As part of a reading of Elie Wiesel's Night class members engage in a directed reading/thinking activity that includes crafting predictions, verifying these predictions, and interpreting portions of the text.

An activity based on the young adult novel Flipped, groups work to make the same difficult decision a character in the novel faces. Each group is given the same scenario about caring for a mentally disabled brother personally...

Before your high schoolers embark on the journey of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, provide them with this prereading activity. Independently, they respond to seven statements that connect with the novel. For example, they must decide if...

Make sure your scientists are reporting their work effectively by providing them with a reference for their lab reports. The first few pages of this resource detail each element of a lab report, and the last few pages provide an example...

Fill your classroom with grand conversations about emotions and the healthy ways to express them. Your scholars will create a collage, play a feelings game, read stories, and reflect on their daily feelings.  

To gain an understanding of Imperialism, class members read Rudyard Kipling's poem, "The White Man's Burden" and Mark Twain's essay, "To the Person Sitting in Darkness." Groups compare these perceptions of non-white cultures with the...

The Civil War is undoubtedly a part of America's history, but could it be part of your pupils' history as well? Middle schoolers conduct research to discover a connection between their ancestors and the American Civil War. Whether...

The sun will continue to rise in the east and set in the west, no matter what. The first lesson plan in a series of eight introduces the class to solar angles. It makes connections between a person's latitude and the angle of position of...

Show your pupils that perimeter is linear and area is quadratic in nature with a short assessment task that requests learners to connect the graph and equation to a description about perimeter or area. Scholars then provide a...

Explore ways to make research and writing more interesting. The first in a series of three challenge activities designed to accompany Theme 2: Give It All You've Got involve creating sports cards, designing cereal boxes, and using other...

Help bring subconscious stereotypes to the surface to stop it in its tracks. Pupils first read an excerpt describing the experience of prejudice and analyze how this process connects to World War II. Then, they write a creative story...

Use a unit approach in developing a fraction division strategy. The teacher leads a discussion on division containing units, resulting in a connection between the units and like denominators. Pupils develop a rule in dividing fractions...

Combine counting and vocabulary in context using Jacqueline Rogers' Kindergarten Count to 100. Suggested words for this text are: first, fountain, salute, second, and third. By introducing the terms before reading the text,...

Ribbit ribbit! Hop through a series of activities based on A Tale of Two Frogs. Kids read the Russian folktale and answer reading comprehension questions before working on phonics exercises, tracing dotting lines to make a path...

Encourage scholars to become a productive community member with a kite-themed lesson. Following a review and discussion, learners complete a Venn diagram that displays the connection between character traits needed to make a home and...

Here is an excellent cross-curricular lesson plan. Learners relate multiplication to area by making a grid on graph paper, and then creating the same grid in real space outside in the school yard.

Students discuss five senses, compare and contrast human and insect senses, use adjectives to describe things they touch, smell, and see, and write stories in first person describing what it would be like to be size of insect.

Learners discover a method for determining the slope of a line by creating and comparing similar triangles. They fold coordinate grids to make three similar triangles then measure the sides to compare the relationships between the...

Review myths and the characters therein, connecting them to vocabulary words in the English language today. Begin by searching online for myths and character names. With at least ten names that are familiar English words, students use...

Who doesn't love this book? A Pocket for Corduroy provides excellent vocabulary practice in context for budding readers (although this strategy could be used with any text). Before reading it aloud, go over the new...

Give beginning readers a chance to practice with unknown words and context clues using the pictuer book Annabelle Swift, Kindergartner. Choose several vocabulary words to focus on as you read the picture book, or use the ones provided...

Get fancy with Jane O'Connor's story Fancy Nancy as scholars learn some elegant new words in context: accessories, chauffeur, plume, stupendous, and tiara. After introducing these new terms (do any scholars...

Discover that Kenyan children aren't much different from your young scholars as they read Kelly Cunnane's story For You are a Kenyan Child. This story is an excellent resource for vocabulary in context, and introduces new words...

Familiarize budding readers with new vocabulary in context as they listen you read Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, which can be found on YouTube if you don't have in on hand. Recommended focus words here are: considerate, creative,...