A project-based lesson has pupils create a bulletin board to share artwork, nonfiction articles, and messages based on social justice themes. The finished board is displayed in the community to create a place for discussion. 

Put together an English language arts unit on the six traits of writing with this helpful collection of resources. From fun songs to differentiated writing exercises reinforcing each of the traits, great ideas are provided for...

Over three days, scholars listen to and read the poem, "Covers" by Nikki Giovanni. Learners complete a graphic organizer by sketching their visualizations from each stanza then discuss their pictures with a peer. Pupils answer...

Use photographs to entice your children to write! In this digital storytelling activity, students study the functions of digital cameras. They review their sentence-writing skills, then take digital photos and write sentences that...

Trading in Colonial America is the focus of a lesson plan that boosts reading skills. As a class, scholars examine the informational text for crucial details, use their newfound knowledge to share information with their peers, and write...

Students read How Dogs Really Work! by Alan Snow. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the study of dogs as pets. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social studies, and library connections.

Some books are perfect for drawing connections between multiple subjects. The book Hill of Fire becomes the hub for three very different, yet related activity ideas. First the class hones their oral language skills by creating an...

The concept of sight, whether it's a lack of sight or abundant sight of the future, plays a vital role in Sophocle's Oedipus the King. Develop your ninth graders' literary vision with a lesson that connects the prophecy of Teiresias to...

Bridge subjects ancient history and English language arts together with a unit all about the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations. Eleven lessons begin with a read-aloud followed by a whole-class discussion in preparation for practice by...

Students practice creative writing. They write an imaginative story in which quarters escape from the space shuttle and ends up in the hands of an alien. Students brainstorm ideas, write a draft, revise, and edit their composition.

Third graders complete a variety of reading and writing activities related to the book "Flat Stanley." They create an illustration and write a short summary for each chapter, and write a letter and send a "Flat Stanley" to a friend or...

Learn all about your new learners' exciting summer breaks with this simple writing exercise. Young learners complete a series of three sentence frames about their summer vacation and their hopes for the new school year before...

Copy all pages to create a book of poems during a poetry study. From alliteration to cinquain to acrostic poem, your class won't run out of templates for writing poems! Each sheet serves as a template for an entire book of poems. Other...

I like to make enough class books throughout the year so that at the end of the school year, each child gets one book to keep. Here are a few easy ones. For every field trip we take, we make a class book.

Introduce your young readers to the book review. Groups of writers practice the basic steps of writing a book report and complete an Accordion-Book Summary activity. The lesson includes book report basics and directions to make...

Young scholars consider their own experiences with online message boards and chat rooms, discover how teens are using the Web to talk about people in their lives, discuss the issues surrounding online conversations.

What would change in your daily life due to a power outage? Here, learners explore the inventions brought to us by the one and only, Thomas Edison, and imagine a day without them. Scholars take part in a grand conversation and write a...

Students explore the characteristics of winter and use invented spelling processes to describe their observations. A word wall is utilized to assist the learner through the independent writing exercises.

Students create a short report using all the steps in the writing process including a bibliography. They explore different pictures that relate to their topic and download an image for the internet into their report. A helpful rubric is...

As part of their study of the history of the Channel Islands, class members craft an informational article to post on a bulletin board that features the Chumash ancestral tradition of tomol paddling.

Help your seventh graders relate the ELA Common Core standards to their own learning with these "I Can" statement posters. Each standard has been translated into a statement that pupils can understand and placed on its own page for...

Twenty insightful questions follow a read aloud of the story, Amos and Boris by William Steig. Scholars then show what they know through completion of a cause and effect chart, reading fluency assessment, and a written...

Students write a story centered around their favorite TV show. In this story writing lesson, students share their favorite TV shows and discuss their favorite characters. Students draw pictures that illustrate a story in which they are a...

Who knew determining author's purpose could be turned into a game? Four teams compete to correctly identify the author's purpose for writing a series of passages.