Curated OER
Writing Formal and Informal Letters
Third graders write a thank-you note and a formal letter of request that included relevant information, such as a return address, date, inside address, proper salutation, body, closing, and signature. They write an imaginary letter to...
Curated OER
Writing a Letter to a Friend
First graders practice their letter writing skills by writing to a fictional character. For this formal writing lesson, 1st graders read the books The Jolly Postman and Frog and Toad are Friends to examine the different parts of a...
Curated OER
Letter Sound Fluency
Young scholars practice letter sounds. In this phonemic awareness lesson, students practice saying each letter sound by playing a game. Young scholars use index cards that have letters printed on them and say the letter sound. Students...
Curated OER
Royal Letter for Sale
Students read an article about the sale of a letter written by a 16th century queen, Catherine of Aragon. They define vocabulary, complete comprehension worksheets, analyze the use of parallel form in the article and write a letter of...
Curated OER
Father Knows Best, Write a Father's Day Letter
Students write a Father's Day letter. For this friendly letter writing lesson, students brainstorm a list of parent responsibilities, then write three specific ways their fathers care for them. Students share learning experiences they...
Smithsonian Institution
POWs
Why did Vietnam POWs and their families receive more media attention than POWs in previous wars? To answer this question, class members view artifacts, read articles, and engage in class discussion. Individuals then assume the voice of...
Curated OER
Letter S
In this Christmas worksheet, students focus on the letter s. Students study 9 pictures and circle those that begin with the s sound.
Curated OER
Letter Writing: Social Action Project
Help your pupils sharpen their letter writing skills. They compose business letters that include greetings, headings, closings, and a professional tone for a philanthropic organization requesting information. Use this resource to...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Unauthorized Immigration and the US Economy
As part of a study of immigration and the U.S. economy, class members assume the role of newspaper editors to determine which submitted letters to print on their paper's editorial page to present a balanced view of the debate.
August House
Billy Brown and the Belly Button Beastie
How would you feel if you lost your belly button? Read about Billy Brown in Billy Brown and the Belly Button Beastie by Bobby and Sherry Norfolk. Young learners retell the story, answer questions, focus on the letter B and parts of the...
Student Handouts
Letter from Birmingham Jail
Analyze an abridged version of Martin Luther King Jr's "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Class members read the excerpt and respond to four provided questions, which focus on the content provided. Consider taking the time to read the entire...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Look at Us!: Extra Support Lessons (Theme 1)
Support struggling learners and focus on the alphabet with the three weeks of activities and materials provided here. Each day, learners review some letters and practice others in depth. They work on rhyming, practice new words, and...
Smithsonian Institution
Battle of the Bulge: America Responds to a German Surprise
World War II and the Battle of the Bulge are the focus of a history resource. Exercises include analyzing images, writing letters in the mindset of a soldier, and even immersing oneself in a cold experience to better empathize with the...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Scavenger Word Hunt
Participate in a scavenger hunt to find objects beginning with a particular letter sound and take digital photos of them with your scholars. Using software, they find word pictures beginning with particular letters and locate picture...
Curated OER
The ea and ear sounds
Focus on the /ea/ and /ear/ sounds. Learners complete three sentences by adding the appropriate ea word from a word bank, re-writing each sentence. Then, they read an excerpt from Little Red Riding Hood and find all the words with...
Curated OER
i and t
As emerging printers learn the letters of the alphabet, make it more fun by giving them creative worksheets like this one focused on the lowercase letters i and t. They follow arrows to trace each letter several times before printing a...
Curated OER
Author, Author
First graders engage in this interesting lesson on letter writing and writing skills. In it, youngsters listen to the Jan Brett story, The Mitten, as a warm-up. They think of other animals of the world they could ask Jan Brett to include...
Curated OER
"I Never Knew That!"
Incorporating To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, narrative writing, and friendly letters, this lesson is ideal for any number of units in your classroom. First, read chapter 10 of the novel, noting Scout and Jem's reactions to their...
Curated OER
Vowel Sound: i
As scholars become more comfortable with initial sound correspondence, introduce them to medial sounds. As they focus on the vowel sound /i/, youngsters examine a set of images and draw a line from the letter i to any with that middle...
Curated OER
Silent W
Spelling can be hard enough without silent letters. Help your third graders decode nine words that have the silent letter W, such as wrinkle or wrong. Once they decipher all nine words, they use each in a new sentence. The bottom of the...
Curated OER
Reintroduce an Irregular Word
Some words are tricky. Can your scholars quickly recognize irregularly spelled words? Write the word was on the board (or any irregular word you'd like to practice), touching each letter as scholars segment the phonemes. Explain that the...
Curated OER
Rain Rain Go Away
Complete a variety of activities related to the long /a/ sound with a focus on words containing the ai and ay correspondence with your readers. As a class, they recite a tongue twister, then spell different words containing ay and ai...
Curated OER
A Fantasy Story: Spooky!
This creepy fantasy story needs an ending! Learners use a spooky voice to read a short story ending at an ellipsis...what was in the dark, dark box? They illustrate what they think could have been in there and write a title for the...
Curated OER
The or Sound
Before using this vowel sounds crossword activity, be forewarned that the pronunciation here is based on British English, and will be confusing for American English speakers. Learners focus on the /or/ sound, examining five spelling...