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...
Curated OER
Truth or Hogwash
Explore the history of domesticated pigs and their important byproducts. After discussing the use of pigs, class members create game boards describing the animals. While playing the game, they determine if the answers are true or...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Concept to Classroom: Inquiry Based Learning
One of eleven workshops presented by Concept to Classroom, this workshop on Inquiry-based Learning takes you through four major steps (explanation, demonstration, exploration, and implementation) to learn about it, then put it into...
Other
Peoples Education: Make Inferences in Science [Pdf]
This online textbook selection focuses on how scientists make inferences from evidence. Students are given a reading passage about underwater exploration and are asked to make inferences based on the text. The passage is followed by...
Buck Institute
Pbl Works: Presentation Rubric Grades 3 5 Ccss Aligned
[Free Registration/Login Required] This rubric helps teachers guide students in grades 3-5 in making effective presentations in a project, and it can be used to assess their performance. Alignment with CC ELA standards for Speaking and...
Read Works
Read Works: Water Woes
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction piece includes information about the world's water shortage. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and establishes...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Shared Inquiry Discussion
Students learn to generate ideas with a clear focus in response to questions while participating in a shared inquiry discussion. Included are shared inquiry guidelines, and tips on discussing fiction and non-fiction books using this method.
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: A Storm of Ideas
The first step in writing an informational text on the topic of students' choice is helping the student choose a topic of interest. Students will brainstorm ideas that will be possible final topics.
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Researching a Topic: Teaching Students to Research Information
Students will conduct a short research project about a topic. This lesson focuses on how to find the information needed on their chosen topic.
Other
Educator Voices: Grade 3 Research Skills Unit
Describes the process teachers went through to create a lesson unit where students first brainstormed what it means to do research, then were tasked with choosing a topic, researching it, and presenting on it several days later. The...
FNO Press
Fno.org: Inspired Investigations
An article at From Now On about how to help students do better research by changing the focus of research assignments and teaching students to ask essential questions. Some suggestions include using mind mapping, and using Inspiration to...
Scholastic
Scholastic History Mystery
Students will choose from a variety of concepts and can play a game to enhance their learning.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: The Wacky Classroom Calendar
Inspired by Barry Lane's book 51 Wacky We-Search Reports, in this cross-curricular lesson students learn how to summarize properly.
HotChalk
Hot Chalk: Lesson Plans Page: Free Trip, but Where to Go?
In this lesson plan, students research information on 2 countries, estimate mileage over long distances, and present their information to the class.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: I Chart
A printable inquiry chart designed to help students ask questions and collect information from various texts when conducting research on any topic. Directions on how to use this type of graphic organizer as well as lists of teaching...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: History Comes Alive: Developing Fluency and Comprehension
Let the power of imagination and inference serve as a "time machine" to bring Benjamin Franklin into the classroom! History and science come to life in a dialogue with Franklin the inventor, developed through lesson activities that...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Literature in Nonfiction Inquiry
This lesson plan involves students working in groups after reading a work of literature to develop text sets. Included in the lesson plan is an overview, practice, objectives, resources, preparation, and more.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Technical Reading and Writing Using Board Games
Contains plans for a game that helps teach technical reading and writing while reviewing a novel that students have read. In addition to objectives and standards, this instructional plan contains links to sites used in the lessons as...
Education Development Center
Tv411: Summarizing Activity 2
This activity asks students to differentiate between main ideas and supporting details.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Talking About Books to Improve Comprehension
This lesson is a conversation-starter! In this lesson, students learn about striking up deep-thought conversations and staying on topic in the form of a book talk.
Other
Youth Learn: The Key to Engaging Students in Learning: Asking Good Questions
Explanation of several types of questions, and suggestions for helping students use good questioning techniques in inquiry-based learning. SL.9-10.1c Active Partic
Read Works
Read Works: Earth 2072
[Free Registration/Login Required] A literary text describing what school might be like in the future. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Read Works
Read Works: Earth 2072
[Free Registration/Login Required] A literary text about what school might be like in the future. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Read Works
Read Works: Secrets of the Past
[Free Registration/Login Required] This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and establishes scaffolding for vocabulary learning. It contains questions and teacher guides and...