Students create poems and sound compositions using instruments, sounds, and pictograph notation. After listening Debussy's Children's corner suite, they brainstorm a list of snow vocabulary words. Students write poems and in groups...

Chopin was a lovely composer who played the piano masterfully. Third graders are introduced to Chopin, his piano sounds, triple meter, music patterns, movement, and the waltz. They listen to his music while hearing the story Butterflies...

Introduce your middle schoolers to a performance and movement activity that uses their favorite stories from fairytales and folklore. They practice basic acting skills, create dialogues with a partner, and then as guided practice,...

Get your pupils thinking about some of the big ideas present in Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson with this anticipation guide. Learners decided if they believe a series of statements are true or false. A discussion follows.

Introduce Nancy Farmer's award-winning science fiction novel, The House of the Scorpion, with an anticipation guide that asks readers to agree or disagree with a series of statements that reflect the major concepts in the story. Follow...

Prior to reading Tolkien's The Hobbit, class members respond to a series of statements in an anticipation guide that introduces many of the central concepts of the novel.

Students explore the images and idioms related to love in their own culture. They examine new rituals recently created in Japan by reading and discussing "Osaka Journal:Japanese Date Clubs Take the Muss Out of Mating."

Bring a lesson about Negro League Baseball to your Black history unit, or any other research unit throughout the year. While the lesson plan itself is simplistic, there are several good ideas that you could use, such as creating trading...

Such an ambitious lesson! Third graders with special needs listen to an audio recording of the novel, Moby Dick. They stop often to discuss each of the main characters and analyze their actions in the story. They then make puppets of one...

Class members create a PowerPoint presentation showing artifacts they would include in a time capsule. The artifacts and explanations reflect personal hobbies, grooming choices, school life, etc. A great way for class members to...

Think outside the box! Scholars work on the Frayer Model, completing boxes for the word integrity. They turn and talk with partners to discuss real-life examples and some from To Kill A Mockingbird. Readers then discuss integrity, taking...

Students read a multicultural book called "This Is the Way We Go to School" by Edith Baer and Steve Bjorhman. They become culturally aware of the different nationalities around the world and different ways that they may do things on a...

Direct your class’s attention to the elements that make their community unique. After examining sample travel brochures, groups select something from their community to use as the subject, and then research, create, and publish a...

How did the television change people's lives? Learners consider the question as they complete their storyboards about the invention of the TV, adding visual elements along the way. Then, they participate in a peer review to offer and...

Weigh the pros and cons. Class members continue sharing their thoughts on media and events by watching the video John Chancellor Reports on the Integration at Central High School. They discuss the advantages and disadvantages of gaining...

A great resource for your unit on Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Small groups conduct research about related topics (list included), write papers, present PowerPoint slide shows, and take a student-created test. Fill in a few...

What happens next? Work on story sequence with a instructional activity that prompts kids to put a story back in order. Additionally, they discuss what would happen if one event was missing from the sequence.

Students develop their abilities to solve problems both in school and in a variety of situations similar to that they have encountered in life. They define the term ecosystem in nature by comparing them to familiar organizational...

Prepare your readers for Briar Rose with an Anticipation Guide that asks them to agree or disagree with a series of statements that reflect issues raised by Jane Yolen’s narrative about a young girl’s research into her grandmother’s...

Before your high schoolers embark on the journey of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, provide them with this prereading activity. Independently, they respond to seven statements that connect with the novel. For example, they must decide if...

Encourage text-to-self connections with a prereading strategy designed for Flipped. Clear steps are included, and the actual anticipation guide is the final page of the three-page packet. Ten statements are provided, and class members...

Friendship, family, and violence are the subjects of an anticipation guide designed to accompany Rodman Philbrick's young adult novel, Freak the Mighty. Individuals complete the included guide, discuss their responses in groups, and then...

Create an anticipation guide with your class for Life of Pi. They will have likely heard of the novel and maybe even seen the movie, but provide them with this guide to get them thinking. Eight statements are given, and your class...

As an introductory activity to Mississippi Trial, 1955, class members use color-coded dots to respond anonymously to a series of statements about prejudice and responsibility to their fellow-man that are posted about the room. The...