Scholars discuss the concept of a barrier with a short passage on Jackie Robinson. The writing process begins with a paragraph and several other sentences about Robinson's unique traits that made breaking a barrier...

It's hard to imagine that life on Alcatraz could be dull. A series of intriguing lessons take readers through the novel Al Capone Does my Shirts. Pre-reading questions introduce the text and a range of suggestions, from comic strips to...

When you look at me, what do you see? Young learners answer this question by creating a portrait that reflects the identity of one of their peers. First, class members create interview questions. Then, they interview classmates to...

Immediately capture the attention of your class with the smell of freshly popped popcorn in the sixth instructional activity of this series on the needs of living things. Young scientists first use their senses to make and record...

Like the characters in Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel, class members write frequently with a series of journal topics that form the basis of the final writing assignment about their personal “heavy boots.” Alas, no list of topics is...

“Be glad that all things sort so well.” To make text-to-self connections to Shakespeare’s play, class members engage in a guided imagery exercise prior to reading Act IV, scene i of Much Ado About Nothing (the wedding of Claudio and...

Students explore the world of African masks and storytelling. They create masks that tell stories of their own.

Learn about the events that helped shape the United States of America. Elementary schoolers explore the Civil War with six different activities. Each activity has a different focus: literature connections, primary sources, vocabulary,...

How do your learners react in conflicts with authority figures? Help them begin Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club with an activity about different conflicts that kids can run into with their parents. Each scenario prompts learners to rank...

Who is a champion to your class? Elementary and middle schoolers think of a role-model from their lives. Then, in their journals, they write evidence of that person's perseverance. They identify the character trait of perseverance with...

Help your pupils discover the power of context clues by teaching the this vocabulary strategy. Designed to go with words from Willa Cather's My Antonia, this exercise focuses on having individuals use their own words to define new...

Engage theologians through online text resources during this comparative religions activity. Designed to interact with the online Glencoe text World History, there are many free tools on this site that stand alone. Scholars read the...

Introduce some nonfiction reading into your classroom! This resource contains seven comprehension questions pertaining to an article from The New York Times website about the first middle schoolers to ever win the United States Chess...

Examine persuasive literature and writing. In this persuasive literature lesson, pupils work through a variety of activities over the course of three weeks (each week is planned by day). The unit's purpose is to examine examples of...

Connect social studies and language arts using this resource. After studying root words, have learners locate five words from their social studies book that have a prefix, suffix, or root word. This puts a new twist on practicing basic...

Students participate in several activities using a reading partner. They plan and organize reading meetings with their partner, and then review story elements by retelling the stories orally. The partners question each other and make...

Fourth graders explore electricity by reading a story in their class. In this research technique lesson, 4th graders read a Magic School Bus book together and decide which elements of the story are the most important when asked about...

Eleventh graders are introduced to various basic and advanced poetic devices. They read several poems and practice identifying poetic elements. They identify at least two different poems and substantiate why they belong in the canon.

Young scholars explore poetry by completing a webquest in which they hear poets reading their own work. Later, they examine the dramatic impact of reading poetry out loud. Finally, they practice reading poetry aloud and performing.

Young scholars read and discuss the book Annie and the Wild Animals by Jan Brett. In this author study lesson, students read the text and discuss the events in the story. Young scholars make a connection to the text by baking cornbread,...

Students use pictures and text to gain meaning from written materials by connecting text. message heard, and/or material viewed to prior knowledge and experiences. Finally, students recognize and name upper and lower case letters and...

Tenth graders read and study, in-depth, a specific classical tragedy, in this case, Oedipus. They explore strategies from making meaning out of or interpreting texts, as well as strategies for determining how authors create meaning in...

Fourth graders read and analyze the novel, Robin Hood. They create a vocabulary word map, complete a Venn diagram comparing Robin Hood and Little John, act out a chapter, create a wedding announcement, and write a new epitaph for Robin...

Students explore the relationship between an author's life and their work. Students research the historical and personal events surrounding a Nobel Prize winning author and how they are reflected in the author's writing. They create a...