Map the classroom with your kids to help them understand how maps work and how to read them. The lesson starts off with a story about animals living and moving around the globe, and then kids create maps of their classroom to show how...

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...

Students practice reading a map. In this mapping lesson, students illustrate a map and compare and contrast the counties based on their population. Students also explore what a census is and read census data on a map. A student...

Students discover orienteering. For this orienteering lesson, students search for six specific landmarks. Students brainstorm how maps and landmarks are helpful.

This fully scripted instructional activity could be a big help for someone new to teaching Kindergarten. It outlines what you should do and say as you teach grammar and literary elements such as, main character, setting, and events...

Young explorers study South American geography. They study maps and create a physical map of the Andes themselves! They also research the geography, environment, and the culture of the Andes and present a report to the class.

Here’s an all-purpose story map template that readers can use to keep track of books read for class, of independent reading, and even for stories planned. Users identify the title, author, major characters, setting, and events from the...

Visit the Magic Treehouse and take your class on a trip through time with a reading of the children's book Mummies in the Morning. Using the story to spark an investigation into Egyptian culture, this literature unit engages...

Discover the science behind astronomy. After reading the book Maria's Comet, which is about a young woman who breaks new ground by becoming a female astronomer, young learners practice reading comprehension with...

Students draw a map of a room in their house and place a legend on it. They explain the legend orally.

Students identify a map of the United States. In this United States map instructional activity, students study a map of the United States and find various locations on the map. Students then locate and list the state that touches their...

Reinforce reading comprehension and story mapping skills with the help from a story, Gingerbread Baby by Jen Brett. Individuals discover new vocabulary, make predictions, retell main events, respond to reading using a graphic...

To gain insight into the many different types of habitats, individuals must first get to know their own. Here, scholars explore their school environment, draw a map, compare and contrast their surroundings to larger ones. They then...

Extend the exhilarating learning experience of Dr. Seuss with five activities designed to reinforce literacy skills—site word reading, dialogue writing, story mapping, and more! Featured stories include The Lorax,...

Take a pretend trip to the movies with a series of basic code sentences. Images of movie tickets, popcorn buckets, and movie cameras award learners varying amounts of points for each sentence that they can successfully read.

Once upon a time are four words most children are familiar with when reading a fairy tale. But do they know that fairy tales are a great way to learn the literary elements of reading and writing? Use a thorough fairy tale unit...

A cute folktale from Bali tells the story of Gecko, Elephant, and Buffalo, and Gecko's struggle to sleep. After reading Go to Sleep, Gecko, learners focus on comprehension questions, singing and learning about geckos, building...

Paint with the colors of reading! Learners in special education classes or mainstream classes practice decoding basic and advanced code with a series of sentences on paint blobs. Once they read the sentence, learners cover one spot on...

Help readers develop phonemic awareness, the conscious awareness of the sound structure of words, with an exercise that asks kids to identify and highlight the /a/ sound in a list of 39 words. They then read the words to an adult.  

Students look at maps. In this map lesson, students listen to the book My Map Book by Sara Fanelli and they see the difference between human characteristics (buildings, etc.) and natural characteristics (rivers, etc.).  They...

Students read a book about maps and identify the differences between a picture and a map. For this maps lesson plan, students also label maps of their home, neighborhood, and community.

Students read Blackbeard and brainstorm their knowledge of maps. In this language arts and geography lesson, students use landmarks on their playground to review north, south, east and west and discuss the compass rose. Students read...

Students explore story structure. They discuss questions they can ask themselves while silently reading. Students implement their story knowledge by making story maps. They read The Little Pink Rose and the Cloud and create a story map...

Students research USGS maps and identify the major features. In this map skills instructional activity, students identify low and high elevations on a USGS map and practice finding latitude and longitude.