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.

Did you know that Reader's Theater promotes fluency and builds students' reading confidence? Use this lesson to inspire your students to practice reading and understanding text in the drama genre.

Get your students’ creative juices flowing with this fun creative writing lesson! Students will read a fun story and then write their own ending.

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.

This engaging lesson teaches students about the famous author Faith Ringgold. Students will explore two pieces of literature, comparing and contrasting story elements, then write opinion pieces to illustrate which book they liked best.

Challenge your students to make their personal narratives come to life with strong action words, feelings, and thoughts. This lesson will help young learners develop their creativity and writing skills.

Let your students show off what they've learned about time, money, and temperature with this lesson that combines all three in one word story.

Help your students understand rounding without rhymes or tricks. Students will use an open number line to round and then take part in a fun game that will get them moving around the room.

In this hands on activity students will explore the advantages and disadvantages of specialization and interdependence through their creation of paper bugs.

In this lesson, your students will play "I Spy" to identify 3-D shapes. They will use language to describe the shapes and be able to compare them easily.

Teach your students about text clues that will help them read with expression. This lesson can stand alone or be used as a pre-lesson for the Reader's Theater: Read the Script lesson.

Use this lesson to help your ELs learn about the differences between realism and fantasy. This lesson can stand alone or be used as a pre-lesson for the Making Sense of Realism and Fantasy lesson.

Students will learn about the holiday El Día de los Muertos through engaging activities and connecting to their own traditions.

Students will work together as well as individually to add up coins to a desired amount. This real life skill will be made fun when students get to physically count out their cents!

In this lesson, students will reflect on what they have learned, connected to mindfulness and living in a caring community, and will write a letter to a future student to encourage them in their learning, as well.

Jazz up your nonfiction reading and add a little color! Use this lesson with your students to teach them to cite text evidence as they answer questions by color coding.

This activity keeps your students moving and puts their reasoning skills to the test! An outside scavenger hunt will allow students to find different objects to classify into groups.

Use this lesson to teach students about the importance of reading fluently to support comprehension. Use as a stand alone activity or a support for the Increasing Reading Stamina and Comprehension lesson plan.

Help show your students' growth with a time capsule. Use the lesson plan Classroom Time Capsule to have students prepare any academic work they want to include in the capsule. They will also add a completed worksheet about their goals for 2020.

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.

Use this lesson to teach your students about the various types of forests by drawing them on a box!

A fun twist to charades. Students act out and guess different words while identifying the long and short vowel sounds inside each of them.

Students will use their understanding of plot, theme, and comparing and contrasting in this lesson that teaches about an award-winning African American author, Jacqueline Woodson. Students will read some of her fiction books and compare and contrast the stories. They'll also discuss what they think makes Jacqueline Woodson an award-winning author.

Have you ever had to explain to someone where something is? Learning to create a map is a fun way to show where objects and places are.

Use this lesson to teach your students about Frederick Douglass and the impact that words had on his life. First, they will read a picture book that shares facts and beautiful illustrations to teach about his life. Then, they'll complete a graphic organizer with peers to record important details and events in his life. Students will then demonstrate understanding by creating a poster with images and key words that stand out when they think about Frederick Douglass.

This lesson will have your students learn to compare and contrast using both a classic fairy tale and a fractured versions of a fairy tale.

Use this lesson to teach your students how to identify character actions with verbs. This lesson can stand alone or be used as a pre-lesson for the Look for the Clues lesson.

Help your students unscramble the numbers using their knowledge of place value up to thousands! In this lesson, students will be able to see how numbers within a larger number have different values.

Use this lesson to reinforce using sentence level context clues to decode challenging words in a nonfiction text. This can be used as a stand alone activity or a support the Using Context Clues to Understand Word Meanings lesson.

Teach your students to compare and contrast to boost their comprehension! Use this lesson to teach your students to compare and contrast information from two nonfiction texts on the same topic.