In this lesson, students develop the cognitive tool of criteria development for discussing the aesthetics of poetry and music.

After students write persuasive essays, use this lesson to challenge them to summarize their essays concisely by creating five-slide presentations.

Students improve a slide show by removing pictures. Their reasons for cutting pictures are translated into revision guidelines for cutting unnecessary words and sections from their rough drafts.

Inspired by their curiosity about animals, students work together to research an animal of their choice and present the information they gather to an authentic audience.

Students are guided through an informal exploration of nonfiction texts and child-oriented Websites, learning browsing and skimming techniques for the purpose of gathering interesting information.

Students "become" one of the major characters in a book and describe themselves and other characters, using lists of accurate, powerful adjectives.

Students create a personalized biography for their reading buddy, and each child is the author, illustrator, and editor.

Students create posters using images, text, and mathematical equations to represent a story problem.

Students utilize their reading and writing skills as they think critically in order to sort books in multiple ways.

Students create math stories by first drawing, then writing, and finally using math symbols to show addition or subtraction.

Students work together to create classroom rules by brainstorming why they are at school and what they need while they are there.

Students play a guessing game to practice using descriptive language.

Boom! Br-r-ring! Cluck! Moo!—Everywhere you turn, you find exciting sounds. Students use these sounds to write their own poems based on Dr. Seuss's Mr. Brown Can MOO! Can You?

This lesson engages children in using writing to their families as a persuasive tool to get what they want and need.

After listening to the beginning of a story, students use details in the text, personal experience, and prior knowledge to predict the way the story will end.

This lesson encourages children to explore authentic reasons for writing by writing messages to their family in a family message journal.

This lesson introduces Family Message Journals—a teacher-tested tool for encouraging family involvement and supporting writing to reflect and to learn.

Students use themed graphic organizers to compose cinquain poems on topics common in the early elementary classroom.

Students respond to self-selected books in journals, and talk about their books daily in small groups. The teacher guides students by offering suggestions and writing with them in dialogue journals.