Explore a flashback in a story with readers. They will read a story, identify the flashback in the story, then evaluate how the flashback is used. Using the NoteFolio, students analyze the meaning and merit of a flashback in a story....

Explore websites, complete research, and use technological tools to create a final multimedia presentation on what makes a community special. Learners of all ages work with a partner to research an interesting aspect of their community,...

Do your writers have a hard time properly citing their sources in MLA style? Use this SMART board activity to practice these skills in a fun, interactive way. After debating a topic in class (the lesson uses "random drug testing in...

Don't get caught plagiarizing! Before starting your research unit, use this lesson to help your young writers identify plagiarism. The truth is, many kids don't even realize when they're doing it! They practice citing sources when...

What is Miss Bindergarten up to now? Joseph Slate's story Miss Bindergarten Stays Home is an excellent resource for budding readers to practice five vocabulary words in context: advise, lesson, lovely,...

By engaging in an arts-based activity, 2nd graders explore peace in the classroom. They listen to the story The Rainbow Fish, then create their own fish to hang in the classroom. They write three things that make them happy on...

Get your class outside, away from the television, and maybe even learning something about nature while they're at it. Individuals will chose an open, natural space to spend time in for several days. Each day they will complete a page in...

Why do readers need to know an author’s purpose? How do you figure out what that purpose is? Guide your pupils through a series of activities that show them how to identify various techniques and structures used in persuasive writing....

It's the classic story of Little Red Riding Hood retold by James Marshall; scholars listen for six new words as you read: bouquet, charming, escort, horrid, tarry, and wicked. Introduce the words before reading so they can...

A scarlet letter “V” stands for a desktop teaching vocabulary activity designed for Speak. Prior to reading Laurie Hales Anderson’s young adult novel, individuals sign up for a word, design a handout that illustrates the word, includes...

Improve your youngsters' descriptive writing. They study an object and write about what they see as a warm-up, then they read an excerpt from Paul Guest's memoir, One More Theory about Happiness. The next part of the...

Bridge to Terabithia is a story about friendship that brings magic into ordinary life. Study guides may not be magical, but the guided questions, graphic organizers, extension activities, vocabulary, and discussion questions help...

Tenth graders explore mathematics by participating in hands-on daily activities. Learners identify a list of different shapes and classify them by shape, size, sides and vertices. They utilize tangrams and geometric pieces to gain...

Students create Inspiration webs using graphics or photographs that depict high and low points in their lives. This technology-based Language Arts lesson for the upper-elementary or middle-level classroom is excellent for improving...

Children's Day is a beloved Japanese holiday with many colorful and engaging traditions. On this national holiday celebrated yearly on May 5, children are honored for their strengths and given good wishes for happiness. Your younger...

Offer learners a step-by-step process for approaching unknown words with this PowerPoint presentation of vocabulary strategies, which details how to use context clues and word parts (roots, prefixes, suffixes), as well as encourages...

Turn your 6th graders into detectives while growing their love of reading. Using critical thinking skills, they will be able to describe the five basic elements of detective fiction, read detective novels, make predictions, use the...

Learners compare the situation of Latin American immigrants with the situation of immigrants from other areas of the world. They use media to obtain information on topics of academic interest, personal interest, and intellectual interest.

Identify and develop strategies for proofreading with your class. They read and identify the grammar rules for capitalization, end punctuation, and commas, correct errors as a class, and complete three worksheets. This resource includes...

A reading of Brenda Z. Guiberson’s, Cactus Hotel, launches a study of animal habitats. Working with parent volunteers or teacher aides, groups travel outside the classroom to select a habitat, take digital pictures, and incorporate the...

  Students create their own butterfly garden and follow a participation plan to ensure that everyone will have a hand in the garden.  In this gardening lesson, 5th graders log their progress with their garden by taking photos,...

Subject-verb agreement is featured in this activity. Middle schoolers answer 10 questions, making sure that the subject and verbs agree in each example.

Take your budding readers on a literary trip to pick blueberries as they learn vocabulary from Robert McClosky's book, Blueberries for Sal. By pre-teaching the words pupils are prepared to raise their hands when they hear...

Do you know Clifford, the big, red dog? Clifford takes an adventure to see his family, and young readers join him to learn some new vocabulary in context! Before reading, introduce the four new words: city, county,...