Students create holiday story while working in cooperative learning groups, using Chris Van Allsburg's Polar Express as a writing prompt.

Students relate phrases and sayings to their life experiences. In this phrases and sayings lesson, students participate in activities and listen to stories to understand the meanings of each saying. One day is devoted to each saying.

Second graders research Ancient Greece. In this Ancient Greece instructional activity, 2nd graders survey the geographical, historical, and cultural aspects of Greece. Students discover stories of Greek mythology and explore the...

First graders review the Pledge of Allegiance and symbols of America. Students discuss the sequence used to say the Pledge of Allegiance. They practice reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Students view symbols of things they know and...

Students listen to books and answer questions using reading skills. In this reading lesson, students develop reading strategies such as decoding, understanding characters, and comprehension. Students relate characters and events in the...

Students determine how animals and people adapt to the desert environment. In this desert lesson plan, students review vocabulary about the desert and how humans have to make changes to accommodate their environments. They listen to and...

Student practice decoding skills and phonological awareness. In this vocabulary development lesson, student identifies new vocabulary through word association and flash cards. Student also reads How he Chick Tricked the Fox making...

First graders study Japanese art and apply the technique of Tansai Sumi (lightly colored) to create individual works of art. Painting, design, lines, and drawing techniques are covered in this 1st grade lesson.

Students use print and nonprint sources of different heroic myths to generate a definition of the word "hero." They conduct a character study on three mythological heroes and formulate a definition of the word "hero" based on...

First graders explore vowels and consonants by participating in a flash card activity. In this phonetics lesson, 1st graders discuss the difference between short and long vowels and identify them within a story told to them by their...

First graders read a book with the teacher while encountering unfamiliar words and learning how to use context clues and visual clues to understand the material.  For this reading comprehension lesson, 1st graders...

Second graders make predictions about reading.  In this remedial reading lesson, 2nd graders read a favorite author's story, and read about an animal or favorite hobby or how-to.  Students discuss the various purposes for...

Fourth graders participate in a shared reading of The Giving Tree. They discuss the relationship between trees and people in the story. Students contribute to a class KWL chart. They create their own KWL chart with at least four things...

Learners identify the cause and effect in the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. In this cause and effect lesson, students listen to the story If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and discuss what the cause and effect is. As a follow-up,...

Fourth graders read about Rose Freedman, a famous American woman. In this famous women in American history instructional activity, 4th graders read a story about Rose Freedman, answer comprehension questions, and complete an associated...

Second graders explore the Rain Forest. In this research lesson, 2nd graders go online to gather information about Rain Forest animals. Students print and use the information to write about the many parts of the Rain Forest. Students are...

Students order their classmates from smallest to largest foot length.  In this ordering their classmates from smallest to largest foot length lesson, students trace each of their classmates foot.  Students read a story called,...

Students develop a list of criteria for a book trailer. In this book trailer lesson, students review book trailers, create storyboards and use Photo Story 3 to create book trailers. Students create a mini-webquest to review copyrights.

First graders explore language arts by utilizing educational software. In this storytelling lesson, 1st graders utilize Microsoft Word to create their own children's story incorporating images as well. Students proofread their creation...

Enhance a unit on historical fiction with an engaging writing instructional activity. Learners bring the Industrial Era to life as they compose their own historical fiction pieces based on primary source images of Pittsburgh steel...

Invite your young writers to take the reins with writing dialogue. Using two characters of their own creation, kids work with partners and then individually to write short conversations.

After watching West of the West's documentary The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, class members imagine how Juana Maria/Karana may have felt about living alone on the island for 18 years and craft a blackout poem or a narrative in...

Introduce young explorers to the music and history of Jamaican culture through game songs and dances. As a bonus, class members get to play simple songs transcribed for the recorder.

Fourth graders investigate the style of diary writing as its own genre of literature. They read Harriet The Spy in order to have a text for this literature study. Students use the skill of prediction to preview the story, and then...