First and second graders explore character as a story element. They  listen to the first part of the story First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg and observe the teacher modeling a compare and contrast characters activity. Learners...

How does the purpose of a fiction book differ from the purpose on a non-fiction text? Model for your young readers a scenario in which each kind of book might be useful or fun to read and show examples of each genre. A list of suggested...

What is the main idea? Interest your young readers with this fun introductory lesson! After selecting several items from a paper bag, the teacher leads learners to determine the big idea for those items. This concept is then applied to...

Help young readers find the setting in the story. They will review what a setting is with a modeled example by the teacher. After reading The Cow Who Wouldn't Come Down by Paul Brett Johnson and completing a practice sheet,...

Learn how to apply visual and meaning cues to reading unknown words. Readers will explore what to do when they come to a word they do not know as they watch the teacher model the use of these cues and then participate in guided and...

Three great graphic organizers guide readers to see how the elements of plot and main idea can be charted to reveal the theme of a story. Model the process on the provided Direct Teaching Teacher Graphic Organizer using Aesop’s The...

Model for young learners how to determine the theme of a story. Read aloud Aesop’s The Fox and the Stork. Chart the plot and the main idea of the fable, showing class members how these elements support the theme. Fable titles for...

It is true that the more you practice something, the better you'll get at doing it. Lesson three in a three part series on author's purpose has kids venture out to determine the author's purpose in three different passages. They'll read...

Before sending your third graders to the library, help them build a solid foundation for their research with this plan. Following the "I do, we do, you do" method, the teacher starts by modeling how to create a research question and...

Follow the procedural details here to model for your class how to identify author's voice in two poems, "Since Hannah Moved Away" by Judith Viorst and Mirriam Chaikin's "I Hate Harry." Together, determine voice and the words that reveal...

Do your learners need to practice identifying figurative language? This lesson outlines a method for working on that tricky skill. After teacher modeling and think-aloud, fourth and fifth graders identify examples of figurative language...

Examine the connection between descriptive language and emotional impact. For the first few chapters of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, learners record the descriptive writing the author used to vivify the...

Writers use the literary element of conflict to develop their theme. Use the conflict between the Johnny and the ScreeWees in Terry Pratchett’s Only You Can Save Mankind to model how a major theme is revealed. The conflict between the...

Use the Caldecott Award-winning book Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey (which can be found on YouTube if you don't have it) to guide budding readers through vocabulary in context. Although the...

Readers of Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida place themselves in the story and craft a persuasive letter to a character in Victor Martinez's National Book Award-winning novel.

An all-encompassing, fully interactive, gorgeously animated model of the heart can be used to teach cardiac anatomy, physiology, and even a touch of epidemiology.

In a nose-cone to nose-cone competition, which rocket will prevail? Teams form rocket companies to design and build a rocket while competing against other teams in an economic challenge. The team that comes up with the best benefit/cost...

If a linear function and a quadratic function enter a boxing match, which one would win? Learners first review how to find key features of linear and quadratic functions. Next, they compare key features of pairs of functions.

Inspire teamwork in your classroom with a fun group activity. Peers pass a penny from the back of their hand to their classmate's hand, who passes it down the line, and see who wins the competition.

Toys are great for learning about physics. Scholars use Slinky® toys to study Newton's laws of motion and types of energy. After a little play, they then model longitudinal and transverse waves with the Slinky® toys.

Hard boiled or raw? Which egg will you get? A hands-on activity has scholars explore the impact of conditional probability. Based on a skit from the Tonight Show, pupils model the selection of the two types of eggs using beads. They...

Students discover how many ways a team can win a 7-game series (NBA Finals, World Series, Stanley Cup) by accessing the Internet. They view sites that cover a variety of sports.

Students investigate gravity and engineering by participating in a slide building experiment.  In this early physics lesson, students utilize cardboard boxes to create a model of a children's slide.  Students analyze the other...

Eighth graders use a geologic cross section to study the rock cycle of the Gettysburg battlefield. In this rock cycle lesson plan, 8th graders connect the rock cycle and continental rifting.