Young scholars explore the issues that might arise if humans were to go on an interstellar space mission. They synthesize their understanding of interstellar travel by writing scenes from a science fiction novel that would depict such a...

Students create holiday story while working in cooperative learning groups, using Chris Van Allsburg's Polar Express as a writing prompt.

Double click that mouse because you just found an amazing lesson! This cross-curricular Ornithology lesson incorporates literature, writing, reading informational text, data collection, scientific inquiry, Internet research, art, and...

Whodunnit? Find out who killed Mr. Brooks through a logical examination of evidence. Class members fill out a couple of data tables to help them pin down the suspect. After they've figured out just who the culprit is, pupils compose...

Teach your young readers how to summarize a text using a strategy called Somebody Wanted But So. Kids identify the character (Somebody), the motivation (Wanted), the conflict (But), and the resolution (So). The resource comes with...

Fourth graders focus on fluency by reading the book Charlotte's Web. In this reading strategies lesson plan, 4th graders partner read, do guided reading, and independent reading to increase fluency. Students use Venn Diagrams,...

In these English lesson plans, students use video, the Internet and non-fiction essays to research the history of the English language. They write a short research paper and design a PowerPoint presentation showcasing their findings.

First graders recognize and write numerals from 1 to 10. They estimate and count to identify sets with more, fewer, or the same number of objects, listen and respond to others in a variety of contexts, and take turns speaking in a...

Although this lesson plan covers the rather obscure topic of the Japanese "I-novel", it also includes a great deal of historical information and material for an in-depth discussion of universal literary concepts. Specifically, young...

Ninth graders examine how literature connects to real-life and see how irony aids in the development of theme. They read Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, and discuss elements of foreshadowing and situational irony. Then learners will write...

Students read historic or contemporary fiction that is set in and around castles. Then they build castles and characters to use in retelling stories, demonstrating their understanding of fiction texts and period architecture. Students...

This, the sixth in a series of 10 related resources, examines the life and works of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, an African American author, born in 1825, who advocated literacy for both free and enslaved African Americans.

Students explore the genre of biography in both its traditional and nontraditional forms. They examine Edmund Morris's unorthodox biography of Ronald Reagan. They conduct research on an historic American and write their own biographies.

To prepare for crafting their own memoir, class members examine poetry by Margaret Atwood, Billy Collins, Robert Hayden, and Claude McKay, stories by Richard Rodriquez and Willa Cather, and Barry Levinson's film Avalon. They examine...

As a class, young writers learn how to develop a strong supporting character. They think and discuss a good friend they know, they use that friend as a basis for a potential supporting character. They create a supporting character as a...

The stories of the Silver People, the West Indies immigrants hired to work on the Panama Canal, come to life in a lesson about the building of the Panama Canal. Groups research why the canal was built, how it was build, the working...

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...

Eighth grades can master the ELA Common Core standards! Show your learners the connection between classroom activities and assignments and the standards with this set of "I Can" statement posters. Each standard has been rewritten as an...

Track your class's progress on all of the ELA Common Core standards with these handy charts. Along the left side, each seventh grade identifier is listed along with the full text of the standard. As you teach, reteach, assess,...

Drag queens in thigh-high shiny red leather boots! Welcome to Kinky Boots, the Tony Award-winning musical about a young man trying to save his family-owned shoe-making business. With an engaging story line and songs by Cyndi Lauper, the...

Don't let the length scare you away. An eBook version of David Copperfield contains all 1,307 pages of the story. This digital version of the classic coming-of-age novel follows the title character from childhood into adulthood,...

Third graders develop basic narratives. They retell a focused story and create a basic publication using available resources (e.g., pictures, colors, computer, copier). They experiment with different forms of creative writing (e.g.,...

Third graders explore the significance of historical landmarks. In this lesson, 3rd graders participate in a class discussion on Kansas landmarks, then complete several activities the reinforce the class discussion, such as writing a story.