Seventh graders examine how to be active participants in their local, state, or federal governments. They create a powerpoint presentation and write a letter to one of their governmental representatives about a problem and solution of...

Third graders discover racism in our country by investigating the Internet.  In this abolitionist movement lesson, 3rd graders define the Underground Railroad and participate in an activity by logging on to an on-line History...

Do you like music? Have your youngsters read We Play Music, practicing select reading strategies, like using picture clues to determine new words. Then, after their first independent read, have them re-read the story to a...

How affected is Thinks Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe's personal biography? Using a four corners strategy, and evidence from their readings, class members debate the degree of biographical influence in Achebe's novel.

What would school be like if you couldn't teach lessons that require technology? Would it benefit the class? Would it hold them back? Have your learners read this article and answer the basic reading comprehension questions. Then have...

What are the most prominent symbols of the United States? Learn about the bald eagle, the American flag, and the Statue of Liberty in a reading comprehension activity that includes a short passage and five reflective questions.

Learn about film and TV ratings systems in Canada (includes a comparison to the MPAA system) and how they influence appropriate viewing for youths. A detailed commentary about the film Seven pointed at revealing flaws in ratings systems...

Just because you can, should you? Reflections on the ethics and limits of medical research are prompted by a reading of excerpts of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, viewing of clips from the 1931 film, and examining sections of the online...

Dora, Buzz Lightyear, Mufasa. Swiper, Dr. Porkchop, Scar. The six lessons in this unit packet focus on how good and evil, and violence, are portrayed in children's animation. The lessons encourage kids to consider how violence is...

As part of their reading of The Hobbit, readers create a biopoem for one of Tolkien's characters.

Second graders discover that people can connect the dots of the stars to make pictures in the sky and have been doing so for thousands of years. They understand that throughout the United States people worked together to plan an escape...

To set the stage for reading Paradise Lost, class members compete an anticipation guide containing statements that connect to themes in Milton's epic poem.

Do people really need “a newer, bigger Holocaust” in order to change? Or is it possible that by making text-to-self connections to the stories of others people that they can change? In order to connect to Art Spiegelman’s Maus, class...

In this The Outsiders problematic situation worksheet, learners read a scenario pertaining to a gang member's death. Students then mark whether they agree of disagree with 12 statements.

Learn about the events that helped shape the United States of America. Elementary schoolers explore the Civil War with six different activities. Each activity has a different focus: literature connections, primary sources, vocabulary,...

Under construction, this instructional activity focuses on Canto Familia, a collection of poetry about Gary Soto's experiences growing up in California's Imperial Valley. Representative of the experiences of many Latinos, the poems also...

Students read Duke Ellington by Andrea Davis Pinkney. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the life of the 20th century composer. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social studies, and...

There is nothing more frustrating than discussing theme in literature, and now the Common Core requires that your learners determine two or more, and discuss the development of it throughout the text. This is crazy, but manageable with...

Complete a number of activities in this group of lessons about dental health and teeth. Your elementary students will like the projects like making teeth models, reading a book, writing poetry and diagramming teeth.

Collaborate with another class (or school) and have your learners share ideas about their reading through the use of email. Perhaps you'll create a specific question or a few questions for writers to choose from. Not only will they...

Make analyzing the sequence of events in an informational text easy. Ask readers to craft a one-sentence summary of each paragraph in a document and create a text map. To demonstrate their understanding of the process, participants read...

First, next, and last, the elements of chronological order. In every story or text one can find a series of events that occur one after the other. To help learners with visual impairments conceptualize chronological order, this...

Second graders interact with the story of Alexander's horrible day by connecting it to their lives. They practice predicting, writing paragraphs, reading aloud, discussing his problems, making a card to cheer him up, and designing a pair...

Students create movements that illustrate opposites.  In this opposites lesson, students discuss what opposites do for writing and relate to dance.  Students make movements based on their opposites.