Learners examine several photographs of famous early aviators. They discuss the details of the photographs and generate questions that they would like to research as they begin a unit on early aviation.

Students locate images of two things that fly on the Internet and print them. They develop graphic organizers to compare and contrast the two images and exhibit the images along with the organizers in a classroom gallery.

Learners brainstorm and discuss essential traits for success. They develop a group list that displays essential traits of the successful classroom and journal about the experience.

Pupils analyze the components of a book to use it as a model for the creation of their own book. The title, author, illustrator, front cover, back cover, dedication page, and author are examined in this lesson.

Students examine the process of scholarship and college essay writing. They develop a list of key words and concepts, complete handouts, and complete an outline of an essay.

Examine the elements of nonfiction writings in this lesson. Learners list common features of nonfiction and compare nonfiction and fiction books on the same topic. Create a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the two genres.

Learning to summarize texts takes practice. Jump into the training ring and guide your learners through a summarizing practice session. The classic direct instructional practice of "I do, you do, we do" is used to help them identify key...

Have your class explore the short /a/ sound. They will pronounce isolated consonant and short /a/ sounds and then blend the sounds to make a word.  An assessment sheet is provided.

Students distinguish various books by David Shannon from other authors, compare three of Shannon's books for similarities, list various possible settings for stories, integrate Shannon's pattern of writing into their own, and formulate...

Learners watch the video of "The Prince and the Pauper" and analyze, compare and contrast the characters. They write letters to a character from the point of view of another character and create a new ending to the play.

Students investigate the letters that form the word "clown". They draw the pictures that coincide with each letter. Students use construction paper for a background and then insert the pictures. Then they write the dialogue for the book.

Students examine and discuss the basic elements of a newspaper article. They listen to articles, discuss the 'inverted pyramid' style of a breaking news article, and list imaginary current events based on mythological characters.

Pupils organize a newspaper article using a worksheet that helps them study the vocabulary of news articles. They write newspaper articles about mythical creatures invading contemporary Los Angeles.

Begin at the end. Present your class with an expository essay and ask them to create an outline of the article, paying particular attention to the main ideas and the details supporting these ideas. After a discussion of what they have...

Two word puzzles encourage collaboration among learners. One sheet has numbers and initials that show a relationship and the other has pictorial images that represent a phrase. Partners cooperate in order to develop functional working...

Students create questions they want answered while they show what they comprehend about endangered and extinct species. They categorize photos of living things onto a contunum with the main points for use as a formative assessment.

Investigate biographies with your class. Compare autobiographies and biographies of Martin Luther King, Jr. as an example. Learners explore the factual components that make up a biography and locate several biographies of notable...

While the preparation for this lesson is extensive, the results are well worth the effort. Prior to the lesson, Xerox the pictures from Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin, collect the ingredients for Cranberry Bread, and...

Students create an art project and write a process paper  as a response to literature.  In this literature response lesson, students listen to Lynn Ehlert's, Snowballs before decorating a construction paper snowman. They write...

Practice defining words that have to do with plant life cycles.  The list included here is mainly for structural units, but could be used to review their relevance and the process of the life cycle.

This life science vocabulary list and definitions will be useful when teaching a parent and offspring unit. Some nice ideas are included in the plan about the word origins, word structure and definition testing methods. There is also a...

Need a first day ice breaker? Try this getting to know you exercise. Pupils stand in a circle and introduce themselves. The trick is they add an adjective that describes them and starts with the same letter as their first name. Add a...

Have your class look for a pot of gold. Learners create a St. Patrick's Day mini-book. They use the worksheet pages included to cut out and color St. Patrick's Day symbols. They staple the pages together to create a booklet.

Kindergarteners practice matching words and symbols by playing an index card activity. They create flash cards numbered 0 to 20 and challenge each other in groups to identify the values of the numbers. Learners utilize beans or buttons...