After analyzing and evaluating news summaries found in the New York Times "Week in Review" section, middle schoolers study the steps for summarizing a news article briefly and accurately. They write two news summaries: one on a newspaper...

Support your writers! Clear procedures and appropriate support make this a superb resource for elementary writing instruction. Ready your class to compose original descriptive paragraphs inspired by the episode in Roald Dahl's James and...

I hate doing laundry, even if it is an independent living skill that requires me to count money, follow a sequence, and sort clothing by color. Learners with multiple disabilities discuss what laundry is, why they need to do it, and how...

Upper grade and middle school writers study the art of parody. In this language arts lesson plan, learners study the work of Lewis Carroll, read and discuss parodies from the book, Alice in Wonderland, and construct their own parody...

Youngsters investigate autism and autism spectrum disorders. They access a variety of websites which present information on ASD's, and assess how accurate the information they've read actually is. They work in groups and utilize...

You set the rate! Step into the shoes of a taxi driver in New York City, and also pretend to be a person who uses taxis to get around town. The class will conduct collaborative research to learn about the history of taxis. Then, they...

Read The Quicksand Book by Tomie dePaola while taking notes about the story.  Perform a read-aloud, and work your way through the text with your youngsters. With this plan, learners also write about ideas from a previous day, and...

Students engage in a hands-on activity to create their own first aid booklet. In small groups, students define the terms, using their own words, then use the dictionary to complete definitions for any remaining words.

Third graders find the narrator or speaker in a story. For this story elements lesson, 3rd graders listen to the story My Senator and Me and answer comprehension questions. They complete a descriptive writing piece from different...

Students participate in a read aloud of the story, "The Great Kapok Tree" in which a logger decides not to cut down a tree. In small groups, they discuss and write about their opinion on the logger's decision. Each group then presents...

Students brainstorm information needed on a job application. They join groups of college bound, work bound and undecided. They compare applications in a Venn diagram. They research employment questions by interviewing mentors, teachers...

Students investigate the relationship between children and parents by reading a book about owls.  In this story analysis lesson, students read the book Owl Babies and participate in a role play based on one of the characters....

Students visit a Japanese cooking website. They locate information in a recipe, write their own recipe in Japanese, write a cooking memo in dictionary form, and create a cooking video.

Students analyze English by completing a handout regarding grammar rules. In this verb instructional activity, students identify what a verb does, where to use it in a sentence and what a verb fragment is. Students complete a worksheet...

Third graders engage in a writing lesson on constructing an introductory paragraph and is also a literature extension activity to be used after reading Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Students examine American culture through research on various soap opera websites. They access a soap opera website, participate in a chat group, evaluate the contents of the website, and write a summary of a character and plot.

Students study and participate in a Native American traditional learning experience--storytelling. They read legends and choose a legend to tell and illustrate.

Students investigate how much wood is in a forest. For this forestry lesson, students calculate how much usable wood comes from the forest. They will read, Sizing Things Up from Trees + Me = Forestry, measure firewood piles, and create a...

Learners participate in a mock legislature. In this American justice system lesson, students follow the provided steps to participate in a simulation that requires them to debate a proposal for mandatory birth control for substance abusers.

Practice outlining and evaluating expository writing in this lesson. After discussing main ideas and seeing examples, young writers go through a sample outline and discuss the way to properly format a piece of writing. They then create...

How can we decide between candidates on election day? After contemplating various issues and qualities, your learners will go through a step-by-step process of researching and evaluating sample candidates and determining their...

After going over the five steps of the writing process, pupils fill out "Getting to Know You" worksheets. They trade papers with each other, and have the task of writing a descriptive paragraph about the person whose worksheet they...

Use a vocabulary chart to introduce math functions. The class defines a list of mathematical vocabulary terms on a worksheet, as well as completes equations and expressions. They examine word problems and practice transcribing them into...