Suggesting that a literature-rich classroom environment encourages, supports, and celebrates the role of children's literature throughout every aspect of the elementary curriculum, this book presents plans, procedures, and units that engage teachers, stimulate students, and energize classroom learning environments. The first part addresses the…

A list of grievances comprises the longest portion of the Declaration of Independence, but the source of the document's power is its firm philosophic foundation. In this unit, the teacher can capitalize on the propensity to complain to increase student awareness of the precedents behind the Declaration of Independence. The unit can help students…

This collection of eight lesson plans is designed to assist teachers in providing mathematics instruction to elementary and secondary education students with different types of disabilities. The lessons use tactics for teaching mathematics content derived from Lovitt (1995), who summarized techniques found to be effective in increasing the…

This manual is intended for teachers who envision the value of teaching parenting/caring to elementary school children but have minimal time and little opportunity for training. The manual is the third of three units of the curriculum, "Education for Parenting." Each unit follows a different aged baby visiting the classroom and is…

This booklet provides short treatment options for educators, counselors and others on grief issues that today's youth often face. Children may encounter the trauma of fatal illness, accidents, suicide, homicide, and terrorism that they experience either directly or indirectly through the media. They can also face abuse, divorce, multiple moves,…

This "mini" curriculum unit introduces primary children (grades K-3) to the concept of images presented through the media, primarily advertising through print and on television. The unit is divided into three approximately 45-minute lessons. In the unit's first lesson, students will discuss why they like the particular toy they have…

This lesson plan for grade 3 intends for students to use creative dramatics to demonstrate an understanding of three ways a mountain can be formed; students will also explore the effects of elevation on plant and animal life and on weather in the regions on both sides of a mountain. The lesson should take two to four days to implement. It provides…

Based on Grimm's fairy tales, this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that fairy tales connect them to earlier generations, help them think about present situations, that magic figures prominently in fairy tales, and that fairy tales can inspire readers to create original works of art. The main activity in the…

This book provides research-based, concrete strategies for creating a student-centered curriculum in which every student can learn. It breaks down the Natural Human Learning Process (NHLP) into six stages, providing guidelines and models showing educators how to create learning experiences at each stage of the process for individuals, small…

Based on Erich Maria Remarque's novel "All Quiet on the Western Front" and other war literature, this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that works of art about war can call up strong emotions in readers; and that the writing process can be applied to writing poems. The main activity of the lesson involves…

Based on Joseph Heller's novel "Catch-22," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that active readers evaluate the actions and statements of characters in a novel; and active readers apply the ideas of a novel to contexts outside the novel. The main activity of the lesson involves students writing a paper on a…

Based on Miguel de Cervantes' novel "Don Quixote," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that Quixote's misperceptions are understandable; writers often describe one object to sound as if it were something else; and metaphors help readers see with new eyes. The main activity of the lesson involves students…

Based on Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that active readers interpret a novel (its characters, plot, setting, and theme) in different ways; and the great literature can be and has been adapted in many ways over time. The main activity of the lesson involves students…

Based on Homer's "Odyssey," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand literature originally presented in one genre can, with care, be adapted to another genre; and adapters of a literary work into drama must consider dialogue and stage directions. The main activity of the lesson involves students converting a scene…

This "weekend news" writing activity gives students the opportunity to recall personal events and write about them. The writing is done in a nonthreatening environment, which helps students develop writing fluency and apply what they already know about spelling and other language conventions. Students create a set of criteria with which to…