EngageNY
Citing Evidence and Building Vocabulary: “The Exterminator”
It is an out-of-body experience. Scholars take a look at the sidebars outside the body of the text in The Exterminator. They discuss the purpose of this type of text feature and work to determine the gist. Learners write unfamiliar...
Curated OER
Writing Short Stories: The Fun Way
Do your young authors suffer from writer's block when they try to write short stories? Access their natural creativity with C-Gor, the writing monster! The instructional activity takes aspiring authors through a new writing process...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan for Cricket's Supper
Interested in a special folktale to read with your class? Then this lesson might be for you. Readers will build an understanding of the food chain while creating a storyboard that includes the characters, setting, and plot of the story....
Bantam Books
The Tempest: Linked Text Set (Pre-Reading)
Before you begin your unit on William Shakespeare's The Tempest, introduce the themes of the play with a lesson based on the biblical story of Joseph. Taking your high schoolers through selected text from Genesis 17-44, the lesson...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment and Discussing Themes in Esperanza Rising: (Chapter 9: "Las Ciruelas/PLums")
Give this skills-based assessment halfway through your unit on Esperanza Rising. After a brief review, class members take the test, which asks them to show that they know how to analyze the novel independently. They are asked to...
Poets.org
Love as a Two-way Street
Create an abundance of understanding, as your high school learners learn to analyze multiple love poems. Part one of this resource has learners define what love is, examine art that reflects the love between Robert and Elizabeth...
ESL Kid Stuff
Actions - Present Continuous
What are you doing? Why, studying the present continuous tense, of course. Language learners engage in activities and exercises that provide them with practice crafting and answering questions using the present continuous tense.
ESL Kid Stuff
Prepositions of Location
Over, under, beside. Language learners practice using prepositions of location to answer the question, "Where is . . ."
Curated OER
All the World's a Stage
Is the circus a form of theater? Read "A City of Clowns? What Else Is New?" to sway your class that a circus, is indeed, a theatrical performance. Critical thinkers compare/contrast various forms of theater and identify what makes the...
Curated OER
Courts in the Classroom: Ritter v Stanton
Students read the case briefs of Ritter v Stanton. They simulate the trial with classmates taking various parts such as appellant, appellee, bailiff, and justices. After conducting a mock argument, they write their own opinion for the case.
Curated OER
Of Mice and Men: Chapter 3 Reading and Study Guide
Boost comprehension with an excellent reading guide for chapter 3 Of Mice and Men. Learners define four vocabulary words, note one allusion, define five literary terms, and respond to 31 short answer questions regarding the Steinbeck...
Curated OER
All About Our Town
Pupils explore brochure writing. They work in groups to brainstorm and categorize important places in their community. In addition, they gather information from the Internet, take pictures using a digital camera, and create a community...
Curated OER
We Are All Authors: Create a Book
Every child is an author with this engaging reading activity. First the class reviews the various parts of a book such as the title, author, dedication, and author-biography. Then each individual will choose a story of their own to...
Curated OER
When Is It O.K. to Replace Human Limbs With Technology?
Today's blog topic is robotic limb replacement for amputees. Upper graders read the related article and argument, then compose a blog response that addresses the questions provided. This is a great way to get kids thinking about ethics,...
K12 Reader
Object Pronouns
Take a stab at object pronouns with a straightforward exercise. Give an object, learners determine which object pronoun would be most appropriate to finish 25 sentences.
Florida Center for Reading Research
Fluency: Words, Word Climb
Just like climbing a mountain, little learners read to reach the top. They take turns picking high-frequency word cards, reading them, then matching them to the words on their mountain worksheet. They race to reach the top of the...
Curated OER
Identify Base Words and Suffixes to Read Multisyllabic Words #1
Show your scholars how adding an affix changes the entire meaning of a word; they focus on the suffix -able. You'll find a complete script here, but if you don't want to read this verbatim, use it simply as an outline. Learners watch you...
Curated OER
Build Masters: Identifying Details
Find key details in books using this note card strategy. Each reader gets six cards with the classic who, what, where, when, why, and how detail prompts. After they read the book, they choose a card and locate a key detail answering the...
Curated OER
Dandelion Wine: Problematic Situation
If forced to move and give away almost everything you own, what five non-essential things would you take with you? Prior to reading about Mrs. Bentley in chapter 15 of Dandelion Wine, individuals are asked to respond to this problematic...
EngageNY
Main Ideas in Informational Text: Analyzing a Firsthand Human Rights Account
Although this is part of a series, lesson plan nine has your class take a break from their close study of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) text to read the firsthand account “Teaching Nepalis to Read, Plant, and Vote” by...
Curated OER
Misplaced Modifiers
Misplaced modifiers can alter the meaning of a sentence, and take away from a writer's intended message. Use the reference sheet and activity to show middle schoolers how to edit confusing sentences with misplaced modifiers. A great...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2
Identifying the theme or central idea of a text is a skill many young readers struggle with. It is also the second standard for reading literature in the Common Core. This resource, one from a series of Common Core lessons, can provide...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3
Focus on complex characters with a lesson plan from a series that teaches individual skills from the Common Core. Specifically, this resource provides practice with standard RL.9-10.3. Get pupils thinking and talking about characters...
EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge About Physical Environment: What Makes it Hard for Some People to Get Books?
How far would your pupils go to be able to have access to books? Revisit Heather Henson and David Small's That Book Woman and challenge class members to take on the role of Cal or the Book Woman. By putting themselves in someone else's...