Curated OER
Famous African Americans ABC Book
Students create an ABC book with short biographies of famous African Americans in history. They utilize teacher-selected and/or student-researched library sources about African Americans in history.
Curated OER
Creative Outline for Your Short Story or Book
Students discuss the information listed about how to make an outline for a short story or book. They then begin writing their short story and edit it and revise before turning it in to be graded.
Curated OER
Upside-Down Books
Students read various examples of literature. In groups, they brainstorm a list of views that go against what was in one of the stories. They illustrate the opposite ideas and compile them into a class book. They use each other to...
Curated OER
Jigsawing with Nebraska Golden Sower Award Books
Learners investigate the Nebraska Golden Sower Award and nominated titles for the current year. They explore the Nebraska Golden Sower website, read a chapter from a Golden Sower book using the jigsaw method, and create a concept map and...
Curated OER
Making E-Books in the Kindergarten Classroom
Students produce e-books using themselves and their physical surroundings to demonstrate content standards, such as number sense or color recognition. They provide evidence using a digital camera, props, and the presentation tool.
Autism Speaks
Puzzle Piece Project and Autism Awareness Month
Looking for ways to include your class members in Autism Awareness Month? Use a packet that provides several opportunities to include the student body in an important campaign.
Curated OER
Review of a Novel Project
This review of a novel project is a great way to ensure accountability for independent reading. The assignment sheet, templates, samples, and rubrics are all part of the packet materials.
Hampton-Brown
Esperanza Rising
Accompany a reading of the novel, Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan, with a series of lessons that dive deep into the literary world of a young girl and the journey she takes to start a new life. Lessons and their...
Curated OER
Buying the Writes
Students explore the connections between non-fiction and fiction best-seller lists and current events that are shaping readers' lives and choices.
Curated OER
Media Literacy
Students evaluate the effectiveness of Internet book clubs, present their findings to the class, and design their own on-line book club (under the umbrella of a fictional television program) to encourage non-readers to read more.
Curated OER
Well-behaved Women [and Men] Seldom Make History
Students examine historical context. For this historical perspectives lesson, students read and discuss instructor-selected picture book biographies. Students then complete graphic organizers based on the challenges the main characters...
Curated OER
Pair the Plants: An Introduction to Scientific Names
Students examine why plants have both common and scientific names, then complete the activity by matching each common plant name with its scientific name. They finish by working in cooperative groups to create an ABC of Plants class book.
Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award
So B. It
Looking for supporting materials for a study of So B. It by Sarah Weeks? This resource includes a summary of the book, questions to answer and discuss, a journal starter, a list of related activities, a list of similar books, and links...
Curated OER
Field Guide to Schoolyard Insects and Their Relatives
Your entire class works together to create an illustrated insect field guide. The intent is that they venture outside of the classroom, find a critter, and then research it using reference materials, insect books, and the Internet for...
Novelinks
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry: Concept/Vocab Analysis
Considering using Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry for book circles or whole-class study? First time teachers, and those who have used the text before, will find some interesting tidbits in this overview.
Curated OER
A Pill with a View
Students brainstorm a list of potential uses for micro-video technologies. After reading an article, they analyze the development of a new pill-sized camera. In groups, they create a children's book that shows them the various systems of...
Curated OER
Migration: An African American Adventure
Learners read the book, The Great Migration by National Geographic, then complete this set of related worksheets. They review vocabulary, complete five short answer questions, discuss push and pull factors for the migration, then write a...
Curated OER
Noteworthy?
Why do we have CliffsNotes? SparkNotes? Middle and high schoolers examine arguments for and against the recent influx of book notes, or study guides. They stage a debate in which they represent Advocates For or Critics Against the use of...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classics Edition of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Whether new to teaching The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or an experienced pro, you’ll find useful resources in this teacher’s guide. The 40-page packet includes background information, historical context, an annotated list of...
Curated OER
Details, Details, Details
Writing can become one-dimensional if authors don't involve all their senses. First, scholars observe a strange object which, ideally, they can touch and even smell. Without using certain words (you can create a list or have the class...
Curated OER
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Students read a chapter in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and define new words for their dictionaries. In this vocabulary lesson students choose two or three assignment from a list of projects and complete it using...
Curated OER
Book Smarts
Students identify the ideas and themes that are most significant in a work of literature, then propose ways to visually represent these themes through art.
Curated OER
Facing the Ghosts of Our Past
A reading of a New York Times review of the movie Beloved launches research into how the Civil War affected the lives of people living during this period. Creative thinkers select a person from an included list of historical figures and...
Curated OER
Dragonwings: Evaluate Chapters 10-12
As your class finishes the novel Dragonwings, use these culminating projects. A vocabulary list is given for chapters eleven and twelve and either an epitaph or letter activity concludes the book. The final project consists of creating a...