Art, music, poetry, and the beauty of the seasons is what you'll find in this very nice unit idea. You can use any of the suggested books and activities to engage your second graders in an exploration of the changes that take place...

Ninth graders identify and recognize characteristics of nonfiction in literary works, explore language and culture of Gullah people, compare and contrast purposes of spirituals and quilts in terms of their relationships to escape from...

Young readers assume the role of Genre Sleuths to investigate the characteristics of folktales, fantasies, and mysteries. For this session you will need to collect a variety of books on a topic you have been studying. Groups then examine...

Students examine individuality.  In this music video lesson, students listen to music by India Arie to determine how music shapes our ideas of what normal is as well as how music is a form of poetry.  Activities are related to...

Students study and interpret a classical tragedy and role play a character from the play.  For this tragedy lesson, students discuss a specific work to discover the form, structure, and characteristics of the genre and interpret the...

Learners explore the Ottoman style of poetry. They view a video, Suleyman the Magnificent, and view maps of Europe, Asia, Africa and the Mediterranean Sea. They research the Ottoman Empire and keep a journal. They read various Ottoman...

Students formulate an impromptu speech about a given topic. In this public speaking instructional activity, students choose a topic from a deck of pre-written index cards and quickly present an impromptu speech. Students use a rubric to...

The video "The Tales of Aesop" traces for viewers the history of fables and identifies their characteristics. The class then goes to the web site "The Fisherman and the Little Fish" where they examine the classic and a modern version of...

Students explore American culture by reading classic literature in class. In this African-American history lesson, students read the story Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree while identifying the work and contributions of the real life...

Students visit websites about the books, authors, and illustrators who received the King awards. They view illustrations from Kadir Nelson's award winning book Ellington Was Not a Street. They read excerpts from books and author interviews.

Fifth graders write a book review for a nonfiction book. In this response to literature lesson, 5th graders read a nonfiction book and write a review that gets others interested in reading the book without giving too much away. The...

Learners participate in a "Hollywood Squares" type review game. They answer questions developed by their teacher based on the material. They also answer a secret square question.

Students explore the classic story theme of good versus evil as relayed in folk tales.

Students read The Mitten, by Jan Brett, and discuss the different animals in the book. They create a pair of paper mittens that look alike.

Students read "The Great Kapok Tree" by Lynne Cherry while listening to Tropical Rainforest music. They name all the speaking animals in the book and list each of the reasons the animals gave for not cutting down the tree. They then...

Students examine the Japanese folktale, Monkeys Grasp for the Moon. In this multicultural literature activity, students discuss the theme of the folktale. Students choose animal folktales from other Asian cultures for comparison.

Students discuss focus questions prior to reading and preview the book, "Journey Home." In this language arts lesson, small groups present vocabulary words. Students complete after-reading discussion questions and choose writing...

Students read two stories. In this comparison lesson, students read "The Gingerbread Baby," by Jan Brett and the original "Gingerbread Boy." Students use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the two stories.

Third graders explore different types of poetry and illustrate their own experiences through creating their own poem. In this getting to know you lesson plan, 3rd graders create and recite their poems with a self-portrait.

Students evaluate the validity of a society where the individual's place is based on such arbitrary norms as gender, family connections, economic status, or military prowess in this look at Asian culture.

Ninth graders study how to identify and analyze the use of figurative language used in selected poems, short stories or other pieces of prose chosen by the teacher. These pieces of literature represent at least two pieces by one writer...

Students listen to the story, "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs". Then the class creates their own version of the story with a theme of their choice. In small groups, they write and illustrate a paragraph for the class book.

Young scholars view and discuss Powerpoint presentation on Colombian Conflict, examine how civil war impacts the common person, review vocabulary, and complete critical thinking questions with classmates.

Students define citizenship and nationality, examine economic impacts of domestic conflict or war on average citizen, view Powerpoint presentation on Kosovo conflict, and complete critical thinking questions.