Who doesn’t love learning about animals? Engage students in research as they write informational books about animals.

Teach your students how to identify the main topic using story cards and an interactive read aloud in this engaging lesson.

Get your students excited about expository text through this fun introduction to text features! Students will create their own glossary of nonfiction text features.

Catalina Magdalena Hoopensteiner Wallendiner Hogan Logan Bogan Was Her Name, and students will have a blast writing persuasive sentences about her. This quirky lesson is sure to please young, creative minds.

Ask an important question this month: What does an activist do? This engaging lesson can be used leading up to Martin Luther King Jr. Day (and year-round). It supports students in understanding what it means to be an activist and how Martin Luther King Jr. used collaborative action to change the world and speak out against oppression. Perfect for first graders and second graders, this activity explores word meaning and other reading and writing skills.

Want students to use text features in their writing? Begin by having them examine the text features that they see in informational books.

This lesson plan teaches students about Jean-Michel Basquiat and his life as a child. First, students will listen to a story and figure out the main topic and details. Next, students will be asked to think deeply about what it means to be an artist and some of the types of art they like to create. Perfect for first graders and second graders, the lesson Black Artists: Basquiat highlights reading informational texts and building vocabulary.

This engaging lesson plan provides students with an opportunity to learn all about America's prima ballerina, Maria Tallchief.

Young detectives will have a blast as they find context clues and solve a mystery in this fun-filled lesson plan. By paying close attention to a story, students will figure out missing letters to decipher a hidden message.

To help develop independent readers, we need to make sure our students are able to identify books they can read independently. Teaching students to pick "just right" books helps them develop reading fluency by reading books at their level.

Nature can teach us about impermanence and appreciation of the present moment. In this lesson, students will explore impermanence in nature, and they'll create their own nature mandala that reflects impermanence and nature's gifts.

Your students will deepen their understanding and build their vocabulary through reading nonfiction texts and identifying unknown words.

What makes a poem a poem? And what makes a story a story? In this lesson, students learn to distinguish between different types of texts while analyzing the sentences and words they encounter.

This lesson plan teaches students about Frida Kahlo and her legacy as an activist and artist who continues to inspire people all over the world. Students will listen to a story about Frida Kahlo and reflect on what it means to be an artist.

In this lesson, students will learn all about Maria Montessori, a pioneering researcher and teacher, and create their own biographical books about this inspiring woman.

Emotions are natural and temporary, just like passing clouds, rain, or the shining sun. In this lesson, students learn how to be mindful of their emotions and discuss how emotions change, just like the weather.

ELs will gain valuable practice learning about text features as they practice close reading and communication skills during a nonfiction picture walk. Use on its own or as a support for the Classifying Nonfiction Text Features lesson plan.

Family first! This lesson encourages students to think about families and how diverse families can be.

Being a fluent reader means being able to use different strategies to figure out unknown words. In this lesson, students learn how to use pictures and context clues.

Have your students get energized while they learn about animal locomotion and move around like various animals!

Let's dance our dreams! In this lesson, students read a story about a girl going after her dream of being a ballerina before composing dances to represent their own dreams.

How does your garden grow? In this lesson, students will practice listening comprehension, vocabulary, and story sequencing. This hands-on art and literacy lesson is perfect for Earth Day, or any nature unit.

Use this lesson plan as an introductory activity to kick-off a short, project-based learning unit where students will research black visionaries and share what they learned.

In this lesson, students will learn how their breath can be their greatest friend. They will practice and learn how to use their breath when they feel tense or overwhelmed, just like a magical tool!

Learning from others is a huge part of getting better at something, including writing! In this lesson, students will study works by nonfiction authors to enhance their own nonfiction writing.

In this lesson, students will practice defining words by making their own vocabulary cards. This lesson plan can be used alone or with the Mini Dictionaries lesson plan.

Using charts is a great way to see similarities, differences, and information. This visual lesson will help all students see what can be gained from nonfiction and fiction texts.

Inventors and their novel inventions are always a thrilling topic! In the lesson Researching Black Inventors, first graders and second graders are encouraged to research the rich history of African American inventors. This engaging lesson plan provides students with an opportunity to learn all about inventors they find interesting and the impact those inventors have on the world. Perfect for Black History Month, this learning activity highlights informational writing skills and helps build students' vocabulary.

Introduce your students to the scientific concept of sink or float. This hands-on experiment allows them to see which objects sink and which float. The concepts taught will be solidified with the completion of worksheets.

Students love comic books! Channel their excitement for this fun genre and get their creative writing juices flowing. By writing their own comic strips, students will be practicing composing, sequencing, and using dialogue.