Curated OER
Animal Diary
Students create a diary of an animal. In this creative writing lesson, students read the book Diary of a Worm and conduct a brief research session on their animal. Students fill in a template with facts and create an animal diary.
Curated OER
The Power of Mental Images: Visualizing Literature
With a chapter book in hand, readers practice visualizing the events and characters of the story. The lesson gives suggestions of novels that are rich in detail to help facilitate the process. Drawings from what they read act as the...
Curated OER
Tear Into a Story
Learners retell a story using the correct sequence of events for a story they have listened to five times. They identify the characters and the setting for the story, and sequence the events using a dissembled copy of the book.
Curated OER
Prewriting Strategies
Fourth graders explore various strategies to overcome fears of writing, and utilize a story map as a prewriting strategy. They read and discuss the steps of the writing process, follow the steps along with the teacher as they discuss the...
Curated OER
Long Vowel Phoneme - y
The long vowel phoneme /y/ is the star of this language arts lesson. Kindergarteners share the book, I Spy a Little Fly then brainstorm more words that end in /y/. Since so many of our words end in /y/, this would be a very useful lesson...
Curated OER
Collecting Rocks
Students examine how rocks are formed, used, and how to collect them. They listen to and discuss the book, Let's Go Rock Collecting, sort rock samples, and collect rocks from home.
Curated OER
Finding Captain Hook's Treasure
Students use their map-reading skills to find Captain Hook's treasure. They see how the directions on a map correspond with "real-life" directions, and that symbols on a map represent real things.
Curated OER
Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers
Learners compose a letter to a family member. In this writing lesson, students listen to the book, Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers and identify the parts of a letter.
Curated OER
Real World Math: Unexpected Events
Ready to delve into personal finance? Learners discover how to organize a check book register. They practice debits and credits in a math game involving the register they set up. While they gain valuable practical knowledge, they also...
Curated OER
Flight Formation: The V's Have It!
Read, revisit, and reflect. Older elementary students summarize main idea 6using key details. They consider the V formation that birds fly in, summarize an informational text, and write critical thinking questions.
Curated OER
Let's Get Along
Young scholars examine the book Smoky Night. In this cultural lesson, students read the text and discuss why it's important to get along with others. Young scholars complete a Venn diagram to compare and contrast themselves with a peer.
Curated OER
Have You Seen My Pot of Gold?
Have your class look for a pot of gold. Learners create a St. Patrick's Day mini-book. They use the worksheet pages included to cut out and color St. Patrick's Day symbols. They staple the pages together to create a booklet.
Curated OER
Music for Alice
Third graders explore Japanese culture. They read the story Music for Alice. Students write a paragraph defining what happiness means to them. They discuss Alice's culture and their own cultures. Students create a brochure about Japanese...
Curated OER
Catcher in the Rye: Chapters 18-20 Venn Diagram
Well into Catcher in the Rye, when things are looking bleak and your readers may be needing some levity, read the picture book The Perfect Square by Michael Hall. Then use the Venn diagram included to compare how Holden Caulfield and the...
Curated OER
Creating and Presenting Haiku With Kid Pix
Students research the history and characteristics of haiku poetry using books and the Internet. They use Kid Pix to create and present original haiku.
Curated OER
A Walk Around the School: Mapping Places Near and Far
After reading Pat Hutchins’ Rosie’s Walk, have your young cartographers create a map of Rosie’s walk. Then lead them on a walk around the school. When you return class members sequence the walk by making a list of how the class got from...
Curated OER
Hoot: List-Group-Label
Word association is a great way to explore vocabulary and new ideas. In a unit about Carl Hiassen's Hoot, kids think about the word environmentalist and come up with additional words that they associate with environmentalism on sticky...
Curated OER
SBRR Strategies to Teach Vocabulary
First graders use principles for learning useful, interesting and sophisticated words based on scientifically-based reading research. They expand their vocabulary knowledge of Tier 2 words through explicit, direct instruction.
Curated OER
People are People
Explore human diversity in this human rights instructional activity. Middle schoolers compare novels, speeches, videos, and short stories that promote diversity and basic human rights. They complete daily coursework as they read the...
Curated OER
Main Idea in Informational Text
Readers identify main ideas and supporting details using informational texts. In this literacy lesson, they make predictions and read the text to find the main ideas. They use a table diagram to define the main idea and supporting...
Curated OER
Just Like the Old Days
Students examine customs of rural Mongolia. They read and discuss a letter, discuss families, locate Mongolia on a map, reenact scenes from the letter, and write a prediction of how life change in rural Mongolia during the next 50 years.
Curated OER
Writing a Personal Narrative
Students complete a variety of computer file pre-writing activities to help them prepare for writing a personal narrative. They focus on including a beginning, middle and end to their narrative. They make a class book.
Curated OER
A State By Any Other Name
Learning about the fifty states can be motivating. After listening to books, pupils discuss and learn about the nicknames of various states. This is an interesting way to review the locations and characteristics of the states.
Curated OER
New York State Testing Program English Language Arts Book 1--Grade 7 (2006)
In this New York State Testing Program English Language Arts worksheet, students read several passages and two poems and answer reading comprehension questions. Students then write an essay response to one of the passages.