Plants and animals of the desert are the subject of this lesson. While the activities involve an exploration involving Nevada, this resource could be altered for use with any area. This detailed lesson includes a list of books that could...

After listening to From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons, learners take a walk around their school looking for plants. They use digital cameras to photograph the plants, then construct a class book which has the identities of the plants,...

Avi's Crispin: The Cross of Lead is the focus of a teacher's guide that provides background information on 14th Century England, a plot summary, discussion questions, activities, and resource links. A must-have for those who use this...

It's time for your scholars to become book reviewers! Start with a fun review of foods: are they good or gross? Learners apply these evaluation techniques to books, recording their thoughts on large pieces of butcher paper. Simply have...

Review parts of speech, verb tense, The Giver by Lowis Lowery, the mechanics of writing, and vocabulary. This Jeopardy-style game is perfect for any 4th or 5th grade class having read the book The Giver and in need of language arts...

Budding novelists work on character development by relating to the characters in their stories. They imagine their own hopes and dreams and recall those of characters from books they've read. Learners also consider struggles the...

Introduce beginning readers to cause and effect in a story by exploring it together. Learners make predictions about a book based on its cover, title, and a brief flip through the pages. They listen to an explanation of cause and...

Distinguish between textual features of non-fiction in the book The Lewis and Clark Expedition and in the non-fiction story "Ta-Na-e-Ka." Third graders create posters and participate in group discussions to show their...

Turn your classroom into a greenhouse with a lesson on plant growth. First, investigate the different parts of seeds, identifying the seed coat, cotyledon, and embryo. Then plant the seeds and watch them grow! Measure the new plants...

It's time to roll up those sleeves and get a little dirty in the second instructional activity of this series on the science of food. Investigate where plants and animals get the minerals they need to live in this two-part exploration of...

Learners study how shapes can be divided into equal parts, that each part be equal to its counterpart, and combining parts equals one whole. They make the shapes out of modeling clay and take digital pictures of its parts to create an...

Examine the characters in Willa Cather's My Antonia with a group project. Small groups illustrate their chosen character on a large piece of paper and choose quotes from the text that tell about the character. Where learners choose...

Students explore the 5 themes of geography. For this cross curriculum literacy and geography lesson, students listen to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett, and make a list of the needs of the people in Chewandswallow....

Partner up! Scholars continue their fishbowl activity with one partner sitting inside the circle and one sitting outside the circle. Participants add to sentence starters to analyze the perspective of the Pearl Harbor Attack seen in the...

Students complete a unit of lessons examining the cultural context of the novel, 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.' They write a critique of the novel, compare/contrast two published critiques, and explore various websites.

Bring multi-cultural experiences and literature into your language arts class with this lesson. Here, young readers explore the points of view of first and second-generation Asian immigrants with a list of various fiction and nonfiction...

Can anyone become a peacebuilder? A lesson on character education challenges scholars to examine the characteristics of well-known peacebuilders. Pupils then look within themselves to discover their own strengths as they relate to...

Sit back, relax, and transport to 1787! This lesson on the Constitution begins with guided imagery of the Constitutional Convention. The class reads A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution in an...

Pupils study a real plant to explore its parts. They discover the function of the plant parts which they diagram and label.

After examining different perspectives on book banning, scholars select a book from a list of frequently banned books and research the controversies surrounding it. They then craft an argument about their chosen book, including arguments...

Youngsters write and construct their own autobiographies based on The Hundred Penny Box by Sharon Bell Mathis. They engage in pre-writing steps, narrative writing, and peer editing. This is the second part of a two-part project...

In this first of four lessons on book design, pupils are introduced to the vocabulary of book design through the use of bookwalks and a non-linear PowerPoint presentation in game-show (Jeopardy!) format.

Students complete a list of food adjectives based on the book Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. In this adjectives lesson plan, students also compose a 3 part piece of writing based on an entire day of raining food. 

Stella Louella’s Runaway Book launches a study of point of view and storytelling. After reading the tale, class members retell the story from the point of view of another character. The scripted plan, developed by a teacher candidate,...