Students draw a literacy response picture demonstrating knowledge and appropriate use of computer hardware components (monitor, mouse) using KidPix and Kidspiration software with a minimum of two different pictorial details on their...

Students explore podcast design.  In this literacy and technology lesson, students read a novel during book club and design a promotional podcast to recommend the book to their peers.  Necessary technology expertise and an...

Students travel to Rome. For this geography skills lesson, students explore famous places in Rome with Google Earth tools. Students research the city of Rome and create touring brochures of the city from the perspectives of past emperors...

Students identify geography by analyzing a story in class. In this global culture lesson, students read the book Sitti's Secrets which is based upon a story set in the Middle East. Students compare the cultural characteristics mentioned...

Teenagers get the real information about marijuana use based on the history of tobacco legislation and research. As they read an educational passage about marijuana laws, science, and changing attitudes, they address their preconceptions...

A Reading Adventure Pack features a fiction and nonfiction text—The Oxcart Man by Donald Hall and illustrated by Barbara Cooney and Farming by Gail Gibbons. Following the readings, scholars make a collage showcasing foods farmed from...

Here is a good way for children to identify ways to handle conflict. They discuss the connection between feelings and conflict. Everyone listens to a story about a conflict between two friends and they discuss what they could have done...

Begin writing personal narratives in this writing instructional activity. Junior high writers start by writing a journal about their favorite holiday. They read a book at their skill level and use graphic organizers to record their ideas...

Mexican folk songs offer an authentic look at WWII immigrant workers. This study of the U.S. Bracero Program sets historians up with context information so they can write their own corrido. The class reviews themes and formulas of...

Scholars explore the animal kingdom with help from two texts, Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey and A Bed for the Winter by Karen Wallace. The literature and informational text set the learning stage for thoughtful discussion and...

Jack London's heart for adventure has come to define the spirit of America and its frontier. Selected passages from the foreword The Cruise of the Snark take eighth graders through London's construction and voyage of his ship before...

A reading adventure pack features two stories—Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming and Animals Don’t Wear Pajamas by Eve Feldman. In response to reading the fiction and nonfiction texts, scholars create a dreamcatcher, discuss hibernation,...

Second graders determine what it means to be clumsy before listening to Eric Carle's, The Very Clumsy Click Beetle. They examine the part where the click beetle does flips before drawing three frames that show the beetle flipping. For...

Students simulate dinosaurs. They discuss dinosaurs and listen to a story. They play a game of Hide and Seek simulating dinosaurs with their parents. They complete activity pages and draw pictures of dinosaurs. They discuss follow-up...

Students investigate the lives of frogs by completing several worksheets.  In this biology lesson, students discover the life cycle of a frog from tadpole to death.  Students complete frog life cycle puzzle as well as create a...

Eighth graders investigate the concept of main idea and supporting details, and how they are used in the genre of fiction. In this literacy lesson, 8th graders listen to a fictional passage and take notes on the characters, setting,...

Students investigate birthdays.  In this literacy cross curriculum lesson, students listen to the book Arthur's Birthday by Marc Brown.  Students re-read the book orally, graph birthdays, design a word search, and create...

Fourth graders complete an activity with the book The Secret School by AVI. In this literacy lesson, 4th graders finish the story and write a Haiku poem describing their favorite part of the story. 

Students identify the sequence of events in a text. In this literacy lesson, students read the book Miss Tizzy and sequence the events from the text. Students reflect and write about the philanthropic acts in the book.

Fourth graders work in groups in order to motivate one another to develop reading comprehension and literacy skills. The skills are built through the sharing of fine literature. They maintain a reading log to keep accountable for the...

Eighth graders explore the main idea of stories. In this literacy instructional activity, 8th graders summarize the last TV show they watched, identify the main idea of the show, and list its supporting details. After a discussion of...

Students explore kind behavior. In this values development and literacy instructional activity, students listen to The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, then generate a class list of ways the tree helped the boy and ways in which the boy...

Students identify main idea and supporting details from a short reading selection using a two-column note taking process. In this literacy lesson, students work in groups of three to four, then compare their papers with the other groups'...

Students revise Spanish mystery stories. They sequence the events from a group's mystery story and suggest revisions for the setting. They revise their stories using the suggestions from classmates and describe characters in folktales....