Students read, analyze, critique and study the novels, "The Name You Once Gave Me," by Mike Phillips and "The Dying Wish," by Courttia Newland. They evaluate an extract from each novel and consider how a theme can provide a framework for...

Students investigate heroes in their community by presenting a story of a true hero to their class.  In this storytelling instructional activity, students interview a local person who has performed a heroic deed and create a...

Students explain how individual elements (e.g., plot, theme, character, conflict, etc.) comprise the structure of a play. They write an original one-act play with developed characters, specific setting, conflict, and resolution.

Sixth graders study about Impressionism and Post Impressionism. They create a watercolor collage.

Students explain dance as a way to create and communicate meaning and demonstrate the difference between pantomiming and abstracting a gesture.

High schoolers create believable self-portraits incorporating selected food items as details, forms, and texturesThe compositional focus is a head-and-shoulders portrait appropriate to the food theme resulting in a humorous illustration....

Students, after viewing the video "Tell About the South," critique the section on the Fugitive Poets. They brainstorm why this unique group of poets might have formed and became so influential in the south. In addition, they focus on how...

Explore how illustrations add to a story. Young learners will look at picture books to see how the pictures tell the story. They create illustrations to go with a chosen story, and then flip the activity so they have to write a story to...

Get ready to review and revise! Scholars peer edit each other's literary analysis essay drafts. Next, using peer and teacher feedback, pupils compose their final drafts. 

Take note. Scholars receive their claim drafts back to revise and write their claims and three pieces of evidence on notecards. They save the notecards to use when the verbally present their claims to the class. At the end, individuals...

Introduce your high school scholars as to how to use counterclaims in argument writing. Learners explore this skill with collaborative efforts and technology. Together they explore the pros and cons of homework and develop a thesis for...

Some books are perfect for drawing connections between multiple subjects. The book Hill of Fire becomes the hub for three very different, yet related activity ideas. First the class hones their oral language skills by creating an...

Introduce middle schoolers to playwriting and the elements of drama with a six-session storytelling unit that encourages kids to expand their acting and writing skills. The 12-page packet includes overviews of the lessons,...

The class creates and performs a movement performance of the creation story found in the Jewish tradition. This lesson begins with the research of Israeli culture and culminates in a performance of the narrated creation story....

High schoolers examine the New York Times review of the film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and explore the elements of scriptwriting. They read the article about the film adaptation screenplay and examine a...

Both the writer and the reviewer contribute to this editing instructional activity. Before handing the paper to a partner, the writer lists specific areas of concern for the reader to address. The editor addresses these concerns and...

When your pupils read an account of an event, are they conscious of the fact that this particular account might focus on certain details, while ignoring others? Open their eyes to bias and varying interpretation of facts with the...

Students demonstrate three different watercolor techniques using flower pictures and flowers as the inspiration. They work with organic shapes.

Young scholars become familiar with dance vocabulary and, with their bodies, create shapes and transitional movements to depict emotions related to the theme of 'courage.' They coordinate their movements to music and critique each...

Students create a poem on about spring. They read final version of their poem chorally. They write reflections of their experience in creating the poem.

The photograph, Nellie and her Italian Soda is viewed and discussed by the class. They are instructed to use the photograph as inspiration to write a poem about non-events, or things that are beautiful in every day life. Pupils use...

Students employ their technology skills to produce campaign commercials. In this political campaign lesson, students discover the appropriate uses of video cameras and create fictitious campaign commercials.

Drafting a strong first sentence for a summary is an important step. Writers can use the formula presented on this handout to get started. The resource lists three steps to put together a strong topic sentence, as well as tips and hints...

High schoolers pick a poet to conduct research from. They read and recite one of the works of poetry. Then using critical analysis find methods of construction in order to create a similar personal poem. The poem is then posted on the...