Students brainstorm for fifteen minutes independently, sketching out what they remember or how they want to organize their data. they write a journal along the lines of "what do you remember about kindergarten? Write to a (fictional)...

Here is a activity that uses the painting Liberty Enlightening the World to start a discussion on the importance of national monuments. The class discusses several monuments around the world, and then invites a veteran to share his/her...

Students choose better pronouns to use in their writing. In this pronouns in writing lesson plan, students identify pronouns in their writing, then replace second person pronouns to improve their writing.

Encourage your writers to use sob instead of cry loudly to trade in adverbs for strong verbs. Improve your middle and high schoolers' writing with this humorously written lesson which demonstrates how to remove excessive adverbs. 

Good endings are hard to find. And write. This, the final activity in a six-part series devoted to study of the ingredients of a good story, focuses on crafting endings. Class members draft ideas about what should happen to each of their...

The country of Egypt is more than just big pyramids and ancient pharaohs. After reading a brief overview of this African nation, young learners will demonstrate their understanding of the text by identifying the main idea and supporting...

Middle and high schoolers check their writing for pronoun-antecedent agreement. After identifying the pronouns in their writing, they then complete a table with the pronouns and corresponding antecedents, making revisions as necessary.

Should researchers be able to excavate, examine, and remove Native American artifacts from historic sites? Should companies be permitted to build on sacred Native American land? After watching West of the West's documentary, The Lone...

Novelly written questions are perfect for a novel study guide unit on The Cay. The well-rounded resource contains an anticipation guide for scholars to complete before reading, a variety of questions per chapter of the book, and a post...

Learners analyze the cartoons of Jules Feiffer and the art genre to then create their own comic book-style spread. In this cartoon art lesson plan, students read about the work of Feiffer and identify the techniques of the art. Learners...

The importance of accepting those who are different is the subject of a service learning project. Upper graders craft presentations for younger learners on ways to include everyone in the school community and to decrease the feelings of...

Explore the importance of correct verbal and written communication in the real world. Middle schoolers brainstorm what their world would be like without punctuation, listen to and read excerpts without punctuation, and record and present...

Middle schoolers explore and experience jazz through collage. They listen to improvisational jazz, discuss the origins of jazz, then design and create a collage that shows jazz being played. This project will result in amazing works of...

Students design a campaign to encourage paper recycling at the school.  For this recycling lesson, students try to persuade other students and staff members to adopt a new recycling program.  Students work together in groups to...

Examine how immigrants have changed the environment of the United States. Individually, middle schoolers will take a pre- and post-test to assess their reading comprehension. In groups, they compare and contrast the religions of...

After reading Love That Dog by Sharon Creech (and possibly shedding a few tears), middle schoolers work on their own sixteen-word poems with a Six Trait writing activity. They focus on word choice in this activity to capture an...

Students write their own fables. In this writing fables lesson, students use handheld computers to write a fable. The class designs a spreadsheet to organize common elements of fables. Students also edit each others' work.

"Neuroscientists consider Cajal as important to their discipline as Einstein is to physics." The first of four lessons has scholars view Santiago Ramon y Cajal's drawings of neurons. They reflect and respond to the art through writing...

Your pupils are poets, and now they'll be able to show it with the exercises in this packet. The lessons, designed for beginner, intermediate, and experienced poets, not only feature a variety of poetic forms, but take...

Everything you need to know about informational text features can be found in this resource. Recognizing these types of text features and how they are used in text allows readers to better understand information. Teachers...

Here's a lesson you can really build on! Middle schoolers describe the occupants of an imaginary house during a character-building lesson. They create a cast of characters who share living space and provide details about their attitudes,...

Thor, Loki, Iron Man, and Captain America. As part of their study of Greek and Roman gods and heroes, middle schoolers compare the characters in The Avengers to Greek counterparts. Individuals then create their own superhero,...

When your upper elementary or middle school class is learning about chemical changes, these activities help demonstrate the concepts. In Part A, they submerge and place a nail partially underwater, then after a week they make...

Students explore scenes from Katherine Paterson's book, Bridge to Terabithia. For this visualization lesson, students listen to the story read aloud. The students then choose words and phrases that paint a picture in their heads....