Organizing information gathered for a research topic can be a challenge. Read aloud notes you have collected on a topic and use suggestions offer by the class to categorize and sort this information. Partners then follow this pattern,...

Experience famous geographical landmarks around the United States right from the comfort of your very own classroom. Learners research national landmarks, such as the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park, and Niagara Falls, and then...

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. 

The ninth in a fourteen-instructional activity series, this plan marks a sort of midpoint in a unit devoted to the study of short stories. Pupils learn about theme and work on their short story projects by adding to their blogs, checking...

Don't be fooled by the title; this is not really a lesson on elements. It is a project on classification, using the periodic table as an example. For that reason, it could be used in any branch of science. As an example, a group may...

A great idea for showing language arts pupils the universality of themes, even in the real world! Have class members choose an idea-noun (peace, justice, war, love, etc.) at the beginning of the year or semester. They complete weekly...

Third graders list creative uses for old objects. In this recycling lesson, 3rd graders work in groups to brainstorm creative, new uses for old, everyday items. This is the first lesson in a unit on recycling.

Students view art images of Norman Rockwell's family traditions and celebrations. They search the internet for information, and complete reflective and creative writing and sketch assignments. Students recognize and name emotions shown...

Students will increase spelling and vocabulary skills. Then they will develop critical thinking skills. Next, they will develop expository writing skills. Finally, students will practice language skills with non-traditional text: a...

Eighth graders are taught to give an understanding of an author's time period and life. Teachers support the writing process and research techniques with technology and research books. Alternative assessment is used for evaluation.

Fifth graders write rebus stories using technology. They share the rebus stories with younger students

Fourth graders, after defining the task and searching for some creative strategies, role play being a Park Ranger who tries to save Big Bend from being removed from the National Park system in Texas. They support the keeping of Big Bend...

Students participate in a round-robin writing activity started from a single writing prompt. Different coins be worked into the story throughout the course of the activity.

Let's get creative! With the fun resource, pupils continue working on their graphic novelettes about an invention, adding text and images to each section. When finished, they engage in a peer critique process, giving and receiving...

To prepare for crafting their own memoir, class members examine poetry by Margaret Atwood, Billy Collins, Robert Hayden, and Claude McKay, stories by Richard Rodriquez and Willa Cather, and Barry Levinson's film Avalon. They examine...

Let's get graphic. Serving as the final performance task of the unit, scholars complete their graphic novelettes and design covers based on their sketches. Finally, they present their hard work to classmates. 

Young readers use graphic organizers, such as Venn diagrams and story maps, to analyze a variety of folktales and the elements of a story. They use writing, sequencing activities, and creative art to identify the morals learned from a...

Take note. Scholars receive their claim drafts back to revise and write their claims and three pieces of evidence on notecards. They save the notecards to use when the verbally present their claims to the class. At the end, individuals...

Lesson 10 in a series of human rights lessons focuses on the skills of finding evidence and summarizing. Your young readers work to compare the two texts they have read in this unit: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights...

The eighth lesson plan in this series continues the focus on vocabulary and increasing young readers' awareness of academic language. Pairs of learners participate in a short vocabulary review activity called Interactive Words in which...

Present the facts. Scholars create presentations of their research on DDT using their Cascading Consequences chart and a Stakeholders Impacts chart as visuals. They discuss the term stakeholders and create a Stakeholders Impacts chart...

Your class continues to explore the history of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In addition to learning about the background of this text, learners work on the skill of identifying and understanding key academic vocabulary....

It's all in the numbers. Determine your pupils' level of understanding of scientific notation using this assessment task. The final lesson in the series assesses scholars on the application of scientific notation in real-life...

Introduce the background of design and designers and their role in communicating their thoughts to others. In groups, you can assign participation in a writing cluster on various designers and write paragraphs to submit to magazines. To...