"I'll just wait for the movie version." How often have you heard that line? Transform passive viewers into active readers of visual images with an understanding of the three stages of the filmmaking process. This 28-packet packet is...

Introduce your freshmen to reading comprehension strategies and key literary elements with a year's worth of lessons and exercises. Each lesson focuses on a specific literary device and includes a definition of the term, a passage that...

First graders, after having "Are You My Mother?" by P.D. Eastman read to them, participate in group discussions or independentally work to analyze a spreadsheet to identify essential elements in the story and graph their data. In...

Eighth graders analyze the points of view and complete a literary analysis for The Cayby Theodore Taylor. In this literary analysis lesson, 8th graders read the novel and retell the story from Timothy's point of view, the cat's point of...

Tenth graders complete characterization analysis for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. In this characterization instructional activity, 10th graders work in learning tiers to analyze the characters and plot in the play. Students...

Students write online responses to the Literature they are reading in class using computers, internet access, and the Blog website www.blogger.com. This technology based language arts lesson can be adapted for many different areas of...

Eleventh graders research journals and periodicals of different accounts of Columbus and Latin America. They examine indigenous civilizations and design their own curriculum based on the information they have gathered.

Learners create and publish a newspaper that reflects and explains pioneer and medieval societies. They become newspaper writers for a specific time period. They adopt a holistic approach to exploring community life in medieval and...

Invisible Man is a core text in high school literature classes and one of the most cited works on the AP Literature and Composition exam. Instructors new to using Ralph Ellison's novel and those who have long included it as part of...

Pop, pop, pop! Can you hear the sound popcorn makes when it's being made? Start the day by reading The Popcorn Book. Youngsters will love stringing together popcorn necklaces and learning about popcorn. There are separate prompts and...

Reading and understanding informational text is a key element to understanding every discipline. Elementary learners read three different articles focused on various animals and habitats in the Hudson River. They answer comprehension...

Have your class explore the art of storytelling through this lesson on fairy tales and folktales. Learners interact with a variety of fairy tales and folktales. They practice telling stories out loud as well as writing their own. This...

Identify the main idea and the supporting details of a story in a literacy resource from Discovery Education. Complete with procedures, vocabulary, and assessment activities, this is a great way for pupils to practice their outlining...

Give young scholars a chance to practice making inferences after reading the book Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges. They confirm whether or not their conclusions are true, have a class discussion, and then independently complete an...

Enrich your study of Charlotte's Web by E.B. White with this useful resource. Included here are 22 discussion questions, 15 extension ideas, and 10 curriculum questions that cover characters, plot, farming, and much, much more.

Whether you're new to using Nineteen Eighty Four in the classroom or you're an Orwell veteran, the materials in this teacher's guide are a valuable addition to your curriculum. The suggested activities prompt readers to create a newspeak...

Students read Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding events of the story. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social studies, and library connections.

Nonfiction texts about people on the move provide young readers with an opportunity to examine not only the problem-solving strategies employed by immigrants, but to also find examples of figurative language these writers use to tell...

Class members develop their own glossaries for unfamiliar words in each chapter in Elizabeth George Speare’s The Sign of the Beaver. After recording the word, the page number on which the word appears, and its part of speech, they...

A reading of Pat Street's There's a Frog in My Throat launches a study of figurative language. Using a pocket chart, display one phrase containing figurative language. Class members choose the best explanation from three...

An examination of the figurative language in Gwendolyn Brooks’ To Young Readers challenges your writers to think about the richness of language. Ask your class why Brooks says, “Good books are bandages.” This discussion of alliteration,...

Students discover the interaction of American Literature, politics and the environmental movement. They explore the changing concept and philosophy of wilderness, and explain the development of The National Park System. They read...

Young scholars investigate the 5 senses by reading children's literature. In this descriptive writing lesson plan, students read the story The Bracelet by Yoshiko Uchida, analyzing the story and characters as they go. Young scholars...

Learners investigate language arts by analyzing a book with their classmates. In this children's literature lesson, students read the story Scarecrow by Cynthia Rylant and discuss the setting and characters. Learners create a T-Chart in...