The "Big Book Project" provides special-needs learners with the opportunity to develop, write, and publish "Big Books" for Kindergarten-Grade 3 classrooms. Students also go to classrooms and read the book they wrote to the younger students.

Students create two literacy (reading and/or writing) centers to implement in an elementary classroom. Students review examples of educational software and determine the best potential centers to use in elementary classroom. Two centers...

Students examine photographs of slaves, and listen to various first person accounts of life as a slave. Students write essays describing the relationship between the woman and the child in the photograph.

First graders examine cuneiform writing from a stone tablet, then write a simple sentence using pictographs. They analyze various examples of Egyptian art, construct a model of an Egyptian boat, and create a class painting using glyphs...

Students view artwork in manuscript pages depicting insects, animals, plants, flowers, and ornate writing, such as those found in the Mira calligraphiae monumenta in the Getty Museum.

Students are introduced to the concept of decomposition. They examine decomposition in their school orchard. They write about their findings in a journal.

Students examine the /a/ phoneme in both written and spoken words. They practice finding the /a/ in words, watch how their mouths move when making the sound, and write the letter. Next, they differentiate the sound in words, listen to a...

Students examine the lives of Lewis and Clark. Putting themselves in their shoes, they identify the hardships and circumstances faced by them on the trail. Using the internet, they read journal entries from different points of view. ...

Fifth graders write a list of their favorite authors and illustrators before deciding on ways to learn more about them. They examine print and Internet resources as a way to answer questions they have. They complete an Author Scavenger...

In this prewriting activity, students fill in an idea web. No topic is given or suggested. The web can be used with any reading selection and is an organizer with circles for main ideas and lines for related facts.

Students explore several different types of biographies to determine their area of interest, choose one notable person they would like to explore, complete online tutorial on biographies, and use written and Internet resources to...

Students experience and study cause and effect as they assess the consequences man faces when time travel is attempted. They determine, in their imaginations, what time period they would like to visit. Each student then listens to,...

Students read a short novel while filling in a graphic organizer for problem and solution.  In this sociology lesson, students use a prior knowledge and relate the text to theirselves and to think about their own...

Elementary learners study and research an important historical figure. They research a historical figure and use a four square organizer to take notes. They develop a timeline and poem that reflects the life of the historical figure....

Discover the meaning of Columbus Day and/or Thanksgiving by creating art from food. This activity focuses on making edible ships using easy to find food items. The class will investigate the journeys that were taken for either of these...

After listening to From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons, learners take a walk around their school looking for plants. They use digital cameras to photograph the plants, then construct a class book which has the identities of the plants,...

Analyze the setting behind the Great Depression in California with Pam Munoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising. Middle schoolers assess the protagonist during her coming-of-age moments, while migrant workers manage the hardships of the...

Explore the concept of make believe stories. In this genres of literature lesson, students discover the difference between realistic fiction and fantasy. They are asked questions during and after the reading of a book to ensure the...

Students create a KWL chart to start the discussion on ocean animals. They practice sorting the animals into their different classifications. They use indexes, table of contents and glossary to find information.

Students sort gummy bears, count gummy bears, and evaluate and record their favorite colors of gummy bears.

Students investigate the colonial era and the crafts practiced in each of the trades as an expression of the interdependence the colonists had on each other. The impact of emigration from an American colonial town is experienced as...

It's time to hear about some adventures in travel! The Transcontinental Railroad changed life and travel in the United States during the 1800s. Practicing online research skills, pupils discover the features they would like to visit on...

An authentic and engaging way to practice literacy skills, this activity calls for young language arts pupils to conduct interviews with classmates and family members. First, pupils watch as the teacher models the interview process with...

Pupils examine the steps for developing science fair projects. They visit stations where they examine posters, books, and paper that describe how to research and design a science fair project. Additionally, they take notes on how to...