Fifth graders recognize the characteristics of poetry. In this poetry lesson, 5th graders listen to poetry by Dionne Brand and discuss the meaning of the poems. Students construct their own poems and present them as an assessment.

Fourth graders look for sensory details and figurative language. In this reading strategy lesson, 4th graders read the story Go Free or Die by J. Ferris and complete a chart with figurative language. They use a word wall in the...

Third graders explore the multi-ethnic nature of America's citizens and examine the symbolism of the Statue of Liberty. In this Molly's Pilgrim instructional activity, 3rd graders discuss the poem "The New Colossus," examine...

Keep within a water budget. Learners find out that less than 2.5% of Earth's water is available to drink—and that there is a fixed amount of water. Scholars read an interesting article comparing the available water to a game of Monopoly...

Students examine the amount of biodiversity in the state of Illinois. They practice using new vocabulary and listening to stories about animals. After given time to reflect, they write their own haiku. They work together to create a...

Students read and discuss a poem about the issues of gender, education, and family written by a Peace Corps Volunteer serving in South Africa. In this poetry lesson, students read the poem 'Moetsana' and discuss the issues South...

What do an early 20th century poet and a 1980's rock star have in common with a novel from the 1960's? Using Wilfred Owen's poem "Disabled" and George Michael's song "Mother's Pride," learners answer questions about the lyrics and themes...

Learners recognize words by common spelling patterns. The teacher reads a poem to the class and look at rhymes for the word moon. They practice handwriting in conjunction with spelling, and they can even write their own -oo- poem! 

Wes Magee's poem "The Chimney Boy's Story" about chimney sweeps/climbing boys is used as an introduction to a lesson that asks groups to research child labor in Victorian Britain. 

Read, analyze, and critique a newspaper article about a concert with a Western singer and an Iranian band. Scholars will assess key vocabulary terms within the article, learn how to understand a short news report, and hone in on how the...

Students read Duke Ellington by Andrea Davis Pinkney. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the life of the 20th century composer. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social studies, and...

Students observe the book, "The Outside Dog," and predict the events of the story. At the conclusion of the story, students act out various paragraphs from the book and write about specified characters. Additional cross-curriculum...

Students read Dancing With the Indians by Angela Shelf Medearis. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the study of Native American festivals and traditions. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing,...

Students explore birds, their territory, breeding, and seasonal movement. They research and collect information on birds through writing letters to ornithologists, reading in books, comparing web sites, and observing pictures. Students...

Students write about themselves. In this personal writing instructional activity, students write their name vertically down a sheet of paper and think of a self descriptive word that matches each letter of their name. Students write a...

Kindergarteners spell patterns of the long vowel phoneme /ay/. After listenting to The Birthday Day, learners work together to construct a class book that utilizes words that end in /ay/. Since the /ay/ phoneme is used so much...

The long vowel phoneme /y/ is the star of this language arts instructional activity. Kindergarteners share the book, I Spy a Little Fly then brainstorm more words that end in /y/. Since so many of our words end in /y/, this...

Kindergarteners identify the long vowel sound /ai/ in speech and writing. The whole class shares the book, Daisy the Snail, then brainstorms as many /ai/ words as they can. The class constructs a word wall with the /ai/ words.

The vowel/consonant/vowel combination of /i_e/ is one of the most common in our language. In this lesson, kindergarterners share the book, The Doctor's Line to gain practice in reading these kind of words. A brainstorm session...

The Crusades sounds like a glamorous time period in the Middle Ages full of glory—but was it? Scholars find and review the truth of the Crusades' influence on the world through the resource. The study guides, separated individually by...

What can a Ganesh statue, hand ornament, and print block tell you about India? Introduce your learners to the geography, history, and culture of India by analyzing primary sources and using the well-designed worksheets provided in this...

In this online shape activity learning exercise, students color the shapes online and print out the copy. Students may use the shapes for writing poems, word lists, reports, vocabulary words, and other activities.

First graders practice their language art capabilities by rhyming words.  In this vocabulary activity, 1st graders examine words that rhyme with rice and create rhyming sentences using the same sound.  Students complete a quick...

Students read or listen to a story, and discuss how it relates to them. In this personal event writing activity, students write about recycling. Students read "The Giving Tree" a Shel Silverstein poem and discuss the poem's meaning....