Provide your young readers with step-by-step directions for crafting a friendly letter to their favorite author. After drafting and revising their letter, class members illustrate a favorite scene in the book and mail their letters to...

Boris is the smartest baby around! Beginning readers can use this short story excerpt to practice reading comprehension and fiction elements. They read the story and then discuss what they think he will do next. Scholars create an...

Fulfilling a dream requires a lot of hard work. A study guide for the novel A Single Shard shares the dream of a young Korean orphan. As readers work through the guide, they answer comprehension questions about Tree-ear and the...

With this New York Times "Learning Network" exercise, high schoolers read an article about the death of Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are and then respond to several prompts that require them to shape their own opinions...

Many English teachers dream of a classroom full of readers silently enjoying their books. A useful guide helps make that dream become a reality by providing book recommendations for a range of readers. Each suggestion includes the...

Plan a Parts of a Book scavenger hunt. Begin by giving your young adventurers a book, and asking them to find the title, author, illustrator, and table of contents. After a discussion of the purpose of each of these items, class members...

Scholars read about Hollis, an orphan in Pictures of Hollis Woods, and complete worksheet activities. Activities include using vocabulary words to complete sentences, answering comprehension questions, and writing poetry.

What kind of mouse is Despereaux Tilling ... a field mouse? A white-footed mouse? With the novel study for The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo, scholars research the different species of mice and draw pictures of the one that they...

A painting is worth a thousand words—in a different world! Lucy and Edmund sail away into Narnia using a picture of a ship at sea. The story tells of their adventures and the islands they visit. Scholars work through activities about the...

In this language arts worksheet, middle schoolers examine the front cover of the novel and then write out some opinions pertaining to the meaning. Then students design their own cover.

After reading the book Jack of All Tails, learners complete vocabulary activities, play charades, consider a list of questions, and complete a list of verbs. There are also several suggestions for how to connect this language...

Research famous figures from history through the primary sources they created! Explore how these types of documents can enrich our study of the past with your middle and high school learners. They create picture books to illustrate...

Where is Henry Huggins? Class members craft playing cards for a memory game. One side features a description or an illustration of a memorable scene, the title of the book and the names of major characters, or a description about...

Students investigate their favorite authors through focusing upon readings that are selected and then following with research to find more information about the author. Then they share writings from their favorite authors in literature...

Young readers practice getting information from both the text and the illustrations found in books they are reading. They see that quite often, authors use pictures to help them get their writing process started. Youngsters are invited...

In this editing activity, learners correct grammatical mistakes—including punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and grammar—in a short paragraph about author Virginia Hamilton.

Children in foster care face a lot of uncertainty in their lives. A guide for the novel One for the Murphys introduces a main character, Carley, who is thrust into the foster care system. Chapter-by-chapter questions cover key...

What better way to explain the concept of point of view than from an ant's perspective! After reading Two Bad Ants, pupils identify the point of view of the ants by studying the text and pictures. Then, they fill out a...

Students listen to a book about Hanukkah and compare it to other holidays such as Diwali and Ramadan. They create candles using construction paper and cellophane and decorate the room for Hanukkah.

Students create a class alphabet book. In this letter recognition lesson, students use line and color to draw an object whose name begins with a specific letter. Students use adjectives to create a sentence describing the object or...

Students create their own illustrated book. In this illustration activity, students review books given the Caldecott award. They create their own illustrations for a book and digitally scan them to a computer to make their pages. 

As your authors prepare to write a hypothetical novel, they need all the inspiration they can find! Using a book they have already read (and enjoyed), learners complete a literary analysis by filling in eight short-answer...

Explore the story The Color of My Words by Lynn Joseph using this resource. Learners answer comprehension questions, fill in graphic organizers, and write a poem.