Curriculum Corner
“I Can” Common Core! 3rd Grade Reading
Third grade readers are given clear learning goals with this Common Core checklist. By turning each reading standard into an I can statement, children can focus on mastering the required grade level skills.
Curated OER
Because of Winn-Dixie
Readers analyze an excerpt from Kate DiCamillo's novel Because of Winn-Dixie. They read silently, and then hear it read aloud. Definitions for underlined vocabulary words are in the margin, and other potentially difficult words are in...
Curated OER
Poems: Identifying Patterns
Here is a great learning exercise that contains two short poems to compare and contrast. Children will read each poem out loud and then complete three comparative analysis questions which focus on rhyme, structure, and language. Note:...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Off to Adventure!: Challenge Activities (Theme 1)
Off to Adventure! is the theme of an English language arts unit comprised of a variety of challenge activities. Scholars enhance skills and reinforce concepts by taking part in a grand book discussion, giving an oral report, and writing...
Curated OER
Exploring Figurative Language in Fiction and Nonfiction
A reading of Pat Street's There's a Frog in My Throat launches a study of figurative language. Using a pocket chart, display one phrase containing figurative language. Class members choose the best explanation from three choices offered....
Curated OER
Fantasy
How do you know the book you are reading is a fantasy? Explore the characteristics of the fantasy genre as you read the story Zathura with your class. Together you'll create a class chart that identifies the fantasy genre while building...
Curated OER
Oklahoma's Berry Best
Ask your learners to complete activities related to Oklahoma's agriculture, berries in particular. The lesson is cross-curricular and has class members investigate an article about berries, write an acrostic poem, and discuss new...
Curated OER
Pizza for Everyone
Pizza is the inspiration for the cross-curricular instructional activity detailed here. Start out with a poem about pizza and move into a discussion about balanced eating. To close the language arts portion of the instructional activity,...
Curated OER
Don't Fence Me In
Ensure that your class has a well-rounded understanding of new inventions, in this case barbed wired. Class members, after researching the history and development of barbed wire, assess its impact on cattle and the development of the...
Curated OER
Picture a Character
How would Jean-Etiénne Liotard paint the characters from "The Little Mermaid?" What would the main character from "The Little Match Girl" look like from Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes' point of view? After examining various paintings...
Curated OER
Just Lookin' For a Home
What is a boll weevil? Your class can find out that and more by following the activities included here. Pupils read an article, sing a boll weevil song, add to the song with their own original lyrics, illustrate the song, study the...
Curated OER
Little Red Hen
Pupils listen to a teacher reading of The Little Red Hen, identify the story elements and sequence them. They talk about different jobs associated with providing food and act out a play based on the story. Be aware that although several...
Curated OER
Back to the Farm
Read up on farming and ranching and connect this information to your learners' lives. After reading, send class members home to fill out a family tree and trace their family history, focusing on farming and ranching backgrounds. Once...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: All Together Now: Collaborations in Poetry Writing
Three learning activities to teach K-2 students about poetry. Very detailed lessons with references and other suggested activities. Ways to individualize and academic content standards are noted. (Attachment may not load in archived URL.)
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Writing Poetry Like Pros
By looking to examples of popular poetry in a variety of forms, students learn to analyze, appreciate, and synthesize poetry in the classroom. "Writing Poetry Like Pros" provides several links to poetry texts and suggestions for creating...
Scholastic
Scholastic: Writing With Writers: Descriptive Writing
This page gives students specific guidelines & tips for a descriptive writing assignment. Students can publish descriptive writing here, as well. A thorough teacher's guide to descriptive writing is also provided.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Writing With Writers: Descriptive Writing
Need help with doing a descriptive paper or personal narrative? Need a writing lesson plan? Meet Virginia Hamilton and follow her step-by-step guide to writing. When done, you are eligible for a certificate signed by this author.
Poetry Foundation
Poetry Foundation: Dream in Color: Teacher Resources Glossary, Credits [Pdf]
This website contains a glossary with definitions of poetic terms and a bibliography of additional African-American poets and books and recommended reading.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Personifying Abstractions
Students learn about personification and how to use it to when writing about abstract nouns. Finally, students write poems using the nouns they have chosen and personifications they have developed. Teacher and student instructions are...
Scholastic
Scholastic: Poetry Writing With Jack Prelutsky
Here you will find awesome poetry guidelines from Jack Prelutsky! You will also find a teacher's guide.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Poetry: A Feast to Form Fluent Readers
Students will learn how to use theory to practice methods to help them discuss the meaning of written texts. Student objectives and instructional plans are provided. Some resources on this link may need additional software to operate...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Color Poems: Using the Five Senses to Guide Prewriting
Contains plans for four 50-minute lessons that ask students to use their five senses for poetry prewriting. In addition to student objectives and standards, this instructional plan contains links to PDF handouts and sites used in the...
Education Place
Houghton Mifflin: Eduplace: Wacky Web Tales: The Weather Station
This fill-in-the-blank Wacky Web Tale includes a story about a weather station. It is fun and serves an interactive grammar review. Wacky Web Tales are fun and interactive grammar reviews. Students fill in blanks for different parts of...
Scholastic
Scholastic: Poetry Writing
This site comes from the Scholastic website and provides a teacher's guide to writing poetry. This lesson plan is put together very well and provides an outline of the project, learning objectives, assessment information and much more.