Students explore genealogy by reading a family history book in class. In this family tree lesson, students read the story Me and My Family Tree by Joan Sweeney and discuss their own family history. Students identify what the term...

Star Wars holds enduring fascination for generations of kids. Use this interest to help kids with autism learn their personal information. Young Jedis practice recording their first and last names, addresses, birth dates, and phone...

Students recognize different motives even in non-commercial media. They analyze the role of media in a democratic society and wrestle with ethical issues concerning media and the public good. They create a media message with one or more...

Students understand the reasons people give to those less fortune. In this philanthropic lesson, students read Passing the Dream by Penny Caldwell. Students respond to the poem by making a list of things they would like to change...

Today's kids are probably not familiar with the conventions of letter writing, due to the boom of technology. Here is a lesson that will provide opportunities for formal and informal letter writing. 

Fifth graders correspond with one another regarding interesting global topics. They swap interview questions and collaborate in the publishing of an online newspaper. This should be a highly motivating lesson which get kids writing!

This set of worksheets constitutes enough work and materials to be considered a lesson. They guide readers through a process of exploring characters and their motivations, and writing a paragraph about them. Here are seven handouts that...

Learners are provided with a list of 20 adjectives that they must generate abstract nouns to match. For example, the first term, luxurious, would prompt the answer luxury. Directions for this activity explain that abstract nouns don't...

Discuss and generate blogs in this technology lesson. Middle and high schoolers explore examples of blogs and create their own blogs. Use this lesson throughout the year to reinforce concepts from your language arts class (or any class)....

Is Yuki a selfish character? Analyze her motivation and behavior during a unit on Shizuko's Daughter by Kyoko Mori. Readers fill out two sides of a graphic organizer with reasons why or why not she is selfish, and then come up with...

Students explore the publishing roles of author and illustrator. Stories are written and the illustration done by other students. Answers to several questions act as a motivating force for the creation of the stories.

Have your young writers organize their thoughts before writing. They generate ideas through various brainstorming activities prior to writing a mock feature news story for USA Today. A series of USA Today articles debating the level of...

Eighth graders read excerpts from a variety of poems by Hispanic and Spanish authors in Spanish. Individually, they identify any vocabulary they are unfamiliar with and view examples of poetry elements. To end the lesson, they research...

Students generate their own definition of documetary. They watch and discusss a series of extracts that demonstrate the breadth of the documentary form. Students create a defintion of the term documentary that takes into account the...

Young scholars work in pairs to design a Venn diagram of their likes and dislikes. They use the diagram to generate sentences that include statements of disagreement and agreement.

Students discuss favorite recipes from their home countries and help each other to generate the correct sequencing and grammar for the recipe. They write out the recipe using imperative and passive structures.

Students are given an obscure topic and told to generate six related questions they think a reader might be interested in knowing. They switch papers and answer each other's questions as 'fraud' experts in their best technical writing...

Learners generate a list of needs for a community project. In this social studies and philanthropy instructional activity, students listen to the story The Little Red Hen and discuss teamwork. Learners plan for a lemonade stand,...

Students research discrimination and how people fought against for the common good. In this discrimination lesson, students watch a movie about Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas. Students generate a list of words about discrimination....

Students generate questions to ask volunteers. They conduct interviews to determine volunteer's motivation. They write thank you letters to volunteers.

Students prepare to write a discursive composition. They pay particular attention to generating, selecting, ordering and organizing ideas. Students incorporate the use of linking devices and paragraph planning.