Students read My Name is America about the Donner Party journey and create a scrapbook of what they read. In this Donner Party lesson plan, students also map out the journal they read about.

Students define "visualize," practice visualizing day at beach, read poem, Crocodile Toothache, silently, listen to teacher read same poem aloud, share visualizations with classmates, read first chapter of book, Sarah, Plain and Tall,...

Learners read independently the novel, "Dragonwings," by Laurence Yep and make connections between a text and the world. They summarize, paraphrase, analyze and evaluate skimming and scanning techniques when reading a novel. Each student...

Students observe and demonstrate the process of summarizing text. They read and discuss the steps to summarize text, then in small groups read and summarize an article about frogs from "National Geographic" online. Independently they...

Young scholars exercise the skill of phoneme awareness with vocal gestures to create the sound of /v/. They review the way to print the letter "V," how to form the /v/ sound and create a hand gesture to help them recall the vocal gesture...

First graders, with a collection of various art supplies, plant a seed to observe it growing and record specific data on a data record sheet. They create a collage from various magazines of ten different foods farm animals eat and make a...

Students read Animal Farm and examine how power corrupts. They role-play situations involving power and control. They investigate corruption and abuse of power in society. They write propaganda articles and hold panel discusssionsabout...

Students read the novel, Fallen Angels, and examine the theme of coming of age during the Vietnam War. They create timelines of the 1960s, highlighting important issues of the era. They write research papers focusing on one particular...

All things considered, it will be a good day for readers as they manage on their own to develop questions about what intrigues, bothers, or confuses them in Laurie Halse Anderson's tale of Mattie Cook and the Yellow Fever epidemic...

Here is a must-have resource for studying fairy tales, myths, and folktales with your class! It includes instructional ideas, activities, and materials to support a month-long review of these three unique genres of writing.

Learn how to apply visual and meaning cues to reading unknown words. Readers will explore what to do when they come to a word they do not know as they watch the teacher model the use of these cues and then participate in guided and...

Have your class read the story "The Magic Lake," retold by Liana Romulo, from Filipino Children's Favorite Stories. Guide them to identify the problem, solution, and universal theme. They compare the theme of this story to the theme of...

Encourage more pun-derstanding of word play in your literary scholars as they explore Brian P. Cleary's book Rhyme and Punishment: Adventures in Wordplay. Although this isn't suggested, consider beginning this study by simply showing...

A thorough guide to all ten chapters of Barbara Park's The Kid in the Red Jacket would be a great addition to your reading unit. Each page covers one chapter of the book, complete with vocabulary and content questions, and...

Fifth graders explore the Adventures of Don Quixote in a four-week language arts unit. Scholars listen to and discuss a new chapter each day as well as examine vocabulary and practice word work including suffixes, subject-verb agreement,...

Students read "Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon," by Catherine Thimmesh. They watch portions of the movie "Apollo 13." Students use the internet and the attached study guide to discover specific information...

Students view a video clip of the experiences of Japanese-Americans during World War II. They read parts of a book in which a child tells her story about living in the internment camps. They participate in a simulation activity as well.

Second graders listen to the story, THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF and in pairs, discuss the theme of the book and two things that they liked about it. They then read the book OOPS and discuss the theme of the book identifying the things they...

Popcorn is a tasty part of a culminating activity designed to motivate readers to share important literary elements. The popcorn fills the inside of a white paper bag that is transformed on the outside into a presentation tool with the...

Second graders observe the teacher model writing a letter to the author of the book, COPS AND ROBBERS. They then compare the story structure of the book to those of FUNNYBONES and identify the setting, characters and theme.

After a class discussion on strategies pupils can use to pre-write, learners are given a topic which they use to guide them in selecting a book to read. Everyone uses a worksheet, embedded in the plan, to write down information from the...

Following a detailed activity and reading guide students will better grasp their reading of the book Stuart Little. They visit a series of web sites to gain a mouse's perspective then create a Mouse Movie with an iPod camera and Keynote....

Is your class reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer? Are you looking to give them reading comprehension questions to guide their reading? This online resource divides chapters 14-31 into four sections, providing questions for each. Assign...

Students discuss the differences between a storybook and an information book. Students use various materials found in nature to make a nature collage. Students make a nature dictionary using pictures and their own definitions from the...