Students participate in the unit based on the Newbery Medal-winning novel by Louis Sachar and the Walt Disney Movie "Holes". They use the layered curriculum model of assessment and activities.

Students explore first person and third person points of view. In this perspective lesson, students identify first person and third person points of view in literature they have read. Students rewrite stories from different perspectives.

First graders write sentences and illustrate ways seeds travel.

First graders compare versions of the Three Little Pigs.  In this comparison lesson, 1st graders read several version of the Three Little Pigs and compare the situations, characters, settings, solutions, emotions and costumes. ...

Students write letters to penpals. In this geography/literacy lesson, students become penpals with a classroom in England to learn about customs and society across the ocean. Flat Stanley by Will Holton is read aloud, and students...

Students engage in a instructional activity which demonstrates the importance of rocks, soils and minerals in engineering and how using the right material for the right job is important. The students build three different sand castles...

Third graders explore the library media center using the characters and story of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" by James Marshall. They discuss what rules Goldilocks would need to follow in the library, complete a sequence chain for...

First graders practice their letter writing skills by writing to a fictional character.  For this formal writing lesson, 1st graders read the books The Jolly Postman and Frog and Toad are Friends to examine the different parts of a...

Learners create a children's book version of the Japanese folk story "Momotaro Boy of the Peach" and present the story to elementary students. In this children's book lesson plan, learners design their book to explain Japanese culture to...

Students identify vocabulary words in Where the Red Fern Grows. In this vocabulary lesson plan, students view an included PowerPoint presentation on vocabulary words from each chapter in the novel. Students identify and use the...

Young scholars discover the work of George Washington Harris and his influence on American humor.  For this George Washington Harris lesson, discuss cultural differences in the United States and read Sut Lovongwood stories by George...

Young scholars examine Nathaniel Hawthorne's style of humor and compare it to other humorists. They discuss the purpose of literary humor and determine how it develops characters and plots in stories. They analyze the use of different...

Students listen to Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and work collaboratively to create a chair for a small stuffed animal that will allow it to sit upright and withstand a short drop out of Legos. Students write about the engineering...

First graders identify text features and how they communicate meaning to the reader. In this media literacy instructional activity, learners view the movie The Lorax and discuss how students from another country would respond to this...

First graders discuss the book The Lorax and research what living things need. In this environmental lesson, 1st graders investigate how humans affect the growth of plants. Students conduct an experiment with sunflowers.

Students look at picture books and describe the story elements. In this picture book lesson, students retell a story and begin to understand the story elements of plot, setting, and characters. Students complete graphic organizers to...

Students study rhythm and rhyme. In this rhyming lesson, students read Scrambled Eggs Super! by Dr. Seuss. Students explore the rhythm of rhyming words found in the book. The students decorate eggs and place rhyming words inside to use...

Students explore the rich, varied, and full artistic culture of each of these three minority groups, Native Americans, Chicanos, and African Americans. They explore art through dance, music, literature, and many other different mediums....

Use a West African folktale to practice several different skills in your first grade classroom. Learners read The Clever Monkey Rides Again and focus on rhyming words, reading comprehension, measurement, art, movement, and word...

Counting is the theme of this compilation of ESL lessons. Through listening, speaking, and moving, your young learners take part in a variety of activities to enhance their English proficiency such as making menus and books,...

The second module in a series for high school seniors focuses on tracking the central idea of a text across genres and from multiple author and character perspectives. Twelfth graders read a speech by Benazir Bhutto entitled "Ideas Live...

What's the difference between the main idea of a text and the topic? Take kids through the process of literary analysis with a presentation about finding the main idea and supporting details. Additionally, it guides learners through...

Can authors speak to each other across works, genres, and centuries? Study the conversation between Christopher Marlowe in his poem "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" and the responses by Sir Walter Raleigh and William Carlos Williams...

Sixth graders examine and categorize a selection of title representing fiction genres. In this fiction genres lesson, 6th graders analyze and identify a variety of titles in the fiction genre. Students then find these types of fiction...