Curated OER
Phineas Gage: Questioning Strategy
Focus on chapter two of Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science with a questioning activity. After teaching and modeling several types of questions, learners work with partners and then independently to answer and...
Curated OER
We Play Music
Do you like music? Have your youngsters read We Play Music, practicing select reading strategies, like using picture clues to determine new words. Then, after their first independent read, have them re-read the story to a partner,...
Curated OER
Tears of Joy Theatre Presents Anansi the Spider
Accompany the African folktale, Anansi the Spider, with a collection of five lessons, each equipped with supplemental activities. Lessons offer multidisciplinary reinforcement in English language arts, social studies, science, and arts...
Curated OER
Talking Sticks Literature Circle
Following the six-step process for a talking sticks literature circle, group members choose a leader for the discussion, summarize the reading, discuss journal entries and questions, set reading goals, and write reflections. I think this...
Curated OER
Bend It! Stretch It! Squash It!
Some items keep their shape no matter what happens! Have your kindergarten class choose which items would stay the same if they were bent, stretched, or squashed. The last activity prompts kids to see what happens when they stretch a...
Curated OER
Feel the Vibrations
How does sound travel in a string walkie-talkie? Third graders read about the way vibrations act between two cups and a string. Next, they put the steps in order, and experiment with their own walkie-talkies.
Curated OER
Learning about gravity
Learn how to measure weight with newtons in a science experiment about gravity. After they read a short paragraph about force, fifth graders draw an arrow to indicate which way a spring is being pulled. Next, they survey their family...
Lied Center of Kansas
The Ugly Duckling and The Tortoise and the Hare
Both The Ugly Duckling and The Tortoise and the Hare are great additions to an elementary language arts lesson plan. Young readers focus on the literary elements of each story, including characters and plot development, and apply...
Curated OER
Educator's Guide: Holes
You'll be a star at your next grade level meeting with an educational unit on Louis Sachar's Holes. Based on both the novel and film, the lessons include applications to language arts with character studies and movie reviews; social...
Curated OER
Fears and Phobias
Take the fear out of reading with this series of three lessons from HotWire Magazine about fears and phobias. Each lesson contains pre-reading and post-reading activities aimed at improving learners' reading comprehension skills with the...
Curated OER
"The Wind" by James Reeves
Inntroduce primary learners to essential critical reading strategies with an activity based on James Reeves' poem, "The Wind." Learners listen as the poem is read, first as a riddle, and then re-read with the title visible. The class...
Curated OER
Find the Words
Pre-readers need to build a foundation of word recognition using visual worksheets like this one. They examine six simple words accompanied by pictures, circling each word. See if pupils know what each word is, using the pictures as...
Curated OER
Measure for Measure: DRTA Strategy
“The tempter or the tempted, who sins most?” Prediction, verification, judgment, and extensions of thought are all part of a
Directed ReadingThinking Activity (DRTA) developed for Measure for Measure. The rationale, assessments...
Vancouver Island University
Ming Lo Moves the Mountain
A good story is a great way to support skills that are necessary for encouraging strong reading skills. Here is a class I do, You do, We do style lesson that stars the tale, Ming Lo Moves the Mountain. Included are two fun pre-reading...
West Contra Costa Unified School District
Decimals and Fractions
Reinforce the concept of fractions and decimals as part of a whole with a lesson that begins with a mixed review, then goes into a three problem guided practice, and ends with a collaborative activity. The guided practice and activity...
Curated OER
Building a House
Study the different materials needed to build a house. Kindergartners and first graders read five sentence frames, and match the phrases that describe wood planks, glass, and clay. An experiment prompts kids to test different types of...
Curated OER
Once Upon a Time...
Model for emergent readers how to write a story by interpreting picture clues. For guided practice a second book is used, and then pupils work independently or with an adult to write their own stories based on illustrations.
Curated OER
Bucket List Poetry
What is on your pupils' "Bucket Lists" - the list of things they want to do before they die? Their choices of activities for this list could be very revealing, and is a great source of inspiration for a personal poem. The lesson prompts...
Curated OER
Can You Bag It?
Put your class's observational skills to the test with a science experiment about paper and plastic bags. After reading some background knowledge about the materials in plastic grocery bags, third graders interpret a chart to answer a...
Georgia Department of Education
Exploring Poetry and Poets
Combine the study of poetry and non-fiction texts with this complete and ready-to-use six-week unit. After reading numerous poems from local writers and compiling a personal anthology, high schoolers find and read a memoir or biography...
K12 Reader
From Nomad to Farmer
The gradual evolution of the earliest settlers in North America from nomads to farmers is the subject of a reading comprehension activity that asks kids to answer a series of questions using information provided in the reading passage.
K12 Reader
Indentured Servants
As a reading comprehension exercise, kids read an article about indentured servants and then respond to a series of questions citing evidence from the article to support their responses.
K12 Reader
Apprentice System
As a reading comprehension exercise, kids examine a short article on the apprentice system, and then use information found in the text to respond to a series of comprehension questions.
Girl Scouts
Flag Protocol, Ceremonies and Activities
How can an American flag be displayed indoors vs. outdoors? What is proper etiquette for handling the flag? The Girls Scouts of the USA have put together a fantastic packet of information with everything you need to know about the...