"Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!" Primary graders write about an animal that interests them, describing what it looks like, where it lives, and what it eats.

Explore websites, complete research, and use technological tools to create a final multimedia presentation on what makes a community special. Learners of all ages work with a partner to research an interesting aspect of their community,...

Investigate adjectives with writers. They define adjectives and create their own sentences describing objects found at home using adjectives correctly. Focus on the five senses and sensory details.

How does Shakespeare develop the characters of Laertes and Ophelia in Hamlet? Scholars complete a Quick Write to answer the question. They also continue reading and discussing the first act of the play.

Use a Courbet painting of a cave or tunnel opening to reinforce the importance of descriptive writing. Writers of all ages use sensory details to describe what the scene depicts as they pretend to be in the painting. Then they imagine...

How is an essay like a hamburger? Detailing the "meaty" parts of a well-written essay, this presentation takes students through the process of using a strong thesis statement to write a thorough and engaging response to a Document Based...

Charles Dickens offers an excellent example of sensory writing in this reading comprehension activity. Learners read excerpts from the novel Hard Times in which he describes the New England industrial city of Coketown. They...

Check out this detailed resource for some beginning of the year activities. After examining examples, class members uses the computer lab to create a personal brochure enhanced with clip art or photos to introduce themselves to the...

Organization is key in essay writing. The two organizational charts included in this resource model the block approach and the point-by-point approach to organizing a compare and contrast style essay. After examining the...

Discover the connection of native peoples to their natural world, including cultural and agricultural practices, by studying the Zuni people of the American Southwest. This lesson plan includes examining a poster's photographs,...

Determining a theme or central idea is greatly emphasized in the Common Core standards. Target that skill though big metaphors and central symbols in Pam Muñoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising. Help your class reach the standard through...

How do writers use the interaction between elements like characterization and setting to create meaning? Readers of "A Worn Path" create a series of comic book-style graphics of Eudora Welty's short story and reflect on how Welty...

Could you imagine running into a stranger who looked exactly like you? Class members read about identical twins who were separated at birth, and answer three reading comprehension questions to practice comparing and contrasting...

Add a great resource to your collection of The Grapes of Wrath curriculum materials. A thorough packet contains loads of useful suggestions, whether you use the novel as an anchor text, as a reading circle...

Taxi! Have your travelers figure out how far they can go in a taxi for $10.00. They must account for the mileage rate and tip in their calculation. They can set up a table or make an equation to solve for the exact mileage they can...

Practice using context clues with a worksheet about making inferences. Five prompts encourage kids to interpret where each event takes place based on the details in each passage.

Multiple meaning words is the focus of a lesson designed to reinforce the use of context clues. Scholars listen carefully to a variety of sentences using the words pool and cast to decide which definition best fits the...

Contrary to popular belief, the monster's name in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is not Frankenstein. A teacher's guide for the novel helps readers make sense of key details in the text, define vocabulary words, and discuss prominent...

As part of a study of Spoken Word Poetry, class members watch a series of performance videos and note where poets get their ideas and the performance techniques used by the poets. Pupils then draft and share their poems.

While the European Union has been a part of economic landscape for decades, it grew out of a period of economic integration after World War II. Using a round table method, class members analyze and discuss the events leading up to the...

Give your classes practice at modeling using quadratic models with a resource that uses area and integer problems to allow individuals to create second degree polynomials. Young mathematicians solve equations using factoring and then...

Young scholars use a stick figure to help them learn to write with details. In this details lesson, students brainstorm details to add to the stick figure 'Plain Polly.' Young scholars then draw stick figures for their own writing and...

Young grammarians as well as language learners can benefit from a short presentation about using appositives to combine short, related sentences. After a brief definition of terms, pairs share their ideas and combine model sentences.

It’s poetry T.I.M.E! Individuals use the T.I.M.E. format (T = Title, thought, and theme;  I = Imagery and figurative language; M = music and sound; E = emotion) to study a poet, collect poems that have a similar theme, and create a...