Use drawings as inspiration. Have learners doodle for 10 minutes before beginning the lesson. Then, have them use their doodles to inspire a story. Several writing activities are included here to play with writing. One of my favorites...

Ask learners to focus on one scene in Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in order to write an analytical essay about Twain's ideas surrounding childhood. The final assignment in a unit, this writing prompt requires learners...

With the help of a prewriting activity, scholars reserach a topic and compose an expository essay to show what they know about a topic of their choice. 

Bring the fun and whimsy of Beverly Cleary into your classroom with a teaching guide created to accompany the Ramona series. The guide offers several ideas for classroom use, including independent reading, reading aloud, and literature...

Introduce middle schoolers to free verse poetry with a instructional activity that has young poets read two free verse poems and list the common characteristics of the form. They then read a passage from Cesar Chavez's biography and a...

Here’s a reading strategy that can be used with any text. Class members examine portions of a novel, and make predictions about the theme or subject matter of the book. Although designed for Christopher Paul Curtis’s Newbery Medal...

Before writing their own fables, class members select an animal or insect to use in their story and research its character, habits, movements, etc. After reading a wide variety of fables and identifying the elements of a fable, writers...

Has your class just finished reading about WWII and you need a way to let them show what they know? Hand them this three-question writing prompt. They'll need to describe the role Winston Churchill played in the war, the Rape of Nanking,...

Word problems, telling time, and reading charts all come together on this page. After reviewing a table of different travel times for a bus, a tram, a taxi, and a trolley, third graders solve word problems about arrival times and stop...

Class members continue their reading of Ethan Canin's "The Palace Thief," focusing on how the relationship between the narrator and Sedgewick changes after the narrator meets Sedgewick's father.

When did the United Nations begin? Have they been successful at keeping peace? And, what is the Declaration of Human Rights? Each of these questions needs a complete and well-thought-out answer, it's up to your class to do the job. Great...

A series of interactive exercises provide users with the ammunition they need to detect logical fallacies and defend themselves against persuasion. Learners read about 11 types of logical fallacies and identify the type used in sample...

Young writers read ten words, then write them down in boxes down below. This learning exercise could be used as a quick in-class assessment to see how your kids are doing with their sight words and with their writing skills. Simple, but...

Looking to increase reading comprehension? Teach this lesson, which is flexible enough to use with either informational texts or with literature. Teams of boys and girls work together to answer a comprehension question after listening to...

Young readers and writers must read 10 words aloud, then write each word in the box provided below. This simple worksheet could be used as a quick way to see how your pupils are doing with their oral reading and handwriting skills.

Is your class reading The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan? If so, take a look at this quiz for chapters nine through 12. Quiz takers respond to each short answer question with complete sentences. The questions are straightforward and...

Young readers are given a collection of ten sight words. They must read them aloud, then write them down in the boxes provided. This resource would serve well as an in-class assessment to see how your pupils are reading, as well as how...

First and second learners read ten words aloud. Then, they write each of the words in the boxes below. This could be a good way for a teacher to get a quick glimpse into how his/her charges are doing with their reading and handwriting.

Very young readers and writers are given 10 basic sight words. They must read each one aloud, then write each of the words in the spaces provided. This would be a good way to assess how your kids are doing with their oral reading and...

In a previous lesson not included here, class members read Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and then wrote a persuasive letter inviting someone to an island. Young sleuths use these letters as basis for a suspenseful short...

The power of a single person to change a community is amazing. Read about about how Jane Addams witnessed people living terrible lives in Chicago and chose to do everything she could to help them. When finished, young learners identify...

We are all capable of changing the world for the better; all it takes is a spark. Read about a group of seventh grade students in Chicago, IL who took it upon themselves to improve their community by turning a vacant lot into a garden....

Early settlers in the American Midwest experienced constant struggle. This reading passage describes for young learners the hardships of homesteaders as they journeyed west and sought to start a new life. When finished, students identify...

How do your pupils believe others see them? Invite them to write narratives to explore the image they present to the word. The narratives, inspired by The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, are to be set at each pupil's hypothetical funeral.