Curated OER
The Learning Network: Re-envisioning Classic Stories
Readers reflect on enjoyable stories they know, brainstorm criteria that make a story "good," analyze a New York Times article about innovative children's performances, re-envision classics on their own, and peer edit drafts. Use this as...
Curated OER
Predicting Events in Realistic Fiction
How do you make a prediction? Practice active reading comprehension strategies, like making predictions, with your readers. Learners make predictions during the independent reading of Dogs Don't Tell Jokes by Louis Sacher. They observe...
Curated OER
Works Cited Activity
Awesome! Teach your writers and researchers how to create a works cited page by giving them this activity. Their assignment is to create a proper works cited page that uses a list of different magazine articles, books, and poems. All of...
Curated OER
Home Smart Home
How smart is your home? Middle and high schoolers write a journal entry describing the types of technology found in their homes. After reading an article, they are introduced to "smart" home technology. In groups, they identify and...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Picture the Word
This is an excellent way to make onset and rime visual for beginning readers. They examine CVC-word picture cards that are all missing the first letter. Using plastic letters (or whatever you have), they complete each word and record it...
Curated OER
Dear Diary
Work on narrative writing with this lesson, in which middle schoolers analyze the characters from a selected piece of literature and write narrative diary pieces as the character. They work to understand the point of view of the...
Curated OER
The "Write" Stuff: Strategies and Conventions for Imaginative Writing
A comprehensive and immersive series of lessons that examines various aspects of story development leads learners into writing a narrative of their own. Writers develop an understanding of the writing process as they use the learning...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Onset and Rime Slide
Discover onset and rime blends using this interactive activity which will appeal to your kinesthetic learners. Using the sliding templates provided, budding readers try different onsets with each rime. They practice reading skills by...
Curated OER
Childhood Lost: Child Labor in the United States, 1830-1930
Working in groups, middle and high schoolers describe and discuss photographs depicting working conditions experienced by child laborers in the 19th century. They then write a persuasive paragraph supporting an amendment to regulate the...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Word Steps
Blending basic CVC letters to make words is one of the first steps to independent reading. Provided here are several images of stairs and several letters to cut and arrange. The learner rearranges the letters to form CVC patterns, sounds...
Curated OER
Esperanza Rising - Literature Circles and Review (Day 3)
Kids love working with their peers. Get your class into small literature circles and have them complete weekly assignments. Before beginning this week's activity, have each learner write a letter from Esperanza in California to Abuelita...
Curated OER
Heeding Advice
Compare and contrast various foreign perspectives on the George W. Bush administration's plans for military action. Middle schoolers read the article "Blair and Chirac Head to U.S. to Talks and a Show of Unity." Then, they analyze...
Curated OER
"I" Witness to History
Young journalists write diary entries from the point of view of a person involved in a historical event. They focus on including facts, clear narration, and accurate description of the individual's feelings.
Curated OER
Good for Goodness Sake?
After discussing their opinions of performing community service, young learners read an article about different benefits of serving the community. They participate in a debate about whether their school should require pupils to perform...
Curated OER
Expository Writing (Informational Brochure)
Design an informational brochure to urge people to move to a specific community. The purpose of this activity is to expose pupils to expository writing. After creating the brochure, they write a three-paragraph persuasive or...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Phoneme Split and Say
Little ones are provided with all the tools needed to begin segmenting phonemes. There are twenty Elkonin box picture cards, five blank Elkonin box cards, and full instructions on how to help pre-readers practice splitting and saying...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Syllable Hopscotch
Let your little learners move while they practice breaking words into syllables or chunks. Place a hopscotch "board" on the floor (this can be done with tape). Your class takes turns choosing picture cards, and then they say the name of...
Curated OER
Veterans' Voyages
Introduce your middle and high schoolers to a different perspective on war: that of soldier's. Read Guisseppi Ungaretti's poem "Vigil" to kick-start this lesson. After discussing his perspective, read "The Screaming Eagles Fly to the...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Sound Spin
Here is a phoneme segmenting game which incorporates drawing for your more artistic learners. Assemble the spinner using a brad and lay out the picture cards face up. Partners take turns spinning to get either two, three, four, or five....
Curated OER
Cause and Effect Relationships - Silence of the Bees
Why are bees disappearing? Explore cause and effect relationships with this interesting question. As the detailed lesson plan indicates, start by brainstorming some of the possible effects the disappearance of bees would have on the...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Sound Changes
Looking for an auditory approach to phoneme manipulation? You'll find everything you need here for an independent practice activity to get youngsters changing initial, medial, and final phonemes to create new words. They begin with a...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Phoneme Challenge
This phonemic awareness game is very similar to the classic card game war; partners divide picture cards, each taking half (included). They place one card face-up at a time and segment the phonemes aloud. Whoever has the most phonemes...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Final Phoneme Spin
Segmenting words into different phonemes helps kids on the road to reading and writing. Have some fun with this spinner game which includes all the print-outs you will need. Simply assemble the spinner using a brad and lay out the...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Treasure Chest
Segmenting and blending phonemes helps budding readers understand words. Use this strategy in an engaging game where partners test each other's auditory processing using familiar words. Using picture cards and a chart (included),...