Curated OER
I Spy Poetry
Explore the components of rhythm and form through a reading of Jean Marzollo's I Spy books. After discussing Marzollo’s format, the class agrees upon a theme for a class book and topics that fit with that theme. Pupils write a poem,...
Curated OER
Call It a Hunch
Give young scholars a chance to practice making inferences after reading the book Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges. They confirm whether or not their conclusions are true, have a class discussion, and then independently complete an...
Curated OER
Build Mastery: Sequencing
Writing a summary is much easier once you've laid out the sequence of events. Show readers how these two skills are intertwined using this graphic organizer. Review the meaning of sequencing first, presenting the chart and possibly...
Curated OER
Build Mastery: Visualization
What do you see? Young reader tap into the visualization process as they listen to or read a fiction story and fill out a graphic organizer. Model this first with a think-aloud, showing scholars how you visualize a familiar story. For...
Curated OER
Build Mastery: Prediction
What do you think will happen? Use a graphic organizer to help learners predict what will happen in a text. Consider modeling the chart using a familiar story, pretending you don't know what happens. Show scholars the book, explaining...
Gwinnett County Public Schools
Analysis of the Tuck Everlasting and The Birchbark House Text Exemplars
Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...
Curated OER
Moo-Velous Butter!
Third graders investigate how temperature and motion (energy) create a chemical change that turns cream ( a liquid) into butter (a solid). They create a class pictograph of their favorite mils choices (white, chocolate, or strawberry)...
Penn State
Early Childhood Education Lesson Plan for Good Night, Good Knight
The book Good Night, Good Knight is the inspiration for this plan. Learners get into small groups to search for words in books that begin with their names and fill out and illustrate their own personal letter and name pages.
Curated OER
Let's Celebrate Kwanzaa!
Learn more about Kwanzaa with a celebratory lesson. As learners analyze My First Kwanzaa Book by Debbi Chocolate, they compare and contrast the celebration to other holiday traditions they know about. Next, they prepare and play a...
Curated OER
My Secret War: Lesson 1
Fifth graders explore historical fiction. In this genre study lesson plan, 5th graders go on a text feature scavenger hunt to identify the parts of a historical fiction text. Additionally, students read the book, My Secret War and...
Curated OER
Narrative Writing vs. Explanatory Writing
The class discusses the different purposes an author has for writing. The focus of the discussion is on writing to tell a true story and writing to give information about a specific topic. There are writing purpose sorting cards embedded...
Curated OER
A PLAY ON WORDS
After making predictions about Janell Cannon's story Verdi, middle schoolers read through the book and make a new list of descriptions, personality traits, etc. They select an animal and write a narrative story about the animal, paying...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Airport (Barton)
This vocabulary-in-context strategy can be applied to any book that learners read with you; however the activity here is designed around Byron Byrton's fiction book, Airplane. First, introduce the new words you will learn: attendant,...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Alexander, Who Use to be Rich Last Sunday (Viorst)
Although this vocabulary-in-context activity is focused on Judith Viorst's book Alexander, Who Use to Be Rich Last Sunday, the strategy can be applied to any book budding learners read with you. First, introduce the three new words you...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Froggy Goes to School (London)
Just like your budding readers may have felt, Froggy is nervous on his first day of school. Use Johnathan London's book Froggy Goes to School to practice vocabulary in context. Prior to reading the story aloud, pre-teach the new words...
Curated OER
Frankenstein Anticipation Guide
Before your high schoolers embark on the journey of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, provide them with this prereading activity. Independently, they respond to seven statements that connect with the novel. For example, they must decide if...
Curated OER
CAN WE SWITCH GENDERS OF STORY CHARACTERS?
Analyze characters and stories to identify stereotyping. Learners will examine the concept of character gender to evaluate bias in classroom story books. They are asked to read a story or play and change the gender of the character to...
Curated OER
Developing a Central Idea in Narrative Writing
At the beginning of the lesson, the class discusses the central idea of a poem. After that, the teacher reads a poem, embedded in the plan, to the class. In groups of two or three, learners create their own poem in response to the...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: A Pocket for Corduroy (Freeman)
Who doesn't love this book? A Pocket for Corduroy provides excellent vocabulary practice in context for budding readers (although this strategy could be used with any text). Before reading it aloud, go over the new terms: affectionate,...
Curated OER
Introducing Vocabulary: Christopher Columbus (Weinberger)
The story of Christopher Columbus has fascinated young historians for centuries; use this vocabulary-in-context strategy to dive into Kimberly Weinberger's picture book about this classic explorer. Begin by introducing the new words:...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Clouds (Bauer)
What type of cloud is that? Explore meteorological vocabulary using Marion Bauer's book, Clouds (although these strategies could be used for any fiction or nonfiction text). Pre-teach the new words before reading the story aloud....
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Everybody Cooks Rice (Dooley)
Use Norah Dooley's culturally inspiring book Everybody Cooks Rice to explore delicious new vocabulary in context with beginning readers. The recommended words here are: delicious, grumbling, and gulp; pre-teach them before reading the...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride (Priceman)
What a fun way to explore new vocabulary words! Marjorie Priceman's book Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride offers plenty of new words for scholars to learn in context: amateur, assembled, demonstration,...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: How Do Dinosaurs Go To School? (Yolen)
Dinosaurs don't go to school...but what if they did? Use Jane Yolen's book How Do Dinosaurs Go To School to explore vocabulary in context. Find this on YouTube if you don't have the text on hand. These in-text words give some ideas of...