Introduce young philosophers to the wisdom of China's most famous thinkers with a short bio. The reading comprehension passage includes an answer key.

Everybody's a critic—even your pupils! Using the included resources as a guide, screen films related to social justice and ask film enthusiasts to critique them. Publish the reviews for your school community or develop a film festival...

Two lessons focus on making a beat. Using popular African American music of its time, scholars listen and analyze the rhythm then recreate it with hands drums, and cups. 

Students take a virtual field trip to Memphis, Tennessee in their study of the blues, its characterisitics, founding fathers, and histororical influence on modern music. They compose blues lyrics that reflect present-day attitudes and...

Sharpen those pencils; it's time to write! Scholars begin writing the first body paragraph of their literary analysis essays. Additionally, pupils use graphic organizers to analyze a character's point of view from Laurence Yep's...

Body paragraphs are the building blocks of every essay. Pupils view and discuss a model essay using a rubric to evaluate one of its supporting paragraphs. Next, scholars use what they've learned to continue drafting their own literary...

Improve your fifth graders' persuasive writing skills in four weeks. Working independently, in peer editing groups, and with instruction, writers work over the 17 sessions to craft an argumentative essay. They craft a...

Students explore poetry by Issa. In this haiku instructional activity, students discuss and list the attributes of Japanese haiku as the read poetry by Issa. Students write their own haiku following the criteria presented.

Students identify character traits in African folklore by creating a character web of Anansi the Spider. In this character web lesson, students watch a video featuring a storyteller who tells a Pourquoi story about Anansi the Spider....

Students read Native American folktales.  In this multicultural literature lesson, students research the style of writing used in Native American folktales.  They view a video of a folktale, and discuss the meanings of the...

Students complete close reading and analysis activities for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. In this literature analysis lesson, students complete multiple close reading and analysis activities to evaluate the 19th century story.

Students discover the concept of a biography. In this biography lesson, students read, A Picture Book of Amelia Earhart by David A. Adler. They see how biographies tell a story and then work together to identify the beginning,...

What makes a character good or evil? Young readers discuss the characteristics and actions of good and evil characters in given fairy tales. They then read Snow White and discuss the characters in the story.

Learners identify fantasy details from a fairy tale they have read and give an explanation of how they know it is a fantasy detail. In this fantasy detail lesson plan, students make a list from the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood.

Students write the facts that they learned from the photographs in the book All About Cats and Kittens. In this pictures and photographs lesson plan, students present their fact to the class and add it to the chart.

Examine the rhyming words in nursery rhymes. Kids identify rhyming words by looking at the end spelling, and underline the parts of the words that are the same. They then complete guided practice and independent practice.

Bring a lesson on nursery rhymes to your kindergarten class room. Kids listen to Three Blind Mice and identify the characters. They then decide which parts of the story make it a nursery rhyme. For extra practice, use the same...

Students identify and describe ways in which life was different in the time historical period of Rosa Parks. In this historical time period lesson plan, students explain that one characteristic of a biography is that it takes place in a...

First graders discover how heading help us make predictions. The class discusses how informational text typically has heading that can aid them in determining what a chapter will be about. They read the heading and make predictions for...

Have your class investigate the use of a table of contents and index to find information. They identify characteristics of informational books and add them to a chart, then demonstrate how to use the index and table of contents by trying...

First graders pick out cultural details from the story The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush. In this culture lesson plan, 1st graders discuss how legends come from cultures that have traditions.

Exploring and characterizing myths can be fun. The class reads a version of "Pandora's Box," add to their myth chart, and discuss how gods and goddesses are commonly used in mythology. They work in groups to identify the gods and...

First graders listen to and view the structure of various insect poems.  For this structure of poems lesson, 1st graders compare to other text they have read. Students complete a vocabulary exercise about the word bold. Students...

First graders explore rhyme through the use of poems. For this language arts lesson, 1st graders read poems and identify words that rhyme within the poem. Students circle the rhyming words within a poem as they listen.