Great literature discussions are a consequence of carefully crafted questions, interpretative questions that permit more than one response, and responses supported by specific evidence from the text. The discussion questions in a guide...

Young scholars research the characters of Hamlet.  In this Shakespearean literature lesson, students complete a pre-reading activity designed to improve their familiarity with the characters in the story.  In small groups,...

In this sentence writing worksheet, students learn about using conjunctions in sentences. They then use what they learned to answer the 6 questions on the worksheet. The answers are on the last page.

Pupils read and discuss The Diary of Anne Frank, a diary of a Jewish girl who hid from the Nazi's in Holland. The research the Holocaust and express their feelings in artwork.

First graders complete activities with the story The Great Big Enormous Turnip by Alexel Tolstoy. In this language arts lesson, student view the story as a Cloze passage and work with a partner to fill in the blanks. They check to...

Pupils analyze global issues. In this video podcasting lesson plan, pupils research Internet and print sources regarding selected global development issues. Pupils plan and create video podcasts that feature their research findings.

Students connect their lives to a story or nonfiction text. In this reading connections lesson, students make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections as they complete connections stems based on a story.

Students discover the joy of reading a book through the teaching method of a read-aloud while interacting with the teacher by answering different questions. The lesson includes a sample of a read-aloud and the dialogue used with students...

Students investigate what they know about the Holocaust. In this historical perspectives lesson, students complete KWL charts about Hitler and the Holocaust and create found poems on the topic prior to reading Wiesel's "Night."

How is Louisiana connected to the Holocaust? After reading The Diary of Anne Frank, eighth graders complete a research report about a survivor of the Holocaust who currently resides in Louisiana. Though the idea is a good way to...

Have you used the directed reading thinking activity in your classroom? Doubling as either a prereading strategy, or a during reading strategy, it helps readers connect the historical background of the text to the text itself. As the...

Take an in-depth look into the vocabulary from the novel, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. With a list of words to choose from, scholars discover the definition, origin, stories associated with...

Clarify, connect, evaluate, predict, question. Laminate and display these colorful posers about the classroom to remind readers of the five basic strategies for comprehending all sorts of text. 

Learners examine the connection between the foods on the food pyramid and agricultural products. They identify the food groups, discuss foods from each group, complete two handouts, and construct a desktop food pyramid, placing foods in...

Here's a clever technology twist to writing in the round. Participants rotate through a series of computers adding to stories and editing by keystroke and mouse click. "Locked" forms prevent the loss of stories filled with suspense and...

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart can present challenges even for experienced readers. Here’s a schedule and corresponding guide that will help readers focus on and record important events. The packet includes fact-based, interpretative,...

Get your class going on one of the final assessments for a unit on short stories by introducing iMovie and its main features. For this tenth lesson in a series of fourteen, pupils take some time to explore iMovie before conducting an...

Fifth graders examine air flow, pressure, condensation and examine how to read a weather map.  In this informative lesson students learn vocabulary then see how these terms can be applied by viewing a few demonstrations pertaining...

After each of three viewings of a 45-second video, aspiring writers employ vivid adjectives and precise, strong verbs to "show, don't tell." First they compose a single sentence, then three, and finally a five-sentence paragraph. Repeat...

Upper elementary and middle schoolers recognize symbols that influence the choices that we make consciously or unconsciously in everyday life. They look at the symbols and choices that others make. They identify and apply knowledge of...

Students explore contemporary Indian literature. They compare and contrast intergenerational conflict in different cultures. Students explain and clarify their views on marriage and traditions.

Graph linear equations using a table of values. Learners solve equations in two variables using standard form of an equation. They identify the relationship between x and y values.

Beginning writers practice writing and reading from left to right using green and red dots. You'll need notecards with a green dot on the left side and a red dot on the right side. Do your learners understand that print moves from left...

Students discover the horrible situation of water shortages that many people face by completing Peace Corps activities.  For this global health lesson, students analyze and discuss photographs of people in Africa struggling to find...