Penguin Books
The Curriculum Guide for The Secret Hum of a Daisy by Tracy Holczer
The death of a parent can turn a child's world upside down. A curriculum guide for The Secret Hum of a Daisy explores defining moments in the main character's life, including the loss of her mother. Chapter-by-chapter discussion...
EngageNY
Writing Narratives from First Person Point of View: Imagining Meg Lowman’s Rainforest Journal
I spy with my little eye! Learners observe page 23 in The Most Beautiful Roof in the World and practice what they would add to a field journal. They discuss how details from the text help add to their thoughts. To finish, readers use...
K12 Reader
Add Interest with Synonyms
Kids add interest to a paragraph about a day at school by replacing flat, over-used words with synonyms.
Curated OER
Cesar Chavez Biopoem
Young scholars demonstrate their learning about Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers Union by writing a biopoem. They word process the poem.
Curated OER
The Malnourished Paragraph
Pupils revise writing to improve style, word choice, sentence variety and subtlety of meaning after rethinking how questions of purpose, audience and genre have been addressed. They recognize the importance of details in writing.
Curated OER
Fictional Narrative Writing in Mathematics
Fifth graders discuss variety of fictional writing genres and connect each to familiar story that has been read, use creative and analytical skills to develop original piece of fictional writing that incorporates math skill, and share...
Curated OER
Voyage
Students listen to N.C, Wyeth's Pilgrims and discuss what the Mayflower looked like. In this Mayflower lesson, students use sensory words to describe what it was like on the Mayflower. Students illustrate their vision of the Mayflower.
Curated OER
Transforming Negatives to Positives
Students write diamonte poems that correspond to the double-exposed photograph they created. In this poetry and multimedia artwork lesson, students use the photographic process to create a double-exposed photo then create a diamonte...
Curated OER
A Bug's Journey
Students research the art of John Baldessari. In this art history lesson, students examine Baldessari's drawing of a beetle and discuss the characteristics of these bugs. They write a story from a bug's perspective and create their own...
Curated OER
Vanished Occupations: Life on an Iron Plantation
Learners analyze photographs to understand life on a plantation. For this vanished occupations lesson, learners examine why iron plantations were created and what natural resources were needed to make iron. Learners compare the duties,...
Curated OER
The Middle Passage
Fifth graders explore slavery conditions by viewing a video clip on the Internet. In this slave ship instructional activity, 5th graders discuss the transportation of black men and women from Africa to the United States in the 1700's and...
Curated OER
Sensory Competition
Students explore examining something through one sense but experience competing input with another. The lesson also shows the plasticity of the brain and other cognitive functions.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Songwriting Skill - Elaboration: Jesse McCartney - “How Do You Sleep?”
The practice of developing lyrics by elaborating with sensory details and examples continues in the third lesson on songwriting. This time class members examine Jesse McCartney's "How Do You Sleep?" Using procedures established in the...
Curated OER
Pedometer Activities to Enhance Cross-curricular Learning
Learners complete different activities involving pedometers such as writing a creative story, calculating step averages, researching pedometers, calculating calories, and much more.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Systems Every "Body" Needs to Know
Through an informative WebQuest and group work, learners explore the human body and cell structure. They create a cell diagram, research a disease, write a letter explaining the causes of human disease, and work in small groups to create...
Curated OER
Out of the Dust 1
Pupils review figurative languages terms and examples. They read the first entry in the book, Out of the Dust, and discuss the images created by the author. Then they create an autobiographical poem using figurative language.
Curated OER
Valerie Bloom Poetry
Learners listen to Granny Is, a poem by Valerie Bloom and discuss the metaphors in the poem. In this poetry lesson, students read poetry written by Valerie Bloom and discuss the techniques she uses. Learners write grandmother poems.
Curated OER
See and Hear T-Graph
In this brainstorming worksheet, students brainstorm for a topic to write about using the graphic organizer. Students then list what they would see or hear for the topic.
Curated OER
What's On Your Plate?
Students explore the use of sensory details in writing. In this journal writing lesson, students write four journal entries after group discussion about a variety of topics such as their weekend, poverty in the United States, and...
Curated OER
Nudging Questions
Students choose one topic to write about. They brainstorm ideas about their topic or incident. They use sensory details to visualize their topic. They answer a variety of teacher directored nudging question to help them describe their...
Curated OER
Happiness is A Warm Puppy
Learners investigate dog breeds and write a short story from a dog's perspective. In this dog research and writing lesson, students watch the film, "Dog: The Early Years. They apply critical thinking skills to determine which type of dog...
Curated OER
Photo Essay
Students examine the process of writing a photo essay. They examine and select a personal photo or photo from a magazine, and brainstorm a story that can go with the photo. They identify an emotion to go with their picture, then write...
Curated OER
Vivid Verbs
Fifth graders review action verbs by brainstorming a list of them as a class. Using magazines, they pick one picture and use a dictionary or thesaurus to identify verbs that describe the action taking place. Using the new verbs, they...
Curated OER
Proverbs
Fifth graders listen to a fable that ends with a proverb. They infer the meaning of the proverb. Students examine proverbs and predict meaning. They write a skit that shows the appropriate usage of the proverb.