Although this legislative process lesson plan is designed to accompany a specific text, it is valuable independently. Young learners participate in a picture walk (worksheet included) through My Senator and Me:...

Students explore U.S. government by participating in a role playing activity. In this House of Representatives lesson, students discuss the first day of congress and the role the House plays in running the United States. Students define...

Set down the basics of the three branches of government with the reading passage included here. After reading, class members answer five questions related to the passage.

Display the parts of speech on your classroom walls. Each part of speech is represented on its own page with the definition and purpose as well as examples images, words, and sentences. Great for reference and to brighten up your room!

Should junk food be banned in schools? Should the US open its borders to all immigrants? Should the US impose term limits for the House of Representatives and for the Senate? Using Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas...

To gain insight into the many different types of habitats, individuals must first get to know their own. Here, scholars explore their school environment, draw a map, compare and contrast their surroundings to larger ones. They then...

Introduce your class to ekphrastic poetry with an exercise that asks them to examine Edward Hooper's painting House by the Railroad and Edward Hirsch's poem "Edward Hopper and the House By the Railroad." After a close reading...

How many people and animals can cram into a single bed? Find out with this cross-curricular math and language arts instructional activity. Following along with a reading of the children's book The Napping House by Audrey Wood, young...

Students explore politics by defining several jobs in the government. In this House of Representatives lesson, students identify several important roles men and women have in the House as well as the Senate. Students identify what it is...

Visit the Magic Treehouse and take your class on a trip through time with a reading of the children's book Mummies in the Morning. Using the story to spark an investigation into Egyptian culture, this literature unit engages...

Students write about working in one branch of government.  In this branches of government lesson, students read about the three levels of government using various websites and then work in groups to discuss, illustrate and write...

Though the discrete content here is a pair of New York Times articles about a 1998 military strike on Iraq and the coincident impeachment by the House of Representatives of then-President Clinton, this detailed plan for creating,...

One skill essential to reading comprehension, is learning how to summarize a text. After reading a biography of Abraham Lincoln, readers demonstrate this ability by crafting a brief summary of Lincoln's life.

Socratic seminars are a great way to encourage the development of critical thinking, speaking, and listening skills. And Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is a perfect text for such a seminar. Use the questions in the packet to...

The danger of mob mentality is on display in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Get your class thinking with some challenging quickwrite questions, then assign characters from the play to be read aloud altogether. Links to worksheets...

Honor Abe Lincoln with a set of activity-based worksheets that can be used independently and in collaborative groups. Young historians participate in a listening activity where they fill in the missing blanks in a passage while being...

Students find out who their national, state, and local representatives are and write and mail a letter to one of them. The letter should be persuasive and should attempt to influence their representative's vote on a given issue.

Students discover how to identify and contact their local Representative. They can send an email or a regular letter to their Representative voicing their concerns. They share with the class any responses.

Through grand discussion, picture cards, and poems, enhance language proficiency with a Home Sweet Home themed unit created to support English language development. Each lesson follows a listen, speak, move, and/or look routine that...

Turn your classroom into a pig sty with a instructional activity based on the Appalachian folktale The Pig Who Went Home on Sunday. Similar to the story of The Three Little Pigs, the folktale tells a story of four pigs who leave...

The final lesson of a three-part series on Kate Chopin's The Awakening has scholars investigate life as a woman in late nineteenth-century America. They research the role of women in society through the eyes of the characters in the...

The English language is complex and sometimes counterintuitive. Guide young grammarians through a brief overview of the history of the English language with a presentation that includes lecture notes.

First graders compare their local area with the Belize landscape. They construct maps of the school area, adding descriptive information. They write haiku poems about their favorite outside places.

Discover a little bit about Thomas Jefferson in a brief reading passage. Learners then answer a set of multiple choice comprehension questions.