It's like a biological "Beauty and the Beast!" The fascinating mutualism between a South African meganosed fly and a deep-throated geranium builds a case study in coevolution for your biology buffs to analyze. After reading about this...

Selecting a "power book" and engaging in a structured class discussion are the learning targets for this fourth lesson in a larger unit. It is designed as a beginning of the year unit for establishing norms and routines in the classroom....

Third graders continue to develop their reading fluency in preparation for their assessment in the tenth lesson plan of this unit. Young readers are provided with a short passage on Helen Keller, which they use while working in pairs...

This second instructional activity in a larger unit is perfect for the beginning of the year because it explicitly teaches 3rd graders how to use close reading skills by identifying unfamiliar words, figuring out the gist, and...

Third graders read excepts from the story, Thank You, Mr. Falker in order to gain practice in understanding an unfamiliar story by focusing on the details. They use a worksheet, embedded in the plan, which directs them to certain...

For this ninth lesson plan in a larger beginning-of-the-year unit, close reading skills are used independently to find the gist of the story That Book Woman. Rereading for important details is the targeted skill to unlock a deeper...

Explore the New York Times, online and in print. Partners take the roles of reader and monitor while each peruses the newspaper. Discussion questions compare the online version to a hard copy print edition. Links provide comparison of...

Some things remain the same, such as the world being on the brink of war, or college attendees writing home requesting money. As part of their research into events that led up to President Wilson's declaration of war on...

In this multi-faceted introduction to pi, participants perform a bevy of pi-related activities. Ranging from measuring household items to singing pi songs and reading pi stories, this fun and non-intimidating resource serves to bring up...

What do people do for fun around here? Explore colonial period games, toys, and life with a look at entertainment during the American Revolution. Discover the games, sports, and songs that were popular during the time of the Revolution.

What better way to get your class interested in history than to embody important historical characters and make events come to life? Stage a realistic mock trial of the British soldiers accused of murdering five Bostonians after the...

In many places in the world, people go to great lengths to get books to read. This beginning-of-the-year activity uses pictures of people reading in extraordinary situations to stimulate effective listening and speaking using the...

The Incredible Book-Eating Boy is read aloud to young readers, and the story is discussed. Then, the lesson goes into how to build up one's reading stamina. The class brainstorms ways that they can build up their stamina such as: staying...

Show your class how to read a map and decipher all of the markings and features. Start out by connecting maps to their homework from the night before and their current reading, in this case That Book Woman, and a related informational...

Continue work with an informational text by following the procedures detailed here. The plan, part of a series, focuses on My Librarian is a Camel. Class members complete text-dependent questions and then prepare for and participate in a...

Acquaint your class with informational text through a close reading. First, examine a couple of pages together, looking at text features and content. The whole class focuses on marking down a brief summary of each paragraph before...

This writing pre-assessment has minimal instruction but maximum support and encouragement. It begins with a review of the book, Rain School, through a think-pair-share and small group discussion. The discussion...

The eighth lesson plan in this series continues the focus on vocabulary and increasing young readers' awareness of academic language. Pairs of learners participate in a short vocabulary review activity called Interactive Words in which...

Third graders practice the skills of identifying the main message in a story, describing the main character, and sorting the key details of a story into specific categories. The story they read is, The Boy Who Loved Words. Using a...

Here is a lesson plan that invites learners to engage in a kinesthetic activity that allows them to physically move and manipulate words in order to think about ways to understand vocabulary in context. After that activity is complete,...

Ease into informational text with the lesson suggested here. Part of a unit series, the lesson draws from previous lessons and acts as a natural moment to add in informational text. Class members read one section of My Librarian is a...

In this movie comprehension learning exercise, students view the DVD "March of the Penguins", then complete 31 short answer comprehension questions about the movie.

High schoolers read Martin Luther King, Jr's speech that he gave in Washington. They identify the social conditions that led to the civil rights movement. They discuss the significance of the March on Washington.