Every young child (and adult!) loves being an expert in something. By helping students realize that they are experts in many areas, their confidence and writing will expand by leaps and bounds.

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.

How? In this lesson, your students will become familiar with using this question word to investigate how things work.

Do you have students who are constantly asking what, who, where, why, how, and when? It's your turn to ask now! Have them read various stories and ask them to answer these questions in this lesson.

In this lesson students, learn how to listen and practice community-building skills using the circle process. This lesson helps build community and establish norms for how students communicate with each other.

Do your students respect their peers' opinions? This lesson teaches first graders that their opinions matter by encouraging them to write out opinions and back them up with reasons.

In this lesson, students have a great time using their imaginations to collaborate and create their own story following the "how and why" style of common folktales.

Cooking up a delicious Peanut Butter and Jelly is as simple as writing a how-to story in this lesson designed to teach students the different parts of a how-to story. Everyone will walk away with their heads and tummies filled!

It's never to early to start dreaming about the future! In this lesson, engage your students in thinking about how their lives will be, all while practicing persuasive writing and using future tense verbs!

Your students become masters at character analysis as they learn how to describe fictional characters by identifying traits and providing concrete evidence to support their thinking.

In this lesson, students will learn how to practice peace when they feel hurt or have a disagreement. These steps can be followed whenever conflict arises in the classroom.

In this lesson, students will learn how to be a good friend. The class will generate guidelines on friendship and create a friendship collage.