Sixth graders study the culture of China by comparing it to that of the United States. They write all questions and notes in a journal. The students access the internet to obtain the information and internet sites are suggested in the...

Here is a great lesson plan on recognizing events and themes in a story. Students read chapters from a chosen book and then fill out a graphic organizer to further explore the purpose of the chapter. They write the events, themes,...

Young scholars create a nature journal for an imaginary trip around France. They Identify animals and plants that live in France and describe its landscape. In addition they research a period in France's history and prepare a brief...

Honing reading and communication skills through the theme of farm animals is the focus of this instructional activity. Students read a book about Scandinavian farm animals and complete prediction journal activities. They complete a...

Fifth graders will learn about various perspectives around events. They will need to take on the perspectives of various key people during the September 11 attack. Then they will write in their journals about the incident. They read...

Explore ancient Rome through reading The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare. Readers activate prior knowledge by examining objects that relate to the story and predict the significance of the items. Their curiosity is aroused...

Learners brainstorm and discuss essential traits for success. They develop a group list that displays essential traits of the successful classroom and journal about the experience.

Learners are introduced to the various types of dinosaurs and write in their journals about their favorite one. After listening to a story and watching a filmstrip, they color a few pages in their Dinosaur Friends Book. They also examine...

Students examine cultures, traditions, and feeling throughout cultures. In this cultural lesson, students use literature, maps, and cultural information to examine how people have universal feelings despite their different cultures and...

Students read the sports section of the daily newspaper to find daily totals of what countries have won medals and find articles to keep in their journal (notebook) on the different events and athletes. They then create a spreadsheet to...

Pupils make travelog journals to send to acquaintances in other states in order to receive mail in return. They make scrapbooks with the return mail they receive.

Students explore birds, their territory, breeding, and seasonal movement. They research and collect information on birds through writing letters to ornithologists, reading in books, comparing web sites, and observing pictures. Students...

Young children read the story, Berlioz the Bear and complete various reading and writing activities. They learn about fiction and non-fiction, and complete graphing and writing activities for the story. Youngsters draw the bear and use...

What is a hero? Used as both an introduction and conclusion to the play Into the Line of Duty (author not provided), this presentation details the definitions of a hero before posing discussion questions. Students discuss their...

Students examine the amount of biodiversity in the state of Illinois. They practice using new vocabulary and listening to stories about animals. After given time to reflect, they write their own haiku. They work together to create a...

Students work together to build models of prairie plants. Using the model, they estimate the height and then measure them using metric and standard units. They write a fraction to represent their part of the whole set and compare and...

"How are belief systems represented and reproduced through nature?" This essential question guides lesson 6 of this unit on The Odyssey (the rest of the unit is linked). Students first write about a scenario in which they are...

Ask learners about their personal writing habits, such as whether they keep a journal or a blog, or if they'd ever want to. Though this is not a fully developed lesson, you can use this article and question to provoke discussion and...

Seeing how seeds grow into plants is such an enjoyable for students! They plant lima bean seeds and take pictures to record the growth of their plants. Students write in a journal to describe their daily observations of their plants, and...

Through a series of experiments and demonstrations, fifth graders will learn about gravity. They will make predictions, drop various objects, write down their observations, and try to understand gravity through balance. This lesson seems...

Youngsters construct a map of treasures that they find along a nature trail as they hike. They also make sketches and create place names of some of the spots along the trail. Once back in class, pupils use their treasure maps to help...

After reading an article, "Cameras Capture a 5-Second Fireball and Its Meteorite's Secrets," space science superstars use the  triangulation method to determine the location of a distant object. In-class activities and homework are...

Students examine the history, economics, and geography of the Anza era. They read primary source journals, diaries, and letters, conduct Internet research, and write a research report.

In this nonfiction journal prompt activity, students respond to ten prompts related to a nonfiction book before and while reading the book. What information surprised you, and why did you choose this book are two examples.