Groups or pairs choose ordinary objects from a bag and rename them based on traits, so that a stapler becomes a "paper cobra." Then they connect this exercise to the way authors use language to emphasize certain traits through word...

Entitled American Studies, this small unit covers various topics related to the study of the United States. Learners warm up by creating a dictionary of democracy, then dive into three different lessons focused on government, famous...

Read and discuss the article "Welcome to Cicadaville (Enter at Your Own Risk)" to gain a better understanding around the confusion regarding cicadas and locust swarms. In groups your young analysts research statements about animals to...

A creative spin occurs when one pupil acts as author Ann M. Martin. Using a Q & A at the back of her book A Dog's Life, other classmates ask the "author" questions. They discuss the reasons why they know the book is from a...

Third graders construct numbers to the millions place. In this 30-page place value lesson, learners create numbers and evaluate the place value of digits. They explore standard and expanded form of numbers. An incredible resource!

Here is an activity I'd like to do with my class! They researching the ins and outs of Egyptian culture, hieroglyphs, symbolism, and art, then use what they know to create realistic or stylized Mummy cases. These cases need to include...

Young scholars work through a Haiku Organizer to determine the characteristics they use to write eight haiku poems on a theme that they choose. They design presentation folders of their completed work.

Investigate the parts of a book and in particular, the pop-up, tab, wheel, and or accordion features that can be added to a book to move and enhance the storyline. This is a three lesson unit.

Young authors write books about themselves using one of the identified types of literature and the writing process. They identify the common characteristics among the books in each group, edit, and gift their books to a younger student.

Have your young pupils complete a variety of activities related to the story "I Know an Old Lady." They act-out the story using puppets, visit the illustrator's website, discuss his cartoon drawings for the book, and generate a list of...

Students explore number values by completing mathematical worksheets in class. For this decimals lesson, students identify the different place values a number has and the use of decimals to represent a fraction of a number. Students...

Synonym dominoes, anyone? As part of the activities designed for kids who have mastered the basic concepts in the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt thematic unit That's Amazing! kids are offered a variety of activities that include...

Students observe a video displaying body parts and functions of the digestive system. They make drawings of the digestive system from their observations. They act out a short play involving body parts.

Learners research an endangered animal using both printed material and the Internet. They organize their information and develop sentences to write a story to create a flip-it book. A worksheet is embedded in the lesson for students' use.

Why is it so important to learn the art of persuasion? Being persuasive helps you acquire the things you want or the things you feel are necessary. Print out these scenarios and assign one to each group of high schoolers. As a team, they...

Young scholars examine the poem and artistic masterpiece The Quadroon Girl and use this knowledge to practice mathematical concepts such as: more than, less than, counting, and majority.

First and second graders explore the importance of having a beginning, middle, and end when writing stories. In this story writing lesson, students write short stories using the story diamond as a guide. They invite their parents to an...

Students explore the major functions of plants and animals. In this rainforest lesson plan students create a Venn diagram to compare and contrast animals in the rainforest.

Learners compare common food items with the parts of a plant. They grow their own plants to assess the difficulties in assisting a plant's growth and reproduction.

Students compare their prior knowledge about the relationship between sunlight and cancer with new findings. They research how different vitamins and minerals affect the human body.

Students listen to the story Toad, then the story is reread without any adjectives. The class discusses the importance of details in a story. Then the class creates a collaborative book following the same story pattern.

Fifth graders complete an analysis of the Revolutionary War through literature. After "My Brother Sam Is Dead," students create a time capsule containing items that would be relevant during the Revolutionary War. They identify key...

Students read a variety of nursery rhymes with a focus on "Humpty Dumpty". While reading, they identify the words that rhyme along with the setting, plot and characters. To end the lesson, they complete a Venn Diagram comparing "Humpty...

Learners discuss the life of a star and the different types of stars after watching the Discovery video "Exploring Stars". They create a flipbook that demonstrates the life of a star after collecting information on the life cycles of...