Learners discuss their experiences on a ranch. As a class, they tell the best part of their experiences or one thing they gathered from being on the ranch. They listen to the story and identify five items to focus on in the reading and...

Pupils explore writing a short story. In this literature lesson plan, students are introduced to "The Minister's Black Veil." After reading, pupils write their own story with a main character who exhibits some of the characteristics of...

Students use position words to describe where their teacher is sitting and read a story that makes use of position words. In this spatial lesson, students make a stick puppet and play Simon Says focusing on using position words in the...

Eighth graders take photographs for a photo essay contest. Using primary source documents, they review various types of artwork and discuss how some of the images have become commonplace. They use the internet to view examples of...

Students experiment with illuminating important text.  In this fictional literature lesson, students research Shakespearean sonnets.  Students identify key elements of the sonnets, and examine the relationship between...

Students read Zora Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God and explore her life history as well as novel analysis activities. In this novel analysis instructional activity, students identify elements in the novel and its overall literary...

Khaled Hosseini’s video “Using Real People and Events” motivates learners to reflect on their own experiences and to use those experiences as the basis of a graphic novel that expresses a universal truth. The richly detailed plan...

Reading Mary Pope Osborne's Civil War on Sunday? Here's a packet crammed with activities, exercises, reading guides, and project suggestions. A must-have for your curriculum library.

Analyze the setting behind the Great Depression in California with Pam Munoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising. Middle schoolers assess the protagonist during her coming-of-age moments, while migrant workers manage the hardships of the...

Teach your class the basics of narrative writing! The resource first describes the Common Core standard for narrative writing in-depth, and then moves into how to apply the standard. Show your class the example essay and quiz them...

Fifth graders explore the concept of waste management. For this recycling lesson, 5th graders discover the history of waste management and discuss how the U.S. should respond to the issue of ever-increasing waste.

From Mr. Merdle to Mr. Madoff? A viewing of the PBS adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “Little Dorrit” launches an examination of greedy characters in literature and a study of greed, unfairness, and economic hardship today. The richly...

There's nothing like the Wild Wild West! Scholars investigate the American Frontier through the eyes of Kit Carson. To complete the first installment of a three-part series, they use presentations, a short video, and primary and...

Examine letters written during war-time. In this cross curricular history and English lesson, middle and high school scholars read letters and poems written by soldiers in the Vietnam war. They will examine the perspective and emotions...

Need an extra challenge for your best readers? Check out a unit that uses Hannah Webster Foster’s epistolary novel, The Coquette, published in 1797, as the anchor text. The resource is packed with project ideas; each with its...

Fifth graders research life in Alaska and compare life there to their lives in this activity. They read "Julie of the Wolves." They research through the novel and other reference books facts about the Alaskan climate and geography. ...

Students work in groups of two to develop questions and sample answers that are relevant, accurate and use higher level of thinking skills about a literary unit. Students present their questions and answers to the class as a review of...

Fourth graders complete multi-curricular activities for weather. In this weather lesson, 4th graders complete creative writing, research, and weather data analysis activities for the lesson.

Students are introduced to a variety of customs and traditions relating to the culture of Ireland. They view a video, explore the art of storytelling, research sport origins, cook Irish food and discuss well-known Irish proverbs.

Students identify and reproduce simple patterns (e.g., red blocks alternating with blue blocks; clap-clap-stamp) and create and extend simple patterns using a variety of materials or actions (e.g., popsicle sticks, pebbles, stickers,...

Students listen carefully and put pieces together following the teacher's instructions. They point to the different shapes and sizes as they are being called out and count the number of items they have in front of them. They decorate...

Everything you wanted to know about the history of English literature and language but were afraid to ask. From Beowulf to Canterbury Tales, the Knights of the Round Table to Robin Hood, Addison, Fielding, Shakespeare, Swift, and many...