After reading a short passage about glyphs, kids must follow the provided directions to create a star glyph.

Prepare participants for a Socratic seminar by asking them to not only design questions for the discussion, but to also observe an assigned partner during the seminar. A great way to encourage student-led discussions.

Learn about the ancient Near East through a close examination of ancient artifacts. Lead your class into analysis by first observing an artifact as a class. Pupils can then work in pairs to analyze the other artifacts and compile a list...

After completing Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, readers research a topic of interest and prepare a five-minute presentation, and share their findings with the class.

Encourage close reading for young learners with a lesson based on Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting. The first part of the resource guides readers through a Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA), prompting them to make...

To generate interest in reading Neal Shusterman's young adult science fiction novel Unwind, class members engage in a Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DRTA) that asks them to examine the front and back covers, the blurbs, and "The...

Get things cooking with the first instructional activity in this series on the science of food. Working in small groups, young scientists make and record observations about different mystery foods. These descriptions are then shared with...

This is a strange question; but what kind of vessel would you be and why? After examining images of a large Inca jug, the class sets to writing a creative narrative that answers that very interesting question. They start by researching...

What causes a shadow to appear? Have kindergartners and first graders explore shadows with a fun science activity. After reading a short paragraph about light sources, they draw a shadow for a little girl based on the location of the...

Walk your pupils through the beginning of My Antonia by Willa Cather with a read-aloud-style activity. The goal is to make predictions and back them up with textual evidence.

Combine measurement, following directions, physics, and art with one fun activity. Learners read a set of instruction to create three different kinds of paper airplanes. They measure, fold, and fly the planes, and record data and answer...

Students observe and listen to nonfiction books about the life cycle of pumpkins. They practice early reading skills in a shared reading related to pumpkins. They observe the life cycle of a pumpkin including growth and decay.

Students explore, analyze and discover the characteristics of raptors and generate a word bank for owls and raptors. They identify attributes shared by raptors and practice various key vocabulary words to master and utilize in sentence...

Students read an article and describe the scientific method.  In this scientific process instructional activity, students compare basic science and applied science. Students discuss ideas such as team work, application of an idea,...

Students review the vocabulary terms solid and liquid. They also review that adjectives tell what kind, which one, and how many. The teacher introduces a "Oobleck" after reading "Bartholomew and the Oobleck" by Dr. Seuss. The students...

Pupils examine the way that Manduca, other animals, and humans use camouflage. They participate in a teacher directed camouflage experiment and the creation of a camouflage collage.

Water is the source of life. It appears in poetry in both peaceful and torrential descriptions; it appears in earth science in its liquid, gaseous, and solid states. Combine these interpretations of our planet's most precious and...

Observe Constitution Day with a activity that delves deep into the who, what, why, when, where, and how of the U.S. Constitution. Scholars read a short informational text then answer 10 questions—short answer and multiple choice. 

Surprise! is the theme of a unit covering such topics as consonants, blending, short vowels sounds, high frequency words, and number words. The unit's lessons also include teachable moments covering story structure, illustrations,...

Six short answer questions challenge scholars to show what they know after reading an informational text that examines waves—what they are, what causes them, and how different Earth factors affect their size and strength.   

Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles provides the text for a fishbowl activity. Class members to sit in concentric circles, with the center circle discussing the topics from the book, and the outer circle observing the...

In this weather instructional activity, students photograph and record the weather conditions for a week. Then they list the types of clouds observed and the weather conditions they noted associated with each cloud type. Students also...

Experience movement in literature. High schoolers are introduced to new vocabulary related to drama and theatre. In groups, they use a piece of literature and develop their own skit to act out in front of the class. As a class, they...

What is a verb of attribution? Study the description and examples on the first page, and then let your classes attempt the second page. There's a list of verbs they can use to construct the sentences provided.