Students predict and draw what a picture would look like if a camera zoomed out on it. In this visual arts lesson plan, students listen to a reading of Istavan Banyai's, Zoom before looking at an image of "Rhyme" by Terry Winters. They...

Explore the life inside trees as scholars learn vocabulary through Debbie Miller's informational text Are Trees Alive? Familiarize pupils with the new words they will hear like anchor, disease, awaken,...

Clifford the Big Red Dog is here to introduce some new vocabulary terms in context to young readers. Although this activity is designed around Norman Bridwell's picture book, the strategies are applicable for any text. Introduce the new...

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...

Usually playing I Spy in the bathroom causes trouble, but not in this worksheet! Little readers look for objects that begin with the letters b and t. They circle the objects in the picture, count how many of each they found, and write...

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...

“. . . the car looked as it had caught some terrible disease.” Pairs read and then illustrate a passage from either “The Year I Drove through the Car Wash” or “Riding Is an Exercise of the Mind” in preparation for a discussion of...

How important are sound effects in films? In stage plays? In radio programs? To gain an understanding of the impact of these special effects, class members watch a short video spoof of the sound in a scene from Star...

Pre-readers need to build a foundation of word recognition using visual worksheets like this one. They examine six simple words accompanied by pictures, circling each word. See if pupils know what each word is, using the pictures as...

As your pre-readers begin to understand phonemes and rhyming, give them this practice worksheet which has them matching rhyming pictures. For each of six images, they identify the corresponding image which has the same vowel sound (or...

Learn new words as you read Marc Brown's story, Arthur's New Puppy. This is focused as a vocabulary-in-context activity (though this strategy could be used with any book and set of words). Introduce the new words you will focus on:...

Which of these objects rhymes? There are four starter pictures here, each heading rows of three objects. Learners determine and circle the row object that rhymes with the first one. Then, they connect two of the CVC words with printing...

Colors, primary colors, secondary colors, neutral colors, mixing colors, the color wheel. As a reading comprehension exercise, kids read a short passage about colors and then answer a series of questions based on the article.

Which of these objects are the same? Get your pre-readers comfortable with identifying objects that are identical, focusing on the term same. They examine eight pictures, drawing a line between those that are the same. The objects should...

Even if your kids aren't reading yet, they can become familiar with words by identifying two that are the same. Youngsters focus on the word same as they examine eight words and match them to their identical spellings....

Which one rhymes? There are four starting objects here, each heading a row of three objects. Learners identify the objects and their vowel sounds to determine which one rhymes with the first object. All these rhyming words involve the...

Which word doesn't rhyme? As they practice vowel-sound recognition, scholars examine rows of familiar objects to determine which object doesn't rhyme. There are four rows here, each with a beginning image and three subsequent images....

Willa Cather's novel My Antonia is full of vivid imagery. Encourage your pupils to visualize and translate images from the text into original writing with this guided imagery activity. Learners listen to an excerpt, take a moment to...

I survived! Scholars read a firsthand account from a natural disaster survivor in the text Save Bella! They record the gist of the text in their journals and answer text-dependent questions. They then take notes to more deeply analyze...

Students collaborate in groups to read excerpts or entire selections from two Harry Potter books, use educational software to create concept maps detailing similarities and differences between first two Harry Potter books, and analyze...

Some of these words don't rhyme; scholars determine which ones as they examine four sets of images with the vowel sound /e/. For each set, they circle the words that don't rhyme with the first image. Be sure kids know what these images...

Learners use classification skills and clues to determine which flying insect is the one they need to circle. They read four clues and examine each of the five insects depicted. They then deduce which one is the mystery insect. Answers...

Budding musicians determine the differences in style between the various periods in choral music. They engage in a class discussion, read one of the suggested materials, then perform a choral piece from a specific time in history.

To appreciate the value of seeing and hearing a poetry performance, groups prepare readings of selected poems and then compare and critique their interpretations and videotaped versions of the same poem. Included in the resource are...