Young scholars study and interpret a classical tragedy and role play a character from the play.  In this tragedy instructional activity, students discuss a specific work to discover the form, structure, and characteristics of the...

Students develop a comparison worksheet using one non fiction book and one fiction book they have read to be put into a class scrapbook. In their comparison students must have title, author, point of view, setting, characters, and other...

Fifth graders brainstorm known features of science fiction books and titles read. They pair up and discuss the possible physical characteristics fo a creature that could appear fron an excerpt of SCI-FI TALES.

Pupils are introduced to the guidelines for giving their book report on Southern Literature. With a partner, they work together to develop a catchy phrase to grab the reader's attention. They must also include whether the book is...

Students investigate the genre of poetry and focus upon its purpose while participating in class discussion. They read about the life and writings of Charles Simic and use it for the context of creating poetry that is similar in style.

Although dated in appearance, this PowerPoint presents current content in how learners can identity a theme, main idea, subject, and topic. The information is formatted for easy note taking, but offers no explanation of the themes...

In this first of four lessons on book design, students are introduced to the vocabulary of book design through the use of bookwalks and a non-linear PowerPoint presentation in game-show (Jeopardy!) format.

Young scholars research many different tall tales. They retell the tale in their own words and create an orginal tale of their own. They share their tall with the class along with illustrations.

Develop fluency with a variety of works. Help kindergartners use multiple strategies to understand text and decoding. They will create an alphabet poem book on Kid Works 2 to illustrate and write their own poem. In the end, they will...

Study the beauty of the landscape around you with an innovative art lesson. After discussing the foreground, background, and middle ground of landscape art, kids work on making their own piece of landscape art. The lesson provides...

Young learners examine different places in their neighborhood using informational texts. First they identify a place that they like to play and predict if it will be in the nonfiction book Community at Play.They will share their favorite...

Prepare middle schoolers for life in the tech world with a lesson on entering, storing, sorting, and creating database collections. They use a database tool, such as excel, to record the contents of their CD collections. They then...

Explore the text, Cold and Hot, with comprehension strategies for young readers. First, give them a purpose for reading: find out what the boy wore outside in the snow! Then have them use one-to-one matching and picture clues to...

Do you like music? Have your youngsters read We Play Music, practicing select reading strategies, like using picture clues to determine new words. Then, after their first independent read, have them re-read the story to a...

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...

Who am I? Pupils work to answer this question through a unit that explores personal narratives and identity. Exit tickets for activities that examine different poems, short stories, and autobiographical writing serve as prewriting for...

With its focus on nature, individualism, imagination, and rejection of traditional authority, Romanticism has great appeal to young high schoolers. After examining classic paintings and poems as well as current works, class members...

Explore Marylanders, Eubie Blake, Billie Holiday, Cab Calloway, and Chick Webb.

As part of a unit devoted to the study of autobiographies, this one-day library session focuses on developing research skills. Class members locate and properly cite a sketch of a Creative Commons image, as well as record the call...

Young readers consider text-to-self connections. Learners discover the text-to-self connection as they read Flora's Box by Tina Althaide. They practice high frequency words, prepositions, and 1:1 correspondence.

Young scholars discuss and define folklore, locate town of Sleepy Hollow, NY, on map, calculate distance from Sleepy Hollow to their school, if applicable, review vocabulary list from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, read story aloud, and...

Students complete pre reading, writing, during reading, and interdisciplinary activities for the book Big or Little, . In this reading lesson plan, students complete journal entries, go over vocabulary, answer short answer...

Students complete pre reading, writing, during reading, and interdisciplinary activities for the book Big Snowball Fight. In this reading lesson plan, students complete journal entries, answer short answer questions, have discussions,...

Students create 2-3 poems, a children's story, or a two or three dimensional piece of art.  In this Romantic Period lesson, students discuss the historical background of the Romantic Period and relevant literary terms. ...