As you explore an excerpt from Upton Sinclair's The Jungle with your class, discuss how his descriptions of the meat-packing industry caught the public's attention and helped to promote change in the Progressive Era.

Students write about a time when they were in a situation where nature frightened them. They write about how Brian solved the problem of how to start a fire in the story. Students complete a short research paper on one of the plants or...

Students identify how the different plants and animals work together to cause the changes in the log. Students discuss the sequence of events in the life of the tree and log. Students plant a seed to take home and care for. Students...

Introduce "The Inn of Lost Time" by Lensey Namioka to your middle schoolers with a reader's resource page. It includes links to different activities, including a creative writing prompt about losing fifty years of your life, and a...

Students use manipulative to identify the ones and tens digit in a number, use pictorial representation to identify the ones and tens digit in a number and determine the value of a number given tens and ones.

High schoolers examine Mexican history in murals. In this visual arts lesson, students research the artistic style of Mexican murals and the artists that create them. High schoolers then present their research findings to their...

Students research a website to find people who made significant contributions to people with disabilities. In this disabilities lesson plan, students then rank the most important contributions.

Write narratives that include ideas, observations, or memories of an event or experience, and be sure to use concrete sensory details! Groups utilize a few of the famous I Spy books in order to create narratives that utilize sensory...

Readers of Shakespeare explore denouement in Macbeth and track the play's falling action in Act IV, Scene 1. They complete a worksheet/table noting the content and significance of each of the three apparitions granted Macbeth by the...

Extend your study of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton with an essay. Pupils can choose one of the three prompts provided on this page and write about either characterization, conflict, or theme. Each prompt includes a brief definition of the...

Students write a book review of The Diary of Anne Frank. In their reviews they determine whether or not the book should be considered a classic of the twentieth century.

Fourth graders investigate the concept of and reasons for immigration. They report on an immigrant group that moved to Illinois since 1700.

Fourth graders view song lyrics and identify similes in the song text.  In this similes lesson, 4th graders define and identify similes on a worksheet.  Students write their own similes using various adjectives.

Students engage in a lesson about symbolism while reviewing the work of Edgar Allen Poe. They review the definition of symbolism and use it to list the symbols in his work. They write a journal about how the author uses many literary...

Young scholars learn folk tales from many different cultures and retell them using the medium of their choice. They write about the cultural indications found in these tales.

Fifth graders, using HyperStudio or PowerPoint, select the ten most important events that happened in the 1950s.

Students write the story of Rosa Parks from the perspective of someone who was sitting on the bus that day.  In this Rosa Parks/biography lesson, students read the story of Rosa Parks and discuss it in small groups.  After...

Students discuss how oral interpretation varies with prose and poetry. They select a piece of prose or poetry to present to the class, and then assess each other on the organization and delivery of their speech as well as on their...

Students review the "ch" digraph in this lesson. Students identify words that have the "ch" sound, and practice writing the digraph. Students then listen to the story "Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom" and identify the words in the book with the...

Students identify the conditions that many workers faced during the Industrial Revolution. They work collaboratively to explain and identify key elements from Chapter 14 of The Jungle.

Students study the context of The Ponder Heart through Welty's photographs. They analyze how illustrations and photographs interact with written text and create their own images to illustrate a well-known Welty short story....

Students discuss what makes plants grow and who eats the plants. They are asked where do we get all of our energy? Students are asked to draw and label a picture of the sun in the center of the yellow strip of paper. They are explained...

Students explore characteristics of the myth genre.  In this myth lesson, students become familiar with various myths and the cultures they were derived from. Students compare in a graphic organizer. Students write...

Students listen to chapter from novel When Legends Die by Hal Borland, listen to traditional Lakota song, discuss feeling song induces and in what circumstance it may be used, and examine connection between cultural music and family...