Curated OER
Novel Guide for My Brother Sam is Dead
Fifth graders explore the effects of war. In this American Revolution lesson plan, 5th graders read My Brother Sam is Dead and complete the provided comprehension, characterization, and vocabulary activities
Curated OER
Play Ball
Students study the history of baseball in Brooklyn. They read a shared reading about the history of baseball in Brooklyn and respond to an archival picture of an early baseball game. They write two "teacher questions" for the class to...
Curated OER
Impacting Indiana
Fourth graders become familiar with the culture and history of Indiana. In this James Whitcomb Riley lesson plan, 4th graders read poetry which includes the dialect of Indiana. Students analyze the poem. Groups memorize and recite...
Curated OER
Kazan, Miller, and the McCarthy Era
Students read The Crucible in order to investigate the McCarthy era and the Hollywood Blacklist. Students watch video clips of the McCarthy witch hunts and investigate the time period through online research. Students recreate sections...
Curated OER
It's Mine Lesson Plan
Students read a book called It's Mine! In this lesson about three frogs and sharing, students explore how what they do affects everything around them. Through a series of seven different activities, students interpret the frogs and their...
Curated OER
Tell-Tale Heart
Students discuss the title of Edgar Allen Poe's story, The Tell-Tale Heart before reading it, and discuss information about the author. They use a graphic organizer to help them comprehend the story as they read.
Curated OER
Earthquake Preparation and Survival Strategies
Students examine the different ways that earthquakes have been predicted. In this earthquake instructional activity students plan ways that people can prepare for earthquakes.
Curated OER
INFORMATION FLUENCY UNIT
Seventh graders, after defining/brainstorm the task, divide up into groups and are assigned to an alternative energy source (wind, solar, or water) to research. They complete a presentation with visuals on their findings from their...
Curated OER
Twelfth Night: QAR
Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is used to model for readers how to craft four levels of questions that promote comprehension. Questions that can be answered with evidence right there in the text, questions that require readers to think and...
Curated OER
The Pigman: Problematic Situation
What would you do? To prepare readers for the death of Mr. Pignati, one of the characters in Paul Zindel's The Pigman, individuals complete a problematic situation worksheet and then compare their responses to others in their group.
Novelinks
The Winter’s Tale: Shakespeare’s Words
Varier wag? I'fecks? Posterns? As part of their vocabulary study, readers of The Winter's Tale try their hand at crafting Shakespearian-style sentences using words drawn from the play.
Novelinks
Maniac Magee: Discussion Questions
Why did they say that? What did they mean? How did they feel? Using the six levels of Bloom's Taxonomy, challenge your young readers to answer the comprehension questions about chapters 41 and 42 of Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. Each...
Novelinks
Wildwood Dancing: Guided Imagery
Reader's of Wildwood Dancing engage in a guided imagery exercise designed to encourage them to visualize the setting of Juliet Marillier's young adult fantasy novel.
Novelinks
Touching Spirit Bear: The Literary Mandala
Even someone with a dark side can make a good decision—and vice versa. Readers explore Cole's traits and decisions in Ben Mikaelson's Touching Spirit Bear and analyze his sunside and shadowside. They identify a symbol that best...
Curated OER
Parrot in the Oven: Socratic Seminar
To conclude a study of Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida, class members sharpen their critical thinking skills by engaging in a Socratic seminar discussion of Martinez's novel.
Novelinks
Oedipus the King: Biopoem
The biopoem is a great way for instructors to get to know class members, classmates to get to know each other, and readers to flesh out their understanding of a character. Why not create a biopoem for a character from Oedipus the King?
Novelinks
The Color of Water: Family History Assignment
To conclude their study of James McBride's The Color of Water, class members create their own memoir, focusing on a family member who help shape their life.
Novelinks
The Chosen: Biopoem
What better way to get to know a character than through a biopoem? Learners choose a character from Chaim Potok's The Chosen and create a well-crafted poem about his or her desires, traits, and ambitions.
Really Good Stuff
Nonfiction Text Features Poster Set
Identifying nonfiction text features is a skill students can take to any subject. A packet of posters demonstrate different text features that learners would encounter in a textbook or informational article, encouraging pupils to think...
Teaching Channel
Storyboard Lesson Plan
Good books are accessible through a variety of literary lenses. To consider how the same story can be seen in different lights, groups develop a storyboard for a movie teaser that would focus on one of six concepts found in Suzanne...
EngageNY
Word Problems Leading to Rational Equations
Show learners how to apply rational equations to the real world. Learners solve problems such as those involving averages and dilution. They write equations to model the situation and then solve them to answer the question — great...
Curated OER
Things Fall Apart: Question Answer Response Theory
Passages from Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart provide the text for a QAR: Question Answer Response comprehension activity. Readers respond to right there, think and search, on your own, and author and you questions.
Novelinks
The Little Prince: Response to Art Exercise
Depending on your perspective, solitude can be lovely or very, very lonely. Kids take a look at the simple landscape illustrated in Antoine de Saint Éxupery's The Little Prince, and write a short journal entry about their perception of...
Curated OER
The Red Badge of Courage: Story Grammar
After finishing The Red Badge of Courage, readers complete a grammar worksheet to identify the chain of events in the plot, the enduring issues, and major themes of Stephen Crane's novel.