Compare and contrast ideas, hopes and dreams with those of Cassie in Faith Ringgold's, Tar Beach. your students can entries in their journals expressing their ideas.

Who is a champion to your class? Elementary and middle schoolers think of a role-model from their lives. Then, in their journals, they write evidence of that person's perseverance. They identify the character trait of perseverance with...

To better understand the conflict between Amir and Hassan, two characters in Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, readers assume the voice of one of the boys and craft a letter to the other that explains his feelings and concerns.

Eleventh graders listen to a brief history lesson about the 40's and 50's mid-West America and the Migrant workers that worked the fields. Next, learners will read a short story written by Tomas Rivera (both in Spanish and English)....

What kind of shoe is this person? What time of day is this person? Aspiring poets’ responses to a list of questions provide descriptive words and phrases that can be crafted into a blank verse poem. A link to sample poems is provided.

Before reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, take part in this thought-provoking, pre-reading activity that invites discussion about the story's theme using universal adages.

Characters often change over the course of a story or novel. Use the sample graphic organizer provided here to track how the narrator has responded to the sequence of events in chapter four through six of The Cay. In addition to this...

Students explore and evaluate poetry. In small groups, they read and summarize poems, complete a handout, create and perform a dramatization of a poem, and write a journal entry in response to their performance.

Fifth graders gather information about plant cells. As they read in their science book about plant cells, they take notes on the important facts. Then, they look at their notes and organize them into an outline before they write their...

Students prepare for field journaling at Yosemite Institute. They create and decorate their Institute journal giving them both a place to journal and ownership of it.

Fifth graders write a response in their journals about the fictional thoughts of a Civil War soldier. They use specific web sites in order to research the life of a soldier during the Civil War.

Sixth graders use the photo album to write descriptive paragraphs. They write essays that compare the human and physical characteristics between Maui and Oahu.

Students use the internet to research an aspect of interest to them about the Tijuana Estuary. After the unit on the estuary is completed, they reflect on their experiments and thoughts in a paper. They also participate in a field trip...

Students exchange folktales with a key-pal using dialog journal writing. They write out a folktale from their own cultural background and exchange it with students of another. They record their impressions of each other's folktales.

Fifth graders keep journals of observations made about their Aquademics aquarium. Using a worksheet, they record information such as tank water temperature, feeding times, ammonia and pH levels, and unusual behaviors. Journals can be...

Students listen to the book, Corduroy, and discuss the characters and the sequence of events. They take turns taking Corduroy home overnight, and write their own adventure stories using the Corduroy character.

Students read the book, The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System, and discuss the planets visited by the characters in the book. They write journal entries from the viewpoint of E.T., writing letters home describing his travels in...

Students keep a journal of their time and distance in running or walking. This helps them see their progress and explain the value of improving cardiovascular endurance.

Students collect articles, political cartoons, photographs and other artifacts relating to a specific traumatic event, such as September 11th. They reflect on their artifacts in written journals.

Fourth graders take on the persona of a pioneer boy or girl. They write a fictional series of journal entries describing, from a child's view, some of the events, hardships and adventures of the trek west

Tenth graders read Chapter 1 of the novel "Bless Me, Ultima" and respond to the text. They answer and ask questions and record their impressions of different aspects of the book in a dialogue journal format with a partner. Students...

Fifth graders practice expressing themselves through writing. In this language arts lesson, 5th graders study the parts of speech and apply to writing sentences.

Students use the information they wrote about on the topic they chose in studying About Weather. They then write a short story using the information choosing a theme, setting, characters, and the plot.

Students answer coin related math questions using the guess, check and revise process for problem solving.