We aren’t mind readers, but we can still figure out why the author wrote a text and what an author thinks about the topic! This lesson will teach your students the main purposes for writing.

This lesson, perfect for first and second grade learners, will help kids become environmental activists as they think of ways to help the Earth! First, students will brainstorm examples of what it means to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Next, students will partake in a creative art project where they trace their hands and think of way ways they can give the planet a hand. This engaging activity integrates creative writing skills and Earth science.

In this lesson, students will solve a design problem and practice troubleshooting as they create a list of instructions for putting together a tent.

Life cycles go around and around! In this technology-integrated lesson, students will research various animal life cycles and write about them.

In this lesson, students will create a set of instructions for navigating a life-size maze.

In this lesson, your students will explore the properties of solids and learn to describe them in various ways.

This hands-on lesson will get your students to investigate some mystery liquids, and they will have to use their observational skills to figure out what they are.

In this lesson, you will use “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” to teach students about the butterfly life cycle. After listening to the story read aloud, students will use their knowledge to create their own butterfly life cycles!

Provide students with an opportunity to closely examine the difference between a topic and main idea in a nonfiction text. Use as a stand-alone activity or a support for the Finding the Main Idea and Details in a Nonfiction Text lesson.