Students study different kinds of sand, and practice their observational and writing skills.

Elementary schoolers write the names of five friends in a box, capitalizing their names. They think of five places they have been and write them using correct capitalization. Everyone writes the day and month as well as their birthday...

Before the lesson begins, the teacher writes a paragraph about a favorite toy from his/her childhood. The paragraph is read to the class, and each of the sentences are closely looked at for details and support of the topic sentence....

Let's learn the letter h! Elementary learners will hear the sound, learn a catchy tongue twister, and identify the sound in different words the teacher says. After some writing practice, read A House for Hermit Crab, by Eric Carle,...

Students participate in a scavenger hunt using their sense of sight. They bring various texture materials from home and discuss how things feel. Students identify the smells inside five jars. They discuss things they hear and why hearing...

Using a three-column chart labeled "Character," "Action," and "Trait," pupils analyze the traits of several characters from a short story. The lesson is designed for a SMART board, but a teacher could easily do the lesson without the...

Here is a strategy for groups to contribute to whole class vocabulary development. Teams (based on seating rows) work together to look up dictionary definitions of words from upcoming sections of the book (though previous sections seem...

What's happening in this poem? Have your high schoolers participate in an activity about connotation and denotation. They apply the concept of connotation to a reading of Theodore Roethke's poem "My Papa's Waltz." Lead a discussion about...

Students engage in the practice of freewriting to improve expressing written thoughts. Then the process of editing takes place to solidify the practice of the writing process.

Sixth graders explore details from a story to develop ideas and opinions about character traits. Using a Smart Board, 6th graders create a chart explaining the character's action and traits. In groups, students discuss and describe...

Learners write in the pronoun that correctly completes each of 10 sentences in a passage about intercultural marriage. Check the passage first so you can be clear with your learners (or open a discussion on the subject) of plural...

Emerging writers create a response to their reading. They read Notes from the Trail and discuss whose perspective the journal entry is written from. Then, they write a response to the journal entry in first person perspective as if...

High schoolers examine the political status of Puerto Rico. In this global studies lesson, students explore Puerto Rico and consider the feelings of Puerto Ricans regarding their unique political status.

Sixth graders discover the importance of information sources by researching the United States History.  For this research gathering lesson, 6th graders examine a historical painting of George Washington and analyze what it means,...

Eleventh graders listen to a brief history lesson about the 40's and 50's mid-West America and the Migrant workers that worked the fields. Next, learners will read a short story written by Tomas Rivera (both in Spanish and English)....

While this resource is actually attempting to sell a product, the foundational ideas may be worth looking into. Using Braidy the StoryBraid doll, learners will gain a better understanding of beginning, middle, and end, as well as story...