Third graders examine the effects of a snow day on various people in the community. They listen to the book "Snow Day" by Betsy Maestro, complete a graphic organizer of people affected by the snow day, and write a story from the point of...

Students explore how different cultures commemorate people and events. They research how commemorations are created through music, painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, and poetry. In collaborative, students create a...

Fourth graders research a famous person from the Gold Rush era. Using the Internet, they take notes from creditable websites and write their rough drafts of their paper. They use peer editing to check for spelling and grammar errors. ...

Second graders are introduced to the style of a narrative writing. After being read a story, they use a graphic organizer to plan their writing. With a partner, they share their ideas and decide on one topic to write about. To end the...

Students compare and contrast the difference between practical applications of apparel and the use of fashion as a status symbol, with a focus on shoes. Working in groups, they complete a Venn diagram comparing practical fashion to...

Seventh graders analyze how personal diaries and memoirs record actual events.  For this World History lesson, 7th graders compare and contrast diaries and memoirs from the Holocaust.  Students write as a way to explore one's...

Students study the life of Malcolm X. In this autobiography lesson plan, students read The Autobiography of Malcolm X, investigate and evaluate the time period of his life, and write an essay based on their reflections pertaining to his...

Sixth graders examine the elements of writing poetry. In this creative writing lesson, 6th graders discuss a book of poetry in the setting of Appalachia. Students incorporate childhood experiences into the development of visual and...

Young scholars analyze American essayists Mark Twain and Frederick Douglass in an introduction to American literary non-fiction writing. In this essay history instructional activity, students identify methods for writing essays. Young...

Students explore Earth science by completing a plant art project. In this botany lesson, students utilize tights and soil to create a furry, grassy puppet style animal from cress seeds. Students cut off the excess cress after several...

Students focus their attention on the study of one author's works - not just one book, but a variety of works written by the same author - to discover what themes and/or other commonalities might run throughout the body of one person's...

Students create a nameplate and an original fairy tale book using an illuminated manuscript format. They create a personal nameplate using a decorated or historiated initial, a border, and illuminations.

Students analyze how personal diaries and memoirs record actual events, compare and contrast diaries and memoirs from the Holocaust, and engage in journal or diary writing as a way to explore one's own feelings and self.

Students examine the class systems of New Spain. In small groups, they create a five-day diary about the family life, food, occupation, and government involvement of an assigned personality from the time of Colonial Latin America.

Third graders read three to five genres and choose one as a favorite. They write an essay persuading the class to read the genre. This instructional activity serves as a nice introduction to different styles of literature.

Students explore the aspects of a frog's anatomy that allow it to be such a good jumper and jump and record the length of each jump to determine which style of jumping allows them to jump the farthest.

Young scholars analyze a copy of the Declaration of Independence to discover how it was adopted, approved, and signed. The tone and style of the document are analyzed for intention through an exploration its the language and vocabulary.

Sixth graders engage in the reading of a non-fiction text in order to acquire character traits as displayed in the text.The story builds reading fluency through the teacher modeling correct style and speed.

Students investigate the ways in which people greet each other. They read a book about greetings, participate in a role-playing game about greetings, interview family members about greeting styles and report their observations to the class.

Fourth graders investigate the style of diary writing as its own genre of literature. They read Harriet The Spy in order to have a text for this literature study. Students use the skill of prediction to preview the story, and then...

Students view, examine and analyze the artwork of Howard Finster along with other various visionary artists. They create and design an original piece of artwork and personalize creative spaces in the spirit of Finster's Paradise Gardens.

In this Hajj and Eid-ul-Adha book review worksheet, students respond to the Islam text - Hajj and Eid-ul-Adha by completing an in-depth review. The review should be written to reveal personal opinions for or against the book in an...

Students compare and contrast likenesses and differences to others by creating a life-size picture of themselves. In this character building lesson, students dictate a sentence about comments on sharing and display them with their...

Students compare two pieces of literature. In this literary comparisons lesson, students read 2 books that they personally select and then compare and contrast the literary elements of each in a comparative essay.