Curated OER
Writing Strategies: A Writer's Notebook
In this writing worksheet, students read 12 strategies for keeping a writer's notebook. Worksheet is designed to be signed by student and parent when completed.
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Applying Reading Strategies to Aid Comprehension
Students practice their reading skills. In this reading comprehension instructional activity, students read articles about fast food topics using the wordstorming strategy described to prepare for reading the text.
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Service Learning/Then and Now
Eighth graders explore service learning projects. They work, in groups, to choose a video project. Students collect information and present it in a storyboard. Next, they use music, video clips, and still pictures to create their video...
Curated OER
Social Studies Strategies: Terquain
In this worksheet on writing a terquain, students draw a picture of a subject matter and follow the directions to write a three-line poem about the topic. Students complete four activities.
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What are the Elements of Poetry
Students read the poem "Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes" and analyze the form, figurative language, and mood. They complete a T-chart containing what they have learned about Pablo and the evidence from the poem supporting their conclusions.
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Comprehending Through Questioning
Elementary schoolers observe and apply a variety of reading comprehension strategies. They silently read a passage out of their science textbook, and discuss answering the who, what, where, when, and how of the text. In small groups they...
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Reading Skills: Chunking
Prepare advanced English learners and low-level readers for the reading demands of post-secondary education with skill of chunking. Readers learn to make meaning from phrases rather than individual words, helping them to read more...
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High Wire Magazine: Turning Points
Develop and strengthen reading comprehension strategies through this comprehensive teaching guide. Your learners will practice making text connections, inferences, predictions, and more using reading passages from the teen-appropriate...
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Tuesdays with Morrie: Question-Answer Relationships
As part of their study of Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie, class groups examine passages from the story and respond to a series of QAR questions.
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What's Your Style?
Sixth graders complete a learning style assessment and evaluate the information gained to determine accuracy in terms of what they know about themselves as learners. They then identify and implement strategies related to their preferred...
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Making Inferences While Identifying Similes and Metaphors
Use this lesson to study similes and metaphors and the inferred meaning. In this language arts lesson, 5th graders write their own similes and metaphors. A worksheet is provided for extension work or to check understanding as homework.
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Rest in Peace, Maniac Magee
Scholars read Maniac Magee and create epitaphs for each of the major characters using precise words reflecting the individual characters personality and nature. They will learn what an epitaph is and practice writing their own. They can...
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Introduce: Comprehension Monitoring using About Trees
As scholars begin reading more difficult text, they need to acquire an arsenal of comprehension strategies. Here are few helpful ones to guide new readers through the informational text About Trees, which is linked here for...
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Unlocking New Words: Partner Presentations
Following extensive modeling about how to apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to learn new words, partner teams create brief word presentations to teach new vocabulary to the class. Preselect words from upcoming social studies,...
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Weaving a Story of Cooperation: The Goat in the Rug
Weaving is an important part of Navajo culture. Read The Goat in the Rug to your fourth and fifth graders, and give them a glimpse into the process of rug making from the point of view of a goat! They will learn new vocabulary words and...
Curated OER
Hate 2.0
Combat hate online by bringing it into the light. Begin by giving learners a quiz, then lead a discussion based on the issues the quiz brought up. As a class, develop strategies to confront online hate. Assign different venues to groups...
Folger Shakespeare Library
Pre-Reading Hamlet with "Hamlet: An Insider’s Guide"
Prove that Gertrude did kill Ophelia from practicing the word inflections activities with these pre-reading strategies for Hamlet. Thespians practice the line, “Is that your sandwich?” as they stress and accent different words, and...
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Take this Job and Love It!
High schoolers need to be prepared to enter the job market during or after high school. Here are six preparational activities geared at getting those kids ready to enter the job market. They conduct research on various jobs, learn...
EngageNY
Continued Close Reading of Nasreen's Secret School: Discussions of Questions and Evidence
Third graders answer text-dependent questions of the story Nasreen's Secret School both independently and then collaboratively through using the carousel of questions strategy. This plan is the seventh instructional activity in a...
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Parody Hilarity
Upper grade and middle school writers study the art of parody. For this language arts lesson, learners study the work of Lewis Carroll, read and discuss parodies from the book, Alice in Wonderland, and construct their own parody based on...
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Simple Texts for Primary Pupils
Can literacy get any more fun than this? Learners not only have fun, but gain confidence as well when presented with familiar text in another language. Select books, songs, poems, even recipes written in another language, and using the...
Curated OER
Martin Luther King Jr. and Nonviolence
Using the book, Martin's Big Words, learners will discover the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Vocabulary is identified throughout the story by using several his famous protest speeches as examples. Class discussions on racism, during...
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Using Details from the Text
Explore non-fiction comprehension strategies with your class. They will visualize daily activities and label a 4 circle Venn diagram with related phrases. They must identify the overlapping sections as "main ideas," then complete a...
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Who? What? When? Where? Asking Questions
Sixth graders interview Veterans or role play to answer who, what, where, when questions. In this Veteran's Day questioning activity, 6th graders learn about the events in the military service of veterans. Students may simulate...