Here is a tasty topic for a instructional activity: Christmas candy! Third and fourth graders research classic Christmas candies, then create their very own! They write a descriptive paragraph about their candy, then use KidPix to create...

Choosing a poet or a theme, eighth graders conduct research in the world of poetry. They conduct Internet research and select five poems that fit their poet or theme, and create a seven slide PowerPoint presentation on their selected...

Students work to create a design that will protect an egg from being dropped from a one story floor. They test their prototype after it is completed. They write clear instructions and link aspects of the design process to the scientific...

Tenth graders explore narrative poetry. They analyze sections of a poem and present to groups. They compose their own narrative poems using pictures as prompts. They exchange their poems and analyze their classmate's poem.

Students explore tribal sovereignty. In this American Indian instructional activity, students learn about tribal sovereignty, watch a movie, take notes, and complete a reaction paper.

This a visually attractive presentation, which dedicates slides to summarizing George Washington's basic life facts and professional events.  This presentation would be a good accompaniment to a lecture, and to the four children's...

Have fun with history and turn your kids into news reporters of the past. Each group will research, script, and deliver a news report on a historic event they are studying in class. They'll identify the main characters of the historical...

An efficient study guide for the first 10 chapters of Z for Zachariah that covers basic recall questions concerning the characters and the plot. It also includes short writing prompts for selected chapters that extend into the...

Identifying the theme or central idea of a text is a skill many young readers struggle with. It is also the second standard for reading literature in the Common Core. This resource, one from a series of Common Core lessons, can provide...

Using methods adopted by Public Policy Analysts (PPA) class groups define a social problem, gather evidence to document the existence of the problem, identify causes, evaluate existing policies designed to deal with the problem, develop...

Did you know that Marie Curie's papers, as well as her cookbook, are radioactive and stored in lead-lined boxes? Did you know that Nikola Tesla developed a death ray? Famous scientists and inventors are the subjects featured in a series...

Students use video and the Internet to research the life of Nellie Bly, a famous female reporter from the 19th century. They research a writer and present their information to the class in the style of a news reporter.

Use Stellaluna by Janell Canon to discuss bats and other types of animals. Learners identify the differences between bats and birds, list the traits of mammals, create a Bat Facts game, and go on a written scavenger hunt. Fun,...

Students observe and demonstrate the process of summarizing text. They discuss the importance of summarizing, then listen to the teacher read a chapter from the book "Sarah Plain and Tall." Students observe the teacher write a summary...

Students summarize nonfiction text. After reviewing the process for reading in order to summarize, students independently read a nonfiction article. They write a summary paragraph and discuss the process for summarization with the...

Learners work to develop comprehension strategies. They focus on the five 'w' questions for summarizing: who, what, when, where, and why? Through modeling and guided practice, they apply these questions to summarize several passages in...

Students explore the basic concept of micro-financing. In this economics/literacy lesson plan, students listen to One Hen by Katie Smith, in which a small loan changes the life of the main character. Students employ comprehension...

Students listen to two versions of the Cinderella story, and compare and contrast them. They demonstrate the similarities and differences in the two stories on a Venn diagram.

In this comprehension skills worksheet, learners read the book Winner's Never Quit and complete comprehension skills such as predicting, summarizing, making inferences, and author's purpose. Students complete 5 activities.

Fifth graders write rebus stories using technology. They share the rebus stories with younger students

Young scholars listen to stories and examine Chinese culture. They summarize a message and retell it to the class.

Young scholars take notes from oral readings and lectures to create a summary of the material. They use different sizes of post-it notes to complete the activity. They practice pulling the main ideas out of the given material.

Sixth graders complete a report on one of Hercules 12 labors. In this Hercules lesson plan, 6th graders read a book, view a video, and research the internet on the 12 labors of Hercules and then write a report on one of them.

Students compare and critically evaluate the different media as sources of news, develop criteria for defining "news", experience the editorial process of selecting news stories and detect bias in news reporting.