with a chance to see what pottery making is all about with an app that allows them to create pots, fire them, decorate them,...

In groups, learners design sets for the play, "Shakespeare Stealer." They sketch a scale model of a set and present it to the teacher, who will choose which group gets to design the entire set. 

Introduce your class to "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe with this series of activities, exercises, and worksheets. Class members examine an image, analyze a movie trailer, read a prose version of the poem, look up vocabulary, and pick out...

Learners explore space science by participating in a class WebQuest. In this constellation identification lesson, students view star charts based on the four seasons and identify the changes our sky goes through in the course of 12...

Students read sections of Mackenzie King's diary. King was the Prime Minister of Canada during WWII. They relate the importance of keeping a diary.

Young scholars examine fairy tales. As an introductory activity, students play the statue game. In groups, they write statements that tell the plot of the story. Using props, and without voices, young scholars retell the story by...

Young scholars express their knowledge of the vocabulary of creative dance by creating and performing a group dance.

Third graders engage in a writing lesson on constructing an introductory paragraph and is also a literature extension activity to be used after reading Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Young scholars develop a creative snowman using step-by-step stickers. They write a short story about the snowman they have created, explaining the sequence they used to create their snowman. Students present their completed story in...

Young scholars develop skills needed to write short stories. They pick out an object in the room and describe it without saying what it is. They describe their hand and the lines on their hand without using words "Line, finger,skin or vein"

Students examine how to use a rainbow picture as a graphic organizer through the use of color-coding. They produce a writing piece using this graphic organizer. They expand their writing from simple paragraphs to multi-paragraph stories.

Fifth graders discuss the history of sports in Iowa. In this sports lesson plan, 5th graders write a friendly sports letter and a how to directional writing. They write five entries in their journal from the point of view of a piece of...

Students connect with new creative ways to brainstorm ideas. Students encounter role playing with this lesson. Students predict future brainstorming topics. Students are encouraged to work with others in small group sessions.