A lesson dives deep into reference materials. The class begins with a discussion of which resources are best used for specific purposes and how to identify ways to get the needed information. Learners share information about the internet...

Support young learners as they expand their cultural awareness with this list of children's literature on countries from around the globe. Including both fictional and non-fictional texts. This resource will help...

Everyone deserves to read a great book! Here, pupils write a persuasive letter to the school's librarian detailing their favorite story and why it should be found on the shelves. Class members' persuasive reading passages are shared with...

Making time for collaboration, a key element in creating a professional learning community, is a challenge. Not only is the school's master schedule effected, but the schedules of families, community members, and even bus companies, are...

Where's Waldo? In the library, of course, teaching people how to care for, locate, and re-shelve books. Waldo also reviews alphabetizing, familiarizes class members with library vocabulary, and provides them with his own...

First graders explore natural resources and search outdoors to find materials to create a bird's nest. In this bird's natural resources lesson, 1st graders listen to a book about birds and reflect on the various things birds use to...

Use this packet as a companion to your study of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. The resource breaks the novel up into several chunks, and for each chunk provides activities, background information, vocabulary, graphic organizers, and response...

Young environmentalists learn how to craft a persuasive essay about an environmental issue they consider important. After studying the components of a persuasive essay and examining a student model, writers brainstorm possible topics and...

Does the publication date come before or after the title? Should there be a comma between the location and year? The answer depends on whether you're using the MLA, APA, Chicago,4or CSE/CBE style guide. A citation builder clears up...

Books for kids, chosen by kids! What could be better? This packet is made up of book lists, each with approximately 30 books included, organized by age group. Kids will enjoy the summer reading materials they choose from this...

This is a skills-based assessment that asks test takers to use textual evidence to determine the main idea of an excerpt from an informational text as well as respond to text-dependent questions. The assessment is the middle point...

How does your garden grow? An inquiry-based, organic gardening unit asks young scientists to research a vegetable or flower, create an environment for it, and then plant and tend to the seedling. Gardeners develop their own research...

A picture really can speak a thousand words—no matter how old! Scholars become history detectives as they learn how to analyze historical photos and evidence to uncover the past. The fun hands-on activity makes history come alive through...

Being a historian requires serious sleuthing. They examine primary source documents and look for evidence, for clues that reveal who wrote the document, when, and why. After watching two historians model the process, young history...

Get the youngest American citizens involved in the presidential election and inauguration with a set of social studies activities. Focusing on the history of presidential inauguration ceremonies, learners draft their own poems, design...

A two-part assessment challenges scholars to gather information from reading then write an opinion piece. In part one, learners read, take notes, and answer text-related questions. In part two, participants use their new-found knowledge...

Help young researchers find credible sources online. Modeling with a Google search for information about Shakespeare’s Macbeth, use a computer projector or Smart Board to show class members how weak the top three search results are....

Stress the importance of authenticating online resources and understanding the sources of websites' information with this activity. Using a Web-based activity, the lesson prompts young learners to think critically about determining the...

By digitally organizing research, your class leaves a legacy for future students on the life and times of Mark Twain. Before reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, scholars conduct group research projects on one of six (listed)...

Here's a must-have packet for your curriculum library. If you are interested in Fahrenheit 451, if you are interested in Ray Bradbury, if you are interested in censorship, if you interested in programs that make a difference, then...

Students conduct interviews of several resource people such as the school counselor, school nurse, or librarian to describe how these resource people could be helpful to them with family or sexual health concerns.

Engage young marine biologists in a reading of Eric Carle's A House for Hermit Crab with a fun hands-on activity. Given a set of clipart images of the different aquatic animals that appear in the book, children identify each one...

Students love the opportunity of going to the library to jump into that one comfy chair in the whole room with a book, or be a lucky one to get to the computers before anyone else. But knowing how to locate books and other reference...