Whether or not you are new to using graphic organizers with informational or expository text, the materials in this guide will prove useful. 

Improve class understanding of colonial times by reading an informational text and filling out the accompanying graphic organizer. Class members work with a partner to read, take notes, make inferences, and synthesize information.The...

In collaborative groups, young US historians sort cards (each labeled with a single early American event or issue) according to which of the first four presidents was leading the country at the time. Learners copy the events onto a...

Pupils plan for a historical fiction narrative based on their previous research on expert trades from the Colonial Era. Individuals use the four-square graphic organizer to organize the information they want to be detailed in their four...

How did the United States Congress determine how the new president and vice president would be named when the nation was first established? Who would provide money for the government, and how would the executive branch be organized? 

Want to explore the process of writing a persuasive essay and tie it in with the upcoming elections? Class members use Venn diagrams and the hamburger model of persuasive writing to write a five-paragraph essay on elections and...

What was life like in colonial America? Follow this lesson and your pupils will find out what people in colonial times did for work and for fun. Ask learners to compare and contrast the two texts and explain what the reading helped them...

Fourth graders use a four-square graphic organizer to plan a paragraph writing about a wheelwright. Using gathered research from the previous unit, young writers discover how to organize a plot in preparation for writing a historical...

Young writers use the four-square graphic organizer to draft their historical fiction narratives' first, second, third, and fourth paragraphs on the wheelwright. The instructional activity promotes discussion and modeling of what makes a...

Middle schoolers create a graphic organizer and instructional rubric using word processing software. They conduct Internet research at the History Alive website, and publish an essay.

As your young historians learn about the Umayyad and early Abbasid Caliphate through reading secondary sources, have them use this simple printable to organize their notes on the topic and provide points of focus for their reading.

Encourage creative, independent, and reflective thinking and writing throughout the school year by having your class members keep Interactive Student Notebooks (ISN). Here you'll find a presentation designed to...

Prepare your pupils for a debate or argumentative writing assignment. Students can use the two columns here to take notes on two different arguments about the same topics. They then note down their own positions and briefly explain their...

In instructional activity 13 of this unit on colonial trade, young researchers learn about apprentices as they prepare to write help-wanted ads for the specific trade they have been researching. To begin, the class listens closely as the...

Fourth graders view examples of help-wanted ads as they plan and create their own writing in the fourteenth instructional activity of this unit on colonial trade. The engagement of the class is captured when the teacher shares an actual...

Young historians use their planning graphic organizer to prepare a personal narrative draft on expert trades. Since the instructional activity is considered the mid-unit assessment, learners respond to a writing prompt related to the...

The seventh lesson plan in this unit on colonial trade assesses fourth graders' ability to use details from an informational text to make inferences and create a piece of informative writing. The included assessment begins with learners...

As a summative assessment for this unit on colonial trade, fourth graders listen to and read informational texts in order to demonstrate their ability to take notes, write summaries, and draw connections. Young scholars first listen as...

Students write their own version of "Peter and the Wolf". They explore the characters and the instruments that represent the characters. They use graphic organizing software to brainstorm ideas for characters and story lines for...

Let's focus on a holiday from around the world! Young researchers choose a holiday from somewhere around the world, and conduct research to answer questions about the holiday. It can be used anytime during the year!

Cesar Chavez believed so much in the cause of farmworkers that he put his money where his mouth was. Chavez quit his well-paying job to organize them into labor unions. Using a speech, photograph, and short biographical video, pupils...

Go on a traveling adventure throughout Australia, Oceana, and Antarctica! This textbook excerpt offers a full unit of study that can easily be supplemented by extra projects or research materials. Learners study maps, read about...

"Sí, se puede!" Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta believed organizing farm workers and changing their working conditions were possible. Scholars examine provisions of the Bracero Program, videos, and the United Farm Workers' (UFW) work....

In this graphic organizer, students write in a KWHL chart. They fill in what they know in the first column, what they want to learn in the second, how they will learn in the third, and what they learned in the fourth.