First graders explore wildlife and habitats in the Arizona desert. Throughout a classroom discussion, 1st graders observe pictures of the desert and animals that live there. As they go on a nature walk around the school, students...

Although this vocabulary strategy would work in the context of any text, it's a piece of cake if you're reading Judi Barrett's book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Go over the terms they will hear so pupils are ready to...

Review with your young learners what opposites are and use a fun tag board game called Auntie Alice to practice. After the class plays the game, pairs work on computers practicing with interactive matching/flashcards/concentration games...

A PBS clip focused on collecting sports memorabilia launches this research project lesson. Class members then read Dan Gutman’s Honus and Me in which Wagner’s baseball card is used to time travel. The lesson ends with researchers...

Develop a world-wide, email chain on which class members can showcase their acts of kindness. After defining the meaning of random acts of kindness through discussion and through a reading of Random Acts of Kindness,...

Students discuss the term prediction. In this language arts lesson, students predict what will happen next by using the turn & talk strategy. Students chart the predictions each one makes.

Students grasp how to read from text and retain it. They use reading comprehension strategies specific to the Internet. They search for answers to questions related to the Civil War.

Fourth graders read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow aloud, make predictions, compare characters, discuss plot and setting, and rewrite the ending to the story.

Student increase their reading fluency through the use of various strategies. After discussing the importance of fluency, students complete an initial read of a novel text. Working with the instructor, they read complete a timed...

Students discuss catacombs, casks, and Amontillado. The class reads the first two pages of the short story, The Cask of Amontillado, and discuss the situation of the story and the mental state of the narrator. Then they predict what...

Students explore their world using the book "This is the Way We Go to School." They predict information about the story based on the title and pictures. Students label a world map with the names of continents and oceans. They write a set...

Fifth graders determine the meaning of author's purpose. In this author's purpose lesson, 5th graders apply the PIE (persuade, inform, entertain) strategy to determine why an author wrote a piece of writing. They examine passages and...

Fifth graders use technology to research and collect data. They develop awareness and appreciation of authors and genres. They organize information for presentation.

Students read a passage from the Diary of Adrian Mole in their groups and then discuss the different characters of the story. They bring the scene to life by setting the scene, selecting who in the story would be involved in their scene,...

Model for young readers how to use illustrations, chapter titles, and events in a story to draw inferences and make predictions. Learners then practice these essential comprehension strategies by drawing inferences for another section of...

Middle schoolers read a variety of mysteries to improve their reading and comprehension skills. Using a worksheet, they define and practice using new vocabulary. In groups, they read stories from Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and write...

Pupils develop, discuss and practice listening skills in English, focusing on prediction activities and strategies for coping with difficult listening situations.

This unit introduces book clubs/literature circles to lower elementary classes, but could be adapted to higher grades. It outlines the anticipatory activity that includes a WebQuest, a discussion to clarify questions about the unit,...

To prepare readers for the major concepts in Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, an account of his life in Auschwitz, class members respond to a series of statements on an anticipation guide.

Help your charges solve a variety of fraction and skip counting problems using a problem solving process. As a class they work through a fraction problem step-by-step, and discuss a real-life connection to the problem. Students then play...

Students predict and test different items to see if they sink or float. For this sink and float lesson plan, students predict whether an item is buoyant or not, and learn that size and weight do not matter when it comes to buoyancy.

Young learners listen to the book Rooster's Off to See the World, and complete simple math activities using the book. In this simple math lesson, students read and list the animals in the book. They arrange animal picture squares using...

After reading Pat Hutchins’ Rosie’s Walk, have your young cartographers create a map of Rosie’s walk. Then lead them on a walk around the school. When you return class members sequence the walk by making a list of how the class got from...

Read various texts to compare the themes across each text. Learners write a journal entry describing the most beautiful scenery they've seen and use a map of the United States to locate the Sequoia National Park and Muir Woods. They then...