Improve your pupils' language skills with these discussions and activities. There are four topics included here, and each is paired with discussion prompts (small group and whole class), student handouts, and teacher notes. After...

The Amazon Horned Frog is the focus of a activity designed to encourage readers to ask and answer questions. A frog-themed poem opens the door to a whole-group discussion. Following a read-aloud of an informational text, a three-page...

The challenge in telephone conversations is that speakers and listeners cannot rely on body language to communicate. This 31-page packet includes a curriculum guide, lesson plans, assessments, and resource lists designed to help...

A lesson encourages scholars to be star community members. Pupils take part in a class discussion that challenges them to brainstorm at least two ways to show responsibility within one's community. Small groups play a game in which...

After reading chapter 14 of the story Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, scholars take part in a read-aloud of the poem If by Rudyard Kipling and compare it to the reading of Bud, Not Buddy. Learners then go deeper into the poem...

Pupils take part in a close reading of the poem, If by Rudyard Kipling, in which they delve deep into its meaning and identify its rules to live by. As the grand discussion progresses, learners then relate the poem's rules with those...

One activity, two essays, and one central theme: qualities of an argument essay. Here, scholars first describe the qualities of an argument essay regarding Bud's rules to live by from the novel Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis....

Here is a lesson that provides scholars with two opportunities to stretch their compare-and-contrast muscles. First, learners compare and contrast their experience reading the fourth stanza of If by Rudyard Kipling to listening to the...

Fables can teach us about life's morals, but they are also helpful for reviewing verb tense, spelling, and word choice. Three reading passages feature well-known fables, each with several opportunities for learners to circle the correct...

Having prepared for an analysis essay about one of the characters from The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, tenth graders demonstrate their understanding in a mid-unit assessment. They focus on either Jing-Mei or Waverly in an informative...

Focusing on a specific inquiry and area of investigation, ninth graders continue their research projects and portfolios based on Temple Grandin's Animals in Translation and their questions. The activity guides readers through the...

Complete a puzzle one piece at a time. Scholars gather in triads to complete jigsaw activities over a monologue from Good Masters! Sweet Ladies. They read as a group and independently and use sticky notes to identify the gist of...

Your learners talk to each other every day, but are they really listening? Use a lesson based on listening skills to ensure that class members feel heard and respected. It includes games, discussion topics, and self-assessment tools...

Introduce the basics of Thanksgiving with a language arts instructional activity. As pupils practice observation skills, vocabulary, and reading comprehension, they design paper turkeys by outlining their hands and feet and by...

Get your young bunnies crafting and designing cards for Easter as they hunt for eggs, sing songs, and learn prepositions with a sweet activity.

Time to pick a side! Building on the Fishbowl activity from the previous instructional activity, scholars choose a position about whether the American Academy of Pediatrics should raise its screen time recommendations. Using notes,...

Help young learners become active listeners and strong public speakers with a set of activities that range from paraphrasing, to discussions, and self-reflection. Additionally, the lessons address social media skills and non-verbal...

Scholars read "Doc-Lap at Last" and participate in a Three Threes in a Row activity in which they answer three questions about the text in their rows. They then discuss the central idea of the text. Readers finish the lesson plan with a...

Scholars think about what message Laura Hillenbrand tries to convey to readers in Unbroken. They begin by sharing their thoughts as thematic statements. After sharing, learners work on explaining their ideas in an Unbroken Thematic...

As a culminating unit activity, pupils revise their argumentative essays based on the novel Lyddie by Katherine Paterson. Paying careful attention to grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary, they incorporate teacher feedback to revise and...

What goes around, comes around. Using the resource, pupils read Act 4.3 of Macbeth, in which Macduff and Malcolm plan to attack Macbeth. Scholars then hold a discussion and complete writing activities to analyze Shakespeare's structural...

Scholars continue reading Act 3.1 from Shakespeare's Hamlet, discovering Ophelia's monologue about Hamlet. They complete a Quick Write to analyze Ophelia's perspective of Hamlet and participate in an optional jigsaw activity to explore...

How does poetry help people better understand societal issues? Pupils participate in a jigsaw activity to analyze poems from the novel Inside Out & Back Again. Next, they connect the poems to real-life refugee experiences from the...

Here's a surefire way to ensure that class discussions go swimmingly! Using the resource, scholars participate in a Fishbowl activity, forming two concentric circles in the classroom. As the group on the inside of the fishbowl discusses...