First graders explore homophones. In this spelling pattern lesson, 1st graders are led through a discussion on homophones and words that rhyme with homophones. The teacher leads the class in sorting these rhyming words based upon their...

Here’s the overview for a series of lessons about the Japanese American internment introduced by the resource entitled “A Fence Away From Freedom.” Included are the link to the Smithsonian website on which the lessons are based, a list...

Students identify the key characteristics that comprise American literary naturalism in Jack London's "To Build a Fire" and Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat." For this naturalism analysis lesson, students identify characteristics of the...

Students present in writing their reactions to the given prompts. Students watch some of the trailers for filming online. Students attend a showing of the movie on their own and write a review of it through analysis and utilizing their...

Students examine the challenges of a new language and culture. In this cultural lesson, student read Running by Peter Hessler and discuss obstacles faced, including the language barrier. Students write an essay about a time they...

Explore how illustrations add to a story. Young learners will look at picture books to see how the pictures tell the story. They create illustrations to go with a chosen story, and then flip the activity so they have to write a story to...

High schoolers examine Chinese and East Asian writing characters. They discuss how their writing systems differ from others found in the world. They practice reading and pronouncing Chinese and Japanese names and words.

Eighth graders read and discuss Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Then they invent a candy bar, name it and draw a picture of it. Finally, they write a short descriptive paragraph about it.

Young scholars explore the 5W's and H of journalistic writing. In this 5 W's and H lesson plan, learners read two articles from a newspaper and locate the 5 W's and H in the articles.

Students design a quilt square to reflect their special memory. In this family heirlooms lesson, students read The Patchwork Quilt and discuss the importance of family involvement in creating a family heirloom. Students write and publish...

Students develop critical thinking skills so that they may produce their own written plays or music from their thoughts and feelings. They express their thoughts based on what has been presented to them over the duration of the course.

Students examine work by Mark Twain in the context of pre- and post-Civil War America. In this cross curricular lesson, students gather biographical information about Twain, use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast him with...

Students prepare for the reading of iam Golding's novel, The Lord of the Flies, by exploring the theme through a discussion and sentence starter activity.

Students examine art related to the Civil War. They participate in activities that allow them to write poetry and drawings. They create their own journal and collect their work in a binder.

Students study how the Civil War affected Iowa natives. In this Iowa history lesson, students read the provided article on Iowa and its Civil War experiences. Students analyze the article to determine how the war affected civilians and...

Young scholars create movie posters based upon short stories they've recently read.  In this persuasive writing activity students analyze a poster that  is intended to persuade people to want to see the movie and convince...

Students submit their newsletter articles and a newsletter team proofreads them. Revisions are suggested. Writers revise their articles. Using a template from a word processing program, articles are typed in final form.

Fifth graders identify stereotypes of Indian people based on perceived characteristics. They discuss the misconceptions. Students define quality of information and give an example from the story "Seaman's Journal: On The Trail With Lewis...

Learners discuss animal adoption and pet care. In this pet lesson, students listen to the story Before You Were Mine by Maribeth Boelts. They discuss animals body language, feelings, and how to best car for them. 

Students practice critical thinking skills. They compare Ancient Roman influences on the Middle East region (Beit Shean, Masada, and Zippori) with Ancient Roman influences still present in our culture today.

Students practice their problem solving skills. In this addition and subtraction lesson, students solve story problems regarding the delivery of consumer goods.

For this early civilizations worksheet, learners read 4 paragraphs about great river civilizations and then label them Nile, Tigris and Euphrates, Indus, and the Huang He River Civilizations. Student also complete a writing prompt on the...

Students identify the characteristics of effective speeches. Students find elements of good speeches in the text and in the delivery of model speeches. Students build a working three-dimensional model of an invention or an actual...

Learners identify the mood and theme associated with the language of poetry. They discuss personal interpretation in small groups, and as a class and * experiment with language and rhythm.