The brain is not the mind. Scholars explore the claim by reading an informational article about neuroscience research, "Beyond the Brain." As they read, they answer text-dependent questions and complete an anchor chart to evaluate...

Designed for teachers, this resource identifies problems learners face when attempting a research project and approaches instructors can use to help their class members overcome these obstacles. Suggestions are included for how to help...

Whether or not your school/state has adopted the Common Core standards, you will want to add this resource to your Of Mice and Men curriculum materials. The chapter-by-chapter activities ask readers to provide evidence from the novella...

Explore two-digit multiplication with your class as they work in groups to build models of two-digit multiplication using base 10 manipulatives. They construct rectangles replacing standard numbers with equivalent place values using...

Help your class find their writing voices with this lesson which uses the work of Ralph Fletcher to guide a "Prompt in Reverse" activity. Using the chapter "First Pen" from Fletcher's Marshfield Dreams, learners decipher what they...

Useful in an Of Mice and Men unit, or in a unit that focuses on descriptive writing, this lesson prompts young authors to impersonate John Steinbeck's writing style in the opening passages of the novel. A Six Trait writing activity...

First graders identify heroes by researching their family history. In this personal heritage instructional activity, 1st graders define the term "hero" and the characteristics that represent it. Students research family resources and...

Teach your upper graders how to use an idea web to develop a topic for writing. After reading a variety of stories about friendship (a list of stories with the theme of friendship is included), model using an idea web. Class members...

Using chapter 1 of Jerry Spinelli's Milkweed, middle schoolers write a personal memoir based on Spinelli's style and a Six Trait writing activity. The activity suggests several ways to activate prior knowledge, including a picture book...

Dander from the show Twisted Whiskers and characters from My Little Pony are featured in this three part lesson that explores using story pyramids to scaffold ideas, adding sensory details to enrich writing, and editing using common...

Young scholars write rhyming poems using rebus. With pictures instead of words, authors create original work about things they love. 

Militaries throughout history have used topography information to plan strategies, yet many pupils today don't understand it. Scholars use Legos and a contour gauge to understand how to construct and visualize topographic profiles. This...

Elementary and middle schoolers research animal facts and use them in a fable. First, they pair-share to find animal traits to use in writing a fable. They then complete a prewriting worksheet. After going through the writing process,...

Continue work on the two-piece poem that compares two characters from Esperanza Rising. Give class members a few minutes to finish their drafts. After they have a complete product, model how to critique and edit the poems with one group....

You don't have to be a Minecraft wiz to know that this app has great playability for your learners! As afterschool programs and classroom projects around the world demonstrate, this game goes well beyond placing blocks and traditional...

How can you prove a fact? With supporting evidence, of course. Learners read 25 statements and determine if it is fact or opinion. Then, if the statement is a fact, youngsters write a sentence explaining how they can prove it.

The example of two travelers meeting somewhere along the road has been a stereotypical joke about algebra as long as algebra has existed. Here in this detailed presentation, this old trope gets a careful and approachable treatment....

Readers of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men will learn much “more than what (is) said to them” as they use the biopoem format and craft a poem about one of the major characters in Steinbeck’s tragic story of Geroge Milton and Lennie...

What techniques do advertisers use to reach a target audience? Pupils discover the answer with the second of four Admongo lesson plans. Scholars learn about the most common strategies advertisers use to convince people to buy something....

Students gather, determine validity and reliability of, analyze and organize information. They employ the most effective format for purpose and audience. Students write fully developed paragraphs that have details and information...

Students become familiar with the conventions of print as they recognize Mother Goose poems. In this Mother Goose lesson, students follow the words from left to right as they read Mother Goose poems. Students recognize rhyming words and...

Young writers needn't be self-involved to craft a conceit. Directions for how to craft this form of extended metaphor, models, and a worksheet are all included in the packet.

Practice summary writing with informational texts. Young readers create summaries after reading magazine articles, newspaper articles, or other forms of informational texts. Readers use the GRASP strategy (read text, write what you...

If you need to bulk up your reading comprehension worksheet collection, take a look at a resource that includes graphic organizers and reading comprehension questions. The series of 50 worksheets addresses novels such as Julie of...