Follow the format of Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles with a journal-writing activity. Readers choose a character and examine the character's life and circumstances through brainstorming, research, and discussion before...

Help language learners understand words and cultural concepts. The second installment in a series of three language development lessons designed to accompany Theme 4: Person to Person helps bridge the gap for language learners by...

Why would someone want to leave home? The age-old question is at the center of a thought-provoking activity. Scholars consider why humans move around the world both during pre-historical times and today using a PowerPoint, reading on...

Boost social awareness with an activity that challenges scholars to recognize bullying. Participants read 10 scenarios and respond after carefully examining behaviors such as body language, facial expressions, and frequency. 

Some smells are better than others! Explore your sense of smell with a series of activities based on the Peruvian folktale, The Stolen Smell. With exercises about phonics, counting, cooking, art, and drama, the lesson is a...

Invite that hungry caterpillar to teach your class about nutrition! After brief instruction on fruit, the teacher reads The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle to the class. Kids hold up the fruit images at appropriate points in the...

What items would you need to save the world from an evil wizard? Prior to reading Susan Cooper's young adult contemporary fantasy The Dark is Rising, and to generate interest in the tale, class groups must reach consensus on a...

Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack! Inspire some competition between your learners with a baseball-themed reading game. Players take turns reading as many words as they can, and once they reach a card they can't read, they tally...

Discussing great works of literature with peers is an excellent way to both comprehend and celebrate reading! Learners work in literature circles during a unit on Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, and share paragraphs that...

The class explores the truths and lies regarding Zach's Lie through a well-written anticipation guide. First in a series of seven resources, the guide addresses themes within the text. The class collaboratively discusses their...

Add some fun to rhyming using a word puzzle worksheet. First, learners match up single-syllable rhyming words. Then, they find all the words in a word search. This beginning reading activity only has words spelled horizontally from left...

As part of a unit study of The Hobbit, class members engage in an activity that asks group to practice the skills needed to reach consensus in a discussion.

Making inferences and drawing conclusions is a key component to successful active reading. Encourage your class to use context clues and prior knowledge to infer different elements of a story, including the setting, plot, and character...

The opening chapters of Mark Twain's masterpiece, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, can be daunting for some readers. A reader's theater assignment divides the second chapter of the novel into a seven-role script, allowing...

Increase camping vocabulary just in time for summer with a camping themed literacy pack. Use word cards and sentence cards to enhance fluency, build vocabulary, and strengthen writing skills. The activities are perfect for centers,...

Five questions challenge scholars to make inferences after reading a poem, "Picture-Books in Winter" by Robert Louis Stevenson. 

Introduce young philosophers to the wisdom of China's most famous thinkers with a short bio. The reading comprehension passage includes an answer key.

"Float like a butterfly, and sting like a bee" with a resource about the greatest boxer of our generation. A short biographical reading passage introduces young readers to Muhammad Ali, and includes information about his early life...

Friendship is a valuable part of growing up. Learn about the importance of friendship with a variety of activities based on When Turtle Grew Feathers by Tim Tingle. Kids practice making musical instruments, discussing plot points,...

Caring, trustworthiness, and responsibility—these are only a few character traits in focus of a lesson based on stories from the Civil War era. Class members explore several influential lives while reading biographies that highlight...

Four steps to Open Mic Night! The location, invitations, supplies, and party favors are all part of the process in planning and hosting a fun-filled gathering where scholars read aloud an original poem or one by their favorite author. 

A big part of learning how to be emotionally healthy is learning how to identify and express your emotions. The book Today I Feel Silly is the inspiration for a wonderful activity plan that is intended to teach young children how to be...

A hands-on activity brings the alphabet to life in your kindergarten! Fill tubs with items that begin with the same letter or end with the same sound, and let kids make the connections between the items. 

Scholars test their skills of reading body language with a collaborative learning experience that focuses on showing and identifying emotions. Pairs take turns acting out an emotion, one uses body language while the other guesses what...