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Political Cartoons: Literacy
Readers decode and deconstruct political cartoons to heighten critical thinking, extra-textual literacy, and making meaning from symbolism and metaphor. A compatible activity to use in English class when your 8th or 11th graders are...
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Vocabulary
Fourth graders classify vocabulary words by category. Through matching and classification activities, 4th graders sort words pertaining to trees and forest habitats into appropriate categories. They discuss how vocabulary practice can...
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1900 America: Primary Sources and Epic Poetry
Using Walt Whitman's Song of Myself and Hart Crane's The Bridge as models, class groups first craft their own epic poems for 1900 and, using primary sources, create a multi-media presentation that captures the sights and sounds of life...
Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Day 4
Class members have an opportunity to compare how a film and a play handle the same source material by viewing the opening chapters of George Lucas's Star Wars: A New Hope and acts I and II of Ian Doescher's play, William Shakespeare's...
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No Title
Fourth graders identify examples of figurative language in the book, "One Day in the Woods," by Jean Craighead George. They illustrate a figure of speech and identify it as a simile or metaphor. Each student then records their...
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Winter Wonderland: Internet Literature Project
Young scholars, using the Internet, communicate with peers around the world about winter-themed books. They study authors, write book reviews, re-write endings, interview book characters, create scene dioramas, paint murals, and write...
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Bag Stories
Students create a personal experience by writing and illustrating. They make a writing connection to family (or other thematic unit) and use descriptive words in writing. They write using a different perspective.
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Grammar and Writing: Writing Process and Action Verbs
Students review and revise their writing from a portfolio created during a thematic unit. In this writing lesson, students working in pairs examine and revise written pieces using action verbs. They add at least 10 action verbs to each...
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Poetry
Fifth graders are introduced to poetry and many authors who create it. In this language arts lesson, 5th graders create a class poetry book. Each student submits an original poem, along with an illustration.
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World can't wait, students say
Students create a lesson to present to the rest of the class about current laws, including expressing killing the president as a joke. Students research past events and current laws. Students present to the class using mult-media, oral...
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Immersion: Basic greetings
Hola, buenos dias! One method of language teaching requires the teacher to create an immersion classroom, meaning that no English is spoken. This plan shows how a teacher would go about modeling phrases to teach greetings and appropriate...
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Writing Process
Students read "The Great Kapok" and choose to agree or disagree with the main character's decision. They gather and organize details from multiple sources to defend their standpoints. They begin prewriting steps of process writing.
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Discovering Ourselves in Literature and Life
Students read literature and view other media to discover how print and non-print texts answer the thematic question: Who am I? students compare the ways ideas are presented, and create their own portfolios or personal Web pages...
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The Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire
Ninth graders investigate the growth of Christianity in Rome. In this Roman Empire lesson, 9th graders listen to a SMART Board lecture about the Jesus, Christianity, and the empire prior to composing thematic essays about the spread of...
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All About Groups And Community
Second graders examine the kinds of rules that different groups have. They work cooperatively in small groups to make rules for different groups and complete a worksheet imbedded in this plan. They have a greater understanding why rules...
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All About Groups & Community
Second graders examine the various kinds of groups in our communities and lives. They make charts and drawings of different groups and complete a worksheet imbedded in this plan. The groups are a true cooperative format, with each...
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Hypothetical Heights
Young scholars participate in an interdisciplinary lesson to discuss improvements that would make them want to return to a previously poor neighborhood. In this civics lesson, students work in a budget to make a plan to better their...
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Rural Life During the Great Depression: A Year Down Yonder
“Anyone who thinks small towns are friendlier than big cities lives in a big city.” Mary Alice, the fifteen-year-old narrator of A Year Down Yonder, is forced to leave Chicago and spend a year with her Grandma Dowdel in a small rural...
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The Giving Tree
Fourth graders participate in a shared reading of The Giving Tree. They discuss the relationship between trees and people in the story. Students contribute to a class KWL chart. They create their own KWL chart with at least four things...
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The Silk Road, An Ancient Internet
Students examine how goods and ideas moved along an ancient trade route between China and Europe. They make charts of items, ideas, etc. that were transported along the Silk Route.
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Vocabulary
Young scholars use new vocabulary words in their speech and writing and spell them correctly. In this vocabulary lesson plan, students create portfolios of their vocabulary work.
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All Aboard
Explore the U.S.S. Nevada. Researchers use primary sources, secondary sources, children's books and websites to study the naval ship. Their study commences with a class alphabet book on the ship. Intended to be part of a instructional...
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I Went to the Crossroads: The Faust Theme in Music, Film and Literature
Students analyze song lyrics and discuss Faust theme in musical history. In this thematic lesson, students view a film clip and create a song lyric, poem or short story developed around the Faust theme. Students perform or present their...
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Call It Courage
Sixth graders complete many activities and lessons based on a reading of "Call It Courage." They watch the video, complete computer based writing assignments, and prepare writing folders in the art center. They practice their word...