Curated OER
Applying Character and Setting to Play Readings
Read Ira Sleeps Over, then identify elements of plays that are also common to books. Learners analyze character and setting, consider how these elements relate to a play, then write a one-paragraph skit using the characters from Ira...
Curated OER
Anticipation Guide
Young readers consider ten questions regarding murder mystery stories. The must choose from one of five options: strongly disagree, disagree, depends, agree, or strongly agree. A sample questions is, "A murder mystery must describe the...
Curated OER
Cause and Effect: Light Clusters and Geography
After viewing a map of lights at night over a variety of geographic formations, young topographers connect the location of light clusters to geographic features that encourage human settlement. They list causes and effects of large...
Curated OER
Writing Is Rough
Students identify the main idea in a story and discuss their own writing. They examine the sources of conflict in the story or the piece they are writing. They make portfolios of their best writing samples.
Curated OER
Disease and Culture through Literary Time
Students select books to read that include disease as a plot or theme component. They fill out a matrix for the disease in their novel and write a five-paragraph paper about their book. Students use the rest of the week's classes to...
Curated OER
Paragraphs
Young scholars observe paragraphs in newspaper articles and the chapters in their reading books writing down reasons for each new paragraph. They then discuss why writers organize their work into paragraphs.
Curated OER
Help Me Find My Keys
Fourth graders write a five-paragraph essay on the topic: What mistakes have you made and then learned a life lesson from that experience?
Curated OER
Writing a Comparison/Contrast Paragraph: Using Vivid Verbs
In this vivid verbs worksheet, students complete three activities that help them use strong, vivid verbs in the comparison and contrast writing.
Curated OER
Streamlining Your Writing
In this writing skills worksheet, students improve their writing by completing the three exercises. Students improve wordy phrases, add possessive nouns, and then write a description of a dramatic weather event.
Curated OER
Writing with Pronouns
In this pronouns worksheet, learners learn to write with pronouns in a research report to make their writing smooth. Students complete the three activities to help them with pronouns.
Curated OER
Relating to Franklin's Age of Reason
Fourth graders read a selection describing 13 virtues from "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin." They keep track of their behavior and whether or not they can keep up with 5 chosen virtues. They write a 5 paragraph essay on their...
Curated OER
Hatchet: Vocabulary Strategy
Want your class to use critical thinking when discussing vocabulary? Go beyond the dictionary with a vocabulary activity based on Gary Paulsen's Hatchet. Kids write the word in the center of a graphic organizer that also provides places...
Curated OER
Sun and Shadows
Why do shadows look different in the summer than in the winter? What causes day and night? How can a sundial be used to tell time? Answer these questions and more through two engaging lessons about light and shadows. Fourth and fifth...
Harper Collins
Parrot in the Oven: Response Journal
After completing Chapter 5 of Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida, readers make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections to Victor Martinez's novel by crafting journal entries addressing comments and questions to characters in...
Wordpress
The Inn of Lost Time
Test understanding of "The Inn of Lost Time" by Lensey Namoika with an assessment that includes true/false, multiple choice, vocabulary, short answer, and essay questions. The test is not entirely traditional since, for the first 10...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Comprehension: Text Analysis, Compare and Contrast
Grab any two topics, some index cards, and a couple of kids, and you're ready to compare and contrast! The resource provides instructions for this method and three graphic organizers in addition to or in place of the index cards.
US Department of State
Reader's Theater: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The opening chapters of Mark Twain's masterpiece, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, can be daunting for some readers. A reader's theater assignment divides the second chapter of the novel into a seven-role script, allowing readers to work...
Novelinks
The Little Prince: Anticipation Guide
Begin your unit on Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince with an anticipation guide that addresses the novel's themes. Kids read ten statements that discuss love, friendship, and growing up, and determine whether or not they agree...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Vocabulary: Words in Context, Meaning Maker
Support children with finding meaning in unknown words using this graphic organizer. While reading a piece of writing, learners identify unfamiliar words, using context clues and reference materials to find and record definitions before...
Orange County Public Schools
Vocabulary #15 Worksheet – English 1
Focus on synonyms, antonyms, and context clues with a vocabulary worksheet. Kids study ten words and match them to their definitions before putting the words in context.
Kenan Fellows
Weight and Balance of an Airplane
A career in aeronautics might be calling your class members. Building from the previous two lessons in the series, learners continue analyzing the mathematics of aeronautics. Groups create a paper airplane using paperclips for balance....
Curated OER
Truly Amazing Mammals
Explore the world of amazing mammals with your kids with special needs. Each child identifies one mammal from a previous lesson and writes a short paragraph on that mammal. This lesson states that it is intended for all levels, but not...
Curated OER
The Week That Was
Students complete a weekly writing assignment that documents their writing progress throughout the year. Each week, students write a paragraph in response to a prompt or a synopsis of the week's events.
Curated OER
Self Biography
Get to know your learners with this project. Each individual writes an autobiography that is at least seven pages long with major facts, visual facts, focal stories, and chronology. The lesson includes a point breakdown for the...