They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid's Poems by David Bowles is the focus of a five-week language arts unit unit. Fifth graders listen to various poems and participate in thoughtful discussions, examining vocabulary and learning new words in...

Emerging writers observe and demonstrate the process of writing an essay. As a class, they read and discuss the writing steps, read a sample essay, and write an outline for a three-paragraph essay. Then they write a final version of...

Primary students will use the five "W" questions for reading comprehension as they read silently to themselves so that they can understand and remember what they have read. They then read The Velveteen Rabbit aloud, discussing the five...

Students examine cultural conflict issues. In this global studies lesson, students read the Robert W. Soderstrom essay " A Single Lucid Moment." Students discuss the essay and confrontation that may occur between cultures.

Students use several examples to create a method for adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. They present these methods to the class and then practice applying methods to sample problems.

Students arecognize the architecture of another culture, how the architecture of a people records their history, explore artistic elements, explore and use geometric concepts of shape, pattern, and symmetry.

It's important that writers leave their readers with a strong and satisfying conclusion. Help your young writers develop the skills to compose a concluding sentence with the steps outlined here. After class members have had a chance to...

Surprise! is the theme of a unit covering such topics as consonants, blending, short vowels sounds, high frequency words, and number words. The unit's lessons also include teachable moments covering story structure, illustrations,...

Study opposing viewpoints with this instructional activity, which examines President Bush's September 2004 address at the United Nations. Middle schoolers study the text of the address, and then stage formal debates arguing for or...

Using a motivating topic as the focus, this activity has learners write an email as though they are describing their new house. English language learners read an example letter, and then practice their own writing skills by writing a...

What exactly are those glowing eyes in the night? Learners run an experiment to attract local wildlife and then document the number of visitors by identifying their tracks. They then analyze the data to draw conclusions about the types...

What is the missing link? Provide your class with this incomplete essay (it's missing transition words), and have writers place words from the transition word bank into the essay. Also, since only three of the five paragraphs are...

In 1856 Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina beat Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts over the head with a cane. This event, which highlighted the acrimonious debate over the expansion of slavery, is the focus of a paper...

Improve word choice! Writers use dictionaries and thesauruses to aid them in choosing exciting words to incorporate in their writing. They rewrite sentences and practice identifying words that can be replaced using a better word....

While the focus of this lesson is on writing about tornadoes, any topic could be substituted. The lesson provides a well-thought out overview of the writing process. Learners come up with a thesis statement, supporting  details, and...

Use the Internet to expand the audience for portfolio writings and motivate young writers to edit their work. Have your class members select a piece of writing from their portfolios to be polished and published on the World Wide Web....

Young writers identify and generate words using the strategies of phonics on the Making Words computer program. Words are typed instead of having to use tiles or paper. Extension activities such as playing the memory game, drawing...

Use artwork to illicit responses in a writing journal, and then present your class with the short list of key terms provided. Can your learners add any of their own key terms? Segue for a second, and read tales such as Peter Pan or...

Using the popular text Franklin Goes to the Hospital, youngsters make predictions by looking at the cover of the book. They draw their predictions, listen to the story, and compare their predictions to what actually happened in the...

Fifth through eighth graders think of themselves as newspaper reporters as they listen to a presentation by a guest speaker. As reporters, they take notes during the presentation. Using these notes, they create a rough draft and then a...

Pupils review the main points of note-taking to summarize the content of a formal or informal spoken presentation. They hear a guest speaker talk about a pre-arranged topic and take notes during the presentation. Next, they write a...

How do you read when you know you're going to be summarizing a text? Summarize a nonfiction text with your upper elementary schoolers. Your pupils independently read a nonfiction article and write a summary paragraph using the six-step...

Examine the process of summarizing a piece of text using the book So You Want to Be a President? Kids review the definitions for main idea, topic sentences, superordinate terms, and supporting details. Next, they work in small...

What do you want to do when you finish school? Most high schoolers have an idea of what they'd want to do, but little idea of how to achieve this goal. After researching a career of their choosing, learners identify qualifications,...