August House
The Magic Pot
The Magic Pot by Patricia Coombs is the theme of this multidisciplinary lesson plan. Early readers first take part in a read aloud and grand conversation about the story's details. Then, they get to work practicing their skills in...
Curated OER
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: "Chalk Talk Strategy”
Hold a silent discussion about concepts related to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. After reading chapter seven, learners participate in a whole-class written discussion based on guiding questions written on the board by the teacher.
Avi Writer
The Cross of Lead, At the Edge of the World, and The End of Time
A fan of Ari's Crispin trilogy? Here is a packet that contains study guides for all three Crispin novels: The Cross of Lead, At the Edge of the World, and The End of Time.
ReadWriteThink
Exploring Plagiarism, Copyright, and Paraphrasing
Plagiarism, copyright, and fair use are the focus of a three-part instructional activity designed to inform scholars of how to properly cite others' work. First, pupils use a KWL chart to begin thinking and discussing plagiarism. They...
Curated OER
Handling Fear
By sharing stories and doing role-play activities, youngsters learn how to deal with their fears. A class discussion is held where the teacher shares some things that used to scare him/her as a child. The kids come up with suggestions of...
Curated OER
Comprehension: Compare and Contrast Topics in Two Texts
A scripted lesson can be a big help for new teachers. This fully scripted three-day learning activity provides teachers with the means to demonstrate how to compare and contrast two topics in two texts. Learners will work as a class to...
Museum of Disability
Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon
Help to create the next generation of friends with a lesson plan about accepting people who are different. As kids read Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon, they answer a series of discussion questions and activities about making friends with...
Museum of Disability
Looking Out for Sarah
Perry the dog is Sarah's best friend and her guide to the visual world. Young readers learn about guide dogs and communication with Looking Out for Sarah by Glenna Lang, through a series of discussion questions and activities.
Museum of Disability
The Right Dog for the Job
Here, dog lovers can enjoy an educational lesson about the ways puppies are trained to become service and guide dogs. Based on The Right Dog for the Job by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent, the lesson provides discussion questions for learners...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 1: Unit Introduction
To launch a unit study of the concept of diversity in World Literature, class members compare Chinua Achebe's essay, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness" and Richard Rodriguez's essay, "The Chinese in All of Us: A...
EngageNY
Practicing Routines for Discussing A Long Walk to Water and Gathering Textual Evidence
Welcome a new teacher (or two)! While most of the class works on the survival anchor chart, one pair begins the Salva/Nya chart and uses it to teach the class. Each day, scholars switch roles, giving every pair a chance to teach their...
EngageNY
Establishing Routines for Discussing A Long Walk to Water (Chapter 6)
Middle schoolers use a reader's dictionary to locate words they do not know in chapter 6 of A Long Walk to Water. They then turn attention to gist and work on a Salva/Nya anchor chart to record what happens to the characters. Finally,...
EngageNY
Using Routines for Discussing A Long Walk to Water and Introducing Juxtaposition (Chapters 9 and 10)
Take a stand. Scholars consider what it means to take a stand in A Long Walk to Water. They complete an activity by taking a stand and moving to a labeled section of the room that matches their opinion. Readers then examine text features...
EngageNY
Discussing and Identifying Themes: What Makes a Good Children’s Book?
Working in small groups, scholars look closely at a children's book to evaluate narrative techniques. Next, they complete a Children's Book Scavenger Hunt worksheet to analyze the literary elements of their selected stories.
EngageNY
Contrasting Evidence: “Games Can Make a Better World” and “Video Games Benefit Children, Study Finds”
Anecdotes, analogies, testimonies, statistics. The most powerful arguments rely on multiple types of evidence. Scholars explore the topic as they read contrasting evidence about the benefits of video games. They complete Venn diagrams to...
EngageNY
Planning for Writing: Studying Model Writing and Determining a Theme in The Lightning Thief
A theme runs through it. Scholars analyze how a common theme runs through the myths they have read and The Lightning Thief. They complete graphic organizers and view a four paragraph model essay. They analyze the essay for structure and...
EngageNY
Building Writing Skills: Receiving Feedback and Varying Sentence Structures
Everyone is good at something. Scholars receive their mid-unit assessments with feedback. They look over their papers and write their strengths as a writer and goals on index cards. The class then has a mini lesson in using sentence...
Curated OER
Phineas Gage: Assessment Strategy
Close up your study of Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science with a letter-writing assignment. Pupils prepare by journaling and sharing with a partner. They then compose letters that focus on a big idea from the...
PBS
Their Eyes Were Watching God: Socratic Seminar
A Socratic seminar wraps-up a study of Zora Neale Hurston' Their Eyes were Watching God. Using the text and their notes, scholars focus on how characters in the novel accept or reject the societal norms of the times.
Curated OER
Reader Response
Fifth graders reflect upon different concepts of Language Arts while reading literature. In the novel Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt, the characters discover a spring of eternal youth. After reading the first several chapters of...
Curated OER
Literary Terms
"Is that your final answer?" Challenge and thrill your class with this language arts game, which is based on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." The game covers literary terms such as point of view, alliteration, and protagonist, and is...
Curated OER
Symphonic Poetry (SMART Board Lesson)
Let music and poetry collide in this well-orchestrated language arts lesson plan. After studying program music and C. Debussy's Prelude to an Afternoon Faun, view the attached SMART board lesson plan to read through "Fog" by Carl...
Curated OER
Mystery Words
In this language arts lesson, 8th graders verify the meaning of a word in its context, even when its meaning is not directly stated. After a class discussion on how to use context clues, students pairs are given a worksheet of "mystery...
Curated OER
Comparing and Contrasting Heroes
Here is a language arts lesson that can be used with virtually any grade level. The only thing that changes is the reading level of the books. Learners compare and contrast different heroes and the characteristics they hold. They use a...