Introduce young writers to the process of writing a book. Start by reading a book of your choice and discussing the essential elements of any book such as the cover, story, and illustrations as well as who is responsible for each...

Sometimes it's hard to relate to a new text. Teach kids to use their prior knowledge when reading something new with a comprehension exercise. A short passage tells them how to think of their brains like filing systems, and provides five...

The Nashua River serves as the focal point of an investigation of the treatment of and care for natural resources. A reading of A River Rand Wild: An Environmental History by Lynne Cherry, launches the study and class members consider...

Is the hamburger in that fast food commercial real? Interest your class in this reading assignment by playing a short fast food commercial using YouTube. Then, give your class this reading passage, and have them complete the multiple...

How do events reported in mainstream newspapers, on television news, blog posts, and social network sites differ? Ask your class to investigate the way the same news item is presented in the many information sources available. Groups...

Bingo is a super fun game and can be used to reinforce a vast number of recognition skills. These bingo cards are prepared by constructing nine squares, each delineated with raised Wikki Stix or gluedyarn and containing a...

Experiment with light and shadow with a photography lesson. Learners first view several artistic photographs. They then play with different levels of light and various objects, eventually putting together compositions and taking pictures...

Young actors willingly suspend their disbelief as they improvise a scenario in which they are workers at a clothing factory and must decide their attitude toward the actions of co-worker Rosa Parks. 

Teach kids about the beginnings of the Braille writing system with a lesson about Louis Braille. A series of discussion questions guide young readers though A Picture Book of Louis Braille by David A. Adler, and once they finish the...

Extend the exhilarating learning experience of Dr. Seuss with five activities designed to reinforce literacy skills—site word reading, dialogue writing, story mapping, and more! Featured stories include The Lorax,...

The introduction to Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and the finale of his Symphony No. 4 provide young musicians with an opportunity to investigate the music elements composers employ to develop the themes they want to create. They compare the...

What are the musical elements that characterize a school's fight song or its alma mater? Class members listen to examples of fight songs and alma maters from various schools, play a listening game, and then create a list of the...

Introduce young musicians to the history of and different styles of music with an inquiry-based learning activity that asks them to play detectives to determine the similarities and differences among the sheet music found at a series of...

First graders take a look at schools of the past and present, and try to conjure an idea of what schools of the future will look like. After taking a walk around their own school and taking note of the buildings and the things that are...

In only 30 minutes, your class will have increased their rainforest vocabulary. They visualize the things they have seen on a recent trip to a rainforest exhibit. Then, they create sentences for each of the rainforest-related vocabulary...

Students view different commercials and ad campaigns that present opposing notions of "truth." Students use these commercials to evaluate what makes an effective public service announcement (PSA) or advertisement, then choose a national...

Middle schoolers use common and unusual objects to make observations of details, design, and functionality. They describe and draw each object while working in small groups. The differences between observation and perception is covered...

Students learn vocabulary associated with the Swing Era. They also listen to music from the time period.

Young scholars describe geographical places through art, music, writing, and math. They compile information in booklets which may be published.

Using a relief map of New York State, learners answer questions about the distance between different cities, identify bodies of water, and more. First, they discuss vocabulary related to the Hudson River area. Then, they complete a...

In this Louisiana musical landscape worksheet, students study 6 terms and their meanings as they pertain to music instruction to be used for further classroom activities.

First graders practice their spelling skills. In this spelling lesson, 1st graders explore onsets and rimes as they complete an activity regarding double letters.

Students discuss the Chinese New Year and the importance of the dragon in Chinese culture. After examining pictures of dragon puppets, students create simple dragon puppets and have their own Chinese New Year parade.

Students study the relationship between trends and individual tastes in music. They use musical terms to describe the elements of different styles of music.