Individuals complete a pre-assessment to gauge their ability to determine the main idea and supporting details in nonfiction text. They examine a new piece of nonfiction reading by looking at the table of contents, headings, and index...

Trace the links between a variety of math concepts in this far-reaching unit. Ideas that seem very different on the outset (like the distance formula and rigid transformations) come together in very natural and logical ways. This...

Scholars learn to find meaning in words using affixes with a language arts activity. In pairs, children sort cards with printed sentences that include words with the prefixes mis- and pre- and the suffixes -er, -ness, and -able. Then,...

Examine earthquake intensities and ways to measure an earthquake through the comparison of the Mercalli and Richter scales. After completing the pre-lab worksheet, fourth graders compare high and low intensity quakes by testing...

Poems carved into the wooden walls of the Asian immigrant prisons on Angel Island provide upper elementary graders an opportunity to study not only the story behind the poems but to also focus on the figurative language employed by the...

Using the book Bandits, Bears, and Backaches, learners develop an understanding of the pre-history of Arkansas. They follow the trail ofthe giants mastodons and paleo Indians who lived there long ago. The emphasis on this lesson is on...

First graders identify details that make reading and writing more interesting. They classify events, people, places, and things and attach specific characteristics to each one. Everyone generates describing words on a worksheet that's...

If your class loves movies, this lesson is sure to interest them. After discussing the purpose and structure of movie reviews, young writers compose a movie review and discuss why people may read a review before they go see a film. The...

Pair the famous poems "I Hear America Singing," by Walt Whitman, and "I, Too, Sing America," by Langston Hughes, with a more recent poem by Elizabeth Alexander called "Praise Song for the Day" to demonstrate a theme and introduce your...

Reporting the news is easy, right? Think again! Show young scholars the difficult choices journalists make every day through a lesson that includes reading, writing, and discussion elements. Individuals compare the language and sources...

Kindergartners listen to a story read by their teacher, then use magnetic shape pieces to construct simple designes. They "build" their own house using pre-cut paper shapes. This age-appropriate instructional activity would be an...

Famous quotations by American Presidents are the focus of this Six Trait writing activity, which could be used in a U.S. History class or in language arts. After reading the picture book Theodore by Frank Keating, have your 7th graders...

Who was Louis Braille, and what was his famous invention? Read this passage with your French classes to explore an early French inventor. After completing the two-page reading, learners answer multiple-choice questions and a series of...

How can you tell if a number of items is reasonable? Combine math and language arts with a fun lesson based on Jeff Shepard's The Right Number of Elephants. After reading the book, kids discuss amounts of other items and create...

Middle schoolers complete vocabulary and word work activities including an online quiz. They read an online article while focusing on answering specific information questions. They discuss ways to improve the environment and present them...

Introduce your learners to the concept of a double-entry journal. Talk about how to connect with the text and model an example for them. Using whatever literature you are working with, have scholars choose a quote and make their own...

The story of Helen Keller is a fascinating one for young scholars; use it to practice reading comprehension and new vocabulary as learners listen to you read David Adler's picture book (hint: this strategy can be applied to any book)....

How do you convert inches to centimeters? Or pints to liters? This handy reference guide has both US to metric, and metric to US conversions in a quick, easy-to-read format. Mass, area, volume, capacity, and length conversions are...

Here is a geology lesson which invites learners to explore a variety of rocks. They find rocks in the schoolyard and classify them according to size, color, and weight, then read the book Everybody Needs a Rock. Good lesson!

Students gather statistics to include in their research. In this statistics lesson, students investigate how to incorporate statistics into research and other readings besides math. They collect data based on other topics, analyze the...

Get your kinesthetic learners engaged in a vocabulary study using Karen Pandell's book, Animal Action ABC. They move around as you read, and raise their hands whenever they hear one of the words you are learning. Pre-teach the...

Give beginning readers a chance to practice with unknown words and context clues using the pictuer book Annabelle Swift, Kindergartner. Choose several vocabulary words to focus on as you read the picture book, or use the ones provided...

Kids love reading stories! There are many opportunities to learn new words in context as budding readers listen to Alan Lind's story Black Bear Cub. They focus on seven nature-related vocabulary terms: cub, den, forage, lure,...