Teach your English learners about theme through this found poem project. Class members read two versions of O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi": the original version and a synopsis. After learning about themes and connecting theme to their...

How can you interest your reader? Here is a great instructional activity on reading and discussing the characteristics of a narrative. Elementary schoolers explore writing techniques to hook the reader. They identify their hook and share...

A reading of Stella Blackstone’s, Bear’s Busy Family launches a genealogy writing project. Young researchers use key words from the story, daddy, sister, uncle, etc., to write stories to illustrate and combine into a family book. While...

We need the help of your history detectives! After giving them a set of questions to answer, reading groups must create their own timeline of the events. Then, as a class, have each group present their timelines. What is different? Why...

First, next, and last, the elements of chronological order. In every story or text one can find a series of events that occur one after the other. To help learners with visual impairments conceptualize chronological order, this...

Third graders explore Japanese culture. They read the story Music for Alice. Students write a paragraph defining what happiness means to them. They discuss Alice's culture and their own cultures. Students create a brochure about Japanese...

Students listen to a read aloud of Alan Baker's, White Rabbit's Color Book while identifying shapes and lines throughout the book. They use shapes and different types of lines to create a bunny of their own. They must use five shapes to...

Using the folk tale "The Man, The Boy, and The Donkey" (linked in the lesson) and a SMART board, teachers can help pupils access multiple skills. Reading the story allows learners to create a timeline of the sequence of events based on...

The whys and wherefores of anticipation guides are detailed in a resource that models how to craft statements for this reading strategy.

Middle schoolers who are about to read the chilling tale, The Lottery, do some writing beforehand. They are asked to write how their lives would change if they won a huge lottery jackpot. Then, they read the short story, and will be...

Here is a language arts lesson that can be used with virtually any grade level. The only thing that changes is the reading level of the books. Learners compare and contrast different heroes and the characteristics they hold. They use a...

Bring current events into your classroom! Middle schoolers complete word work activities before reading and discussing an online article. They complete worksheets and an online quiz. They discuss the Solar Sail as radical new idea and...

Young scholars examine how different groups gave health services to pregnant immigrant women. They analyze the class and ethnic tensions during this time period. They work together in groups to read articles and answer questions.

Get high school geographers to compare and contrast Canada and the United States. They begin by drawing a freehand map of North America, then complete readings to gain insight into Canada. The text is not provided; however, another text...

Students investigate the history of America with the help of children's literature. The story is structured as a timeline that begins at the time of Columbus and progresses to the present. The teacher reads the story with the class and...

Students explore "main idea." For this main idea and details reading comprehension lesson, students view a Brain POP video about main idea and then identify sentences displayed on the SMART Board that would be included in a paragraph...

Explore physical science by reading Barthlomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss. Discuss the moral of the story and the discretion an inventor must use when creating something they want instead of something they need. This lesson is...

Examine the idea of perpetual youth and immortality while you read Nathaniel Hawthorne's Dr. Heidegger's Experiment. Some links work to direct your learners to information about the Fountain of Youth. Using this information, scholars...

After a class discussion on strategies pupils can use to pre-write, learners are given a topic which they use to guide them in selecting a book to read. Everyone uses a worksheet, embedded in the plan, to write down information from the...

Young scholars examine the economic roller coaster involved in the production of a Broadway musical. They read online articles to investigate similarities and differences between nonprofit theater production and Broadway, or commercial,...

A reading of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech launches a study of rhetorical devices such as hyperbole, allusion, metaphor, simile, personification, connotative language and parallel structure. Class members then...

In ancient Egypt, mummified bodies were embellished with elaborate cartouches housing the name of the deceased. Elementary artists can read all about Egyptian burial practices then create a cartouche of their own using clay and real...

Students complete a booklet that describes their experiences in school. They read books about going to school and complete pages about themselves, their teachers and the types of activities they most enjoy.

Fourth graders classify vocabulary words by category. Through matching and classification activities, 4th graders sort words pertaining to trees and forest habitats into appropriate categories. They discuss how vocabulary practice can...