Curated OER
6th Grade: Express Yourself, Lesson 2: Close Read
The second lesson plan of a pair about Paul Laurence Dunbar, this plan focuses in particular on his poem, "We Wear the Masks." After a short historical introduction, class members conduct a series or readings, marking up the text and...
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Academic Language
College-level writers learn the importance of using academic language in their papers and essays. Assessing the audience is an important aspect of choosing the language with which one writes. Review these 10 slides to make sure each...
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Figurative Language
Explore literary devices and figurative language using higher level examples. The 33 slides here define common types of figurative language (like simile, metaphor, personification, etc.), and then focus on specific examples in...
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Connotation and Denotation: How Word Choice Affects a Paragraph
Review the terms denotation, connotation, diction, and mood in paragraph writing. After defining the terms, middle schoolers practice writing examples of both connotation and denotation. They complete a connotation and denotation...
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Setting the Tone with Figurative Language
Explore figurative language with your secondary class. Extending a language arts unit, the lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine how an author's word choice establishes a story's tone, possibly using metaphors, similes,...
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Reading Comprehension 4: Level 8
Need a quick but comprehensive reading strategies exercise? Even your most reluctant readers will be engaged by the story of a nuclear reactor explosion at a top-secret Idaho base. After reading the short passage, learners answer nine...
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Horse of a Different Color: An Introduction to Color in the Visual Arts
Young scholars identify ways in which the artist uses color to draw the view's attention to points within the composition and creates a sense of depth. They discuss the effect of color on the tone and mood of an artwork.
Florida Center for Reading Research
Fluency: Connected Text, Express It!
Partners practice reading fluency by reciting sentence strips to each other with proper expression and intonation. Partner A chooses a strip at random and reads it silently, then aloud with expression. Partner B reads the same sentence...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Fluency: Connected Text, Readers' Theater
Readers' theater is a fun way to get kids reading with expression and improve their fluency! There is a full script here for The Three Bears with five characters to assign.
Curated OER
Reading Comprehension 1: Level 12
Need to assess the reading comprehension level of your class or of a new student? The subject matter of the reading passage, euthanasia, is sure to engage your readers’ interest while the questions test a variety of comprehension...
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Reading Comprehension 4: Level 7
Make an impression with a reading comprehension assessment based on Claude Monet. After reading a short biographical paragraph about the famous French painter, readers demonstrate their comprehension skills by drawing inferences,...
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Reading Comprehension 7
Use this reading comprehension assessment to prepare for a state test, or to assess your students' reading. After reading a four-paragraph passage, young learners answer seven questions on literary devices, tone, and author's purpose. An...
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Pioneer Values in Willa Cather's My Antonia
Included in this resource are a variety of activities to do while reading Willa Cather's My Antonia. The activities, which range from mapping out Nebraska to writing activities about pioneer living, are all designed with one...
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General Music: Grades 4 & 5
The story behind the Star Spangled Banner sets off this singing and music lesson. Emergent singers study facts about Francis Scott Key and his famous song, they then discuss and practice singing the first verse paying close attention to...
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Analyzing Poetry
Use this poetry analysis worksheet to help your learners understand a poem of their or your choosing. This resource asks class members to summarize the poem and analyze it by looking at voice, word choice, imagery, and theme. The...
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Alleluia
Singers practice perfecting the song, Alleluia. They focus on singing techniques, style, phrasing, and working with syncopation. This lesson is a microteahing lesson and includes a warm up and vocal exercises.
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Persuasive Speech in Julius Caesar
After reading Julius Caesar 1.2 and 1.3, break your class into pairs for this role-play. Each pair will receive one of four prompts (or more, if you create additional examples), in which one person tries to persuade the other to do...
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Character Impressions
Whether you are planning a unit on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, or simply want to improve your pupils' descriptive writing, this lesson could be a good addition to your class. Using the Six-Trait Writing process, pupils...
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Pen and Ink Drawing
Learners hone their drawing techniques to create a nature-inspired piece of art. They practice hatching, cross hatching, stippling, and shading. They discuss how each method is better suited for creating specific elements in nature such...
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Elements of Poetry
Prepare your learners to identify figurative language in poetry. Tips for reading poetry and what to look for are listed on these slides. Rhetorical devices are defined and plenty of examples are given.
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"World enough, and time"-Andrew Marvell's Coy Mistress
Discuss tone and imagery with Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress." In an attempt to get his fair lady to consummate their relationship, he write a poem urging her to seize the day! Introduce the author to your high school class,...
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Is Perception Reality? Writing Paradoxes in Poetry
Explore the paradox of the universe - or, at least, of popular music - with this lesson. Using the songs "Inaudible Melodies" by Jack Johnson and "She" by Green Day, your class will complete a graphic organizer to help them understand...
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On the Road Again
Young scholars read to their peers from selected texts. As one person reads, the other person listens to his/her peer, noting tone and fluency. Afterward, they reflect on each other's reading. There is a guided reflection worksheet...
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In Depth with the Full Spectrum
Students explore the basic color wheel and the ways that artists use color to guide the viewer's attention through a painting's composition. A creation of a sense of depth in a two dimensional space and the effect of color on mood and...