Explore how illustrations add to a story. Young learners will look at picture books to see how the pictures tell the story. They create illustrations to go with a chosen story, and then flip the activity so they have to write a story to...

Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson plan,...

Left-to-right, left-to-right, that's the way we read and write! Watch this short video clip and teach your young learners this chant before they start writing! 

How is energy transferred within an ecosystem? What would happen to a food web if one of the organisms was removed? Elementary or middle school ecologists examine these questions and more in a comprehensive 5E learning cycle activity....

Students complete a 3-5 week unit related to the novel "Name Me Nobody." They participate in a literature circle, read and discuss stories provided by the Safe Schools Coalition, complete a Character/Problem-Solution chart, create a...

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...

Teach your class the perspective Native Americans had on Christopher Columbus. They will examine the effects of Christopher Columbus' exploration on the Native Americans using a reading theater and a carousel brainstorming activity. They...

Here is an inventive, and educationally rich way to conduct a literature study of the book, The Midwife's Apprentice. After the book has been read, learners get into three groups. One group is assigned the task of being the writers....

Pupils study the various aspects of tall tales. They read various tall tales and discuss the characteristics and literature aspects of tall tales. Students write their own unique tall tales.

Middle schoolers are introduced to the proper way to write a biography. As a class, they view examples of the format and what information to include. To end the lesson, they begin to write their biography and develop their voice when...

Students recognize the short vowel a in written and spoken language. Through matching activities, they discriminate the short vowel /a/ from other vowel phonemes. Students associate the phoneme with its letter representation in a story...

Students examine the letter 'i'. Through instruction and modeling they explore the sound the letter makes, how the letter is written, words that contain the letter, etc. They use letterboxes to write 'i' words and read stories containing...

Students write a personal narrative that is designed to help them reflect on the nature and meaning of change in their lives.

Students examine the Edgar Allan Poe story "The Cask of Amontillado." In this character instructional activity, students discuss and analyze the characters in the story. Students make personal connections to the characters and create a...

Students resolve conflicts using an incident report.

Students, after reading the book, "Esperanza Rising," create a virtual display by combining different story elements into a visual representation. They choose the setting and characters of a scene that will act as a springboard of ideas...

Focus on a particular geographic location with this resource. Learners use their social studies textbook to look up information about a specific place. They write down a list of facts and read them to the class. Classmates guess which...

Eleventh graders examine the concept of the journey into self through a variety of literary genres. They express the personal notion of self by creating a picture poem and writing a personal reflection esssay.

Oh, no! Everyone is getting sick! Young French speakers use French expressions regarding physical health, some of which are idioms. With the use of health expressions provided in the lesson plan, pairs work together to write stories that...

Students, through demonstration and example, write and answer questions at different levels of Bloom's taxonomy.

Students are introduced to the various types of dinosaurs and write in their journals about their favorite one. After listening to a story and watching a filmstrip, they color a few pages in their Dinosaur Friends Book. They also examine...

Middle schoolers read stories, look at maps, and write journal entries to learn about the language and artwork of Nahuatl culture. In this Nahuatl culture lesson plan, students research the Nahuatl culture and present their findings.

Students discover how setting, props, and character-action communicate information about the characters and the story. Access to videos and a video camera are important to make this lesson a success.

Students read a Japanese Noh play and discuss its structure and traditional characters. They choose a short myth and write a Noh play based on it.