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.

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, 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.

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!

Show your students how long one minute is. Use a story and activities to help them gain a better understanding of time.

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.

Your young scientists will have tons of fun visiting measurement stations and using tools to measure various objects. They'll even be able to create posters at the end of the activity.

Get ready to develop important comprehension skills! Students will read different informational passages and learn to identify the main idea. They will then use their knowledge of main ideas to write their own informational passages.

If you ask your students if they need ice cream, the answer may surprise you! In this lesson, your students will be able differentiate between wants and needs.

Soft or loud, sweet or bitter, happy or sad? How do your senses help you describe things around you? In this lesson, your students will use words that relate to their five senses.

What are the five senses and how do we use them everyday? Students get a chance to practice using sensory language as they think about the world around them. Can be used as a stand alone or support for the Writing a Five Senses Poem lesson.

Use a sweet treat to help students do hands-on math! Students will practice their addition skills in this yummy activity.

Smaller dictionaries that are totally relevant to the material being read? In this lesson, students will learn that these miraculously really do exist and go by the name of glossaries!

What do books and dances have in common? They can both be used to tell stories and express emotions. In this lesson, students will learn to represent scenes from a story through dance.

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.

Give students plenty of practice adding to 20 with this fun game! Use this scaffolded EL Lesson alone or for more addition practice before teaching the Do Math with M&Ms lesson.

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!

What does it mean to expand a number? Use this lesson plan to help your students understand how to write the expanded form of two-digit numbers.

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

Which traits do your students share with their favorite characters? Find out as you introduce new adjectives! This lesson can be used alone or with the lesson plan All About Me: Character Traits.

In this lesson, students will use Daniel Siegel’s “hand model of the brain” to identify how their brains work. They will learn the term “prefrontal cortex" (PFC) and about how their brains can grow when they learn new things.

Do your students know the difference between a fact and an opinion? In this lesson, your class gets the practice they need to sort fact from opinion.

Enhance your child's predictive abilities with this creative reading lesson. By imitating the styles of Eric Carle's Do You Want to Be My Friend?, students will create and share their own mini guessing games.