Pique your pupils' interest before reading Peter and the Starcatchers with an anticipation guide. Given a list of 10 statements, learners choose true or false based on what they think the book is about. They then discuss in small...

Story elements such as conflict, character analysis, resolution, and moral are discussed and charted as elementary children read folktales involving animals. An element of science is also introduced as learners discover what a keystone...

Teach learners how to communicate and collaborate in a discussion on a shared project with this rich activity. It asks participants to channel their unique imaginations to produce a fictional "groupworld", while adhering to proper...

An engaging video featuring William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is accompanied by six activities designed to reinforce vocabulary, story elements, and comprehension. Scholars match words to pictures, place events in sequential order,...

What skills do storytellers employ to bring to life the characters and events in their tales? After listening to a recording of a Haitian folk tale, class members consider how tone of voice, pace, and gestures can be used to enliven a...

Scholars reflect upon their reading strengths and challenges to create personal reading goals. Participants use goal-setting verbiage in an accordion-style graphic organizer, a first step in writing a letter that details their reading...

I Have A Dream ... that after the lesson, all individuals master the reading, writing, researching, listening, and speaking skills the biography project helps them develop. Martin Luther King, Jr. serves as a topic example for a model...

After completing three body paragraphs of an argument essay about life's rules to live by from Bud, Not Buddy Christopher Paul Curtis, it's time to begin writing the introduction and conclusion. Independently, pupils draft the final two...

Elementary schoolers engage in a literature study. They make comparisons of two different versions of a story using a graphic organizer. Using the text and pictures elementary schoolers investigate three elements from the story. Then,...

Young scholars define elements of stories from around the world that include helpful animals. They explore animal character motivations and use graphic organizers to compare and contrast animal stories from different cultures.

Students explore psychology by participating in a student behavior activity. In this group dynamic lesson, students identify ways to keep several students interested and focused on one task. Students complete worksheets discussing family...

The Little Red Hen is a wonderful story to teach youngsters about the value of teamwork and sharing responsibilities. As you read through the story, ask comprehension questions to check for and enhance understanding in your class. Kids...

Whether at home or in the classroom, each member of a community has certain responsibilities they must tend to. With the help of the children's story Piggybook by Anthony Browne, kids learn how to assign jobs in a fair and safe...

Let's ask an expert. Scholars divide into groups to research and become experts on either ants or butterflies. Learners use task cards and text on their topic to complete a note catcher. At the end, they share their information with a...

Learners create and publish a newspaper that reflects and explains pioneer and medieval societies. They become newspaper writers for a specific time period. They adopt a holistic approach to exploring community life in medieval and...

Read the story Green Eggs and Ham to practice phonemic awareness, rhyming, and writing skills with emerging readers. They will match oral words to printed words, create a graphic organizer, and the use rhyming words in an...

Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...

Students investigate the broad range of jobs that can be found in the world of design. Students explore sound design, language architecture, etc. Students design a resource book and post it on a website for others to share.

After listening to Jon Scieska’s The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, groups discuss whether they think the wolf is telling the truth, whether he deserves punishment, and if so what punishment he deserves. You might use this lesson early...

Students listen to the story Jeffrey and the Sloth and relate the story to how it feels to have writer's block. In this Jeffrey and the Sloth lesson, students use this book to inspire their creative writing process. Students create their...

Young readers compare two stories/cultures, identifying how they are alike and different. They share their own version of a well-known story and adapt it to another culture. They explain their adaptations.

After reading Chicken Soup with Rice, by Maurice Sendak, incorporate some of these great extension activities into your lesson plan. Ideas include focusing on knowing the months of the year, or studying the illustrations and how...