Students examine the various roles Washington Irving had in his lifetime. Examining the situation in Europe and the United States, they are encouraged to relate Irving's experiences to different events. They examine themselves in many...

Identify the author's organizational pattern for expressing ideas. After reading an article on the California Gold Rush, middle schoolers determine the author's purpose for writing a passage of informational text. A full list of...

As class members continue their study of approaches to literary criticism, readers examine the symbolism and archetypal patterns in John Knowles' A Separate Peace, and how these parallels are used to develop a theme...

"Eneke the bird says since men have learnt to shoot without missing, he has learnt to fly without perching." As part of their study of Things Fall Apart, class members read Paul Hernadi and Francis Steen's essay, "The Tropical Landscapes...

Scholars practice blending syllables by playing a matching game. Pairs flip two cards and blend syllables; if they create a word, the player writes it on a worksheet; if not, the cards return to the collection.

Martin Luther King Jr's " I Have a Dream" speech and Atticus Finch's closing argument during the trial of Tom Robinson both address the societal need to overcome racism. After examining the rhetorical devices and figurative language used...

Peanuts! Get your peanuts! Kids explore math, art, and agriculture concepts focused on peanuts. There is a brief informational text to get them started, and you'll find definitions of five in-text vocabulary words to address. Kids...

How does the Earth continually repair itself? Explore the answer to this question, and others, with a unit on plate boundaries and interaction. Pupils classify the types of movement at plate boundaries and identify the...

Work on narrative writing with this lesson plan, in which middle schoolers analyze the characters from a selected piece of literature and write narrative diary pieces as the character. They work to understand the point of view of the...

Students examine the role of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana from 1920-1930. They read an informational handout, define key vocabulary terms, conduct an interview with a parent or grandparent, write a family history, and role-play a scenario.

What do a pot and a robot have in common? They both end in -ot! Kids practice their -ot words by reading the short poem included here and then tap into reading comprehension skills by answering the three questions.

Students explore the relationship between nature and architecture. In this cross curriculum history, culture, and architecture lesson, students observe and discuss structures visible in nature. Students view websites in which Native...

Students create a thematic booklet containing examples of different types of expository text structures. They explore a variety of expository text structures.

Explore the text, Cold and Hot, with comprehension strategies for young readers. First, give them a purpose for reading: find out what the boy wore outside in the snow! Then have them use one-to-one matching and picture clues to...

Create geometric cups by interpreting directions, informational text, and mathematical concepts. Critical thinkers apply geometric theory (congruent shapes, patterns, symmetry) to actual directions to create a cup that holds Kool Aid....

Young readers demonstrate phonemic awareness in words and blends, and recognize 100 high-frequency words. Use a nursery rhyme to point out rhyming words, and change the words by putting a new letter at the beginning. Each learner will...

Add this -an word resource into your plan for the day! Kids can read the poem, which includes several -an words to practice with, and then answer the three included reading comprehension questions.

Sentence combining meets multiple objectives for writers, and they are all available in this informational text exercise. Learners read a mixed-up excerpt about the history of chess, putting 15 sentences into logical order. Have a...

High schoolers research dating abuse, particularly as it affects teens in general and specifically when technology like cells phones and the Internet is involved. They develop and use a survey on dating abuse in thier school and use the...

Practice literary analysis with your poetry pupils using the mysterious narrative poem "The Listeners." They examine the archaic language and answer 12 comprehension and analysis prompts. Foster creativity with these referential...

Students conduct field research of a historical site in order to discover a more complete understanding of a time period. They choose one particular historical figure and write a short poem about the site from the historical person's...

Learn all about the exploits of a sly spy from the short poem included on this resource. The poem, intended to provide practice with long /i/ words that use the letter y, is paired with three reading comprehension questions for pupils to...

How can a hand puppet's shadow look like a dog? The lesson explains the science behind shadows, combining paint colors and the colors used in old televisions. Scholars use white, red, blue, and green lights to experiment with colors...

Have everything you need to know about the elements of poetry with a nine-page handout. Split into four categories—word sounds, meanings, arrangement, and imagery—budding poets may reference terms, read definitions, descriptions, and...