Teach your class about the necessities of life using the book Tillena Lou's Day in the Sun. After a teacher-read-aloud, students make puppets depicting different plants and animals from the story and illustrating the habitat in...

What do the theme song from Gilligan's Island, the nursery rhyme "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat," and the poem "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" all have in common? Why, they're ballads of course! Challenge your young balladeers to compose their...

What's the difference between a real dog and a pretend dog? First graders choose the illustrations of Gloria the dog from Officer Buckle and Gloria that show a dog doing something that a real dog can do, such as barking or sleeping...

What are the consequences and costs of inflation? What is CPI, and how do we calculate it? This resource answers these questions in an organized and in-depth manner, and also includes a activity of follow-up questions designed for...

Use headlines to help your learners understand what news is. First, present a list of categories to your class. Then instruct small groups to play a game in which they sort headlines into the categories. Discuss the result and examine...

Examine the characters in Willa Cather's My Antonia with a group project. Small groups illustrate their chosen character on a large piece of paper and choose quotes from the text that tell about the character. Where students choose...

Lie low. Break the ice. He's a night owl. Idioms, in this case idioms created by Shakespeare, are the focus of resource that includes a PowerPoint presentation, an activity, and a brief lesson, all intended to give kids a chance to...

Your kids have probably heard these idioms before, but do they know what they mean? Help them learn that haste makes waste, an ill wind blows no good, and that ignorance is bliss with a list of popular expressions.

Question what you read with a lesson based on Bloom's Taxonomy. As kids read The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, they formulate questions with cues from a graphic organizer, and answer them to work on critical...

Explore ways to make research and writing more interesting. The first in a series of three challenge activities designed to accompany Theme 2: Give It All You've Got involve creating sports cards, designing cereal boxes, and using other...

For those enrolled in a college honors program, four years of hard work culminate in one paper—an honors thesis. A handout outlines the steps to writing the paper, beginning with a sample timetable and time management instructions. Once...

An ecosystem is really just the flow of energy through many different living organisms. A study of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book leads to an environmental science activity in which learners study how various factors can affect...

It's a jungle out there! Teachers gain information to guide learners through reading The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Instructors give an overview of the characters in the story and a summary of each chapter. The resource includes questions...

An activity packet explores the concept of time. First, scholars read two stories—The Very Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle and Telling Time: How to Tell Time on Digital and Analog Clocks! by Jules Older, illustrated by Megan Halsey....

Read a Hans Wilhelm story and complete creative writing activities. Start by reading Tyrone, the Horrible and discuss the behavior in the book. Then split your class into groups to create a "bully" situation and discuss possible...

Students analyze the components of a book to use it as a model for the creation of their own book. The title, author, illustrator, front cover, back cover, dedication page, and author are examined in this lesson.

Students examine the process of cooking a meal. In this cooking background instructional activity, students explore cooking utensils, recipes, songs, and literature. They go through stations that encourage dramatic play and hands-on...

Young scholars research and explore the Harlem Renaissance and its rich history to create a bold, bright drawing illustrating everyday stories of people in their community. They research William H. Johnson, Romare Bearden and Jacob...

Students organize and make plans to interview their relatives about their family history and view any heirlooms, diaries or photographs their relatives may have kept over the years. They write and illustrate the story of their family's...

Learners illustrate a simile. In this figurative language lesson, second graders are introduced to similes. They read the story Quick as a Cricket and talk about the similes used. Everyone chooses a simile and draws a picture to go along...

Watch video clips that illustrate a character's development. Your class can watch video's about a character and her development through a life decision. They then complete a timeline activity for the story.

Model for young readers how to use illustrations, chapter titles, and events in a story to draw inferences and make predictions. Learners then practice these essential comprehension strategies by drawing inferences for another section of...

Young scholars write their own books based on a life experience that they have had. In this life experiences lesson plan, students practice the writing process along with illustrating their book.

Students write a class A,B,C book based on people and events important to the class. They use capital letters at the beginning of sentences and for proper names. They use periods at the end of sentences.