Curated OER
Through Thick and Thin: Examining the Dynamics of Friendship Relationships
Students read one teen's story of dealing with her best friend's anorexia to explore the dynamics of friendship relationships and the qualities needed to sustain a friendship through challenges.
Curated OER
Autobiographies: A Jigsaw Puzzle
Students read The Autobiography of Ben Franklin. Using construction paper, they cut out five jigsaw puzzle pieces in different shapes using the entire sheet of paper. They write events from their own lives on the puzzle pieces, thus...
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Put the Elephant First
Students recreate the order of animals they read about in a book. In this relative positions lesson, students color and cut out pictures of animals in the book. Sudents glue these onto construction paper and line up like the animals in...
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Seven Fat Cats
First graders listen to a read aloud of "Seven Fat Cats" matching rhyming, beginning, ending and vowel sounds.
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Creature Creation
Second graders listen to a read aloud of a fictional story about a frog. They compare the characteristics of the main character with a real frog. They work with two partners to create a creature; one student draw the head, one the body,...
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Measurement
First graders listen to a read aloud of Linda Williams, The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything" before discussing Halloween. They measure pumpkins using chains of paper clips to find their length and width. Once they open the...
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First Grade Writing Lesson #1/ Narrative Prompt
First graders write a descriptive paragraph about a friend.
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Rosa Parks
Students identify the heroic actions of Rosa Parks. In this African-American lesson, students read the book, Rosa Parks: My Storyand create a timeline of the events from the biography.
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Nonfiction Genre Mini-Unit: Persuasive Writing
Should primary graders have their own computers? Should animals be kept in captivity? Young writers learn how to develop and support a claim in this short unit on persuasive writing.
Florida Center for Reading Research
Comprehension: Text Analysis, Persuade, Inform, and Entertain Sort
Why do authors write? Practice determining the author's purpose with a categorizing activity. Learners sort twelve short passages into three categories: persuade, inform, and entertain.
Playbooks
Reader's Theater Exercise: The Night Before Christmas
Yes, Virginia, there really is a reader's theater script for "The Night Before Christmas." The exercise is a great way to productively channel pre-holiday energy.
Curated OER
Opening a Special Ed Class
This is not just a lesson plan, it's a life saver! Here are 10 separate documents intended to assist a new Special Ed teacher. There are 4 different games, instructional tips, ways to handle documentation, behavioral modification...
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Current Groundwater Contamination Research
Students research the effects of groundwater pollutants on life. They name and describe 1 environmental factor that has an effect on our drinking water. Students read the Water-Groundwater and Pollution Article. They discuss and...
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Can We Switch Genders of Story Characters?
Students read and review the main elements of a story. In this language arts instructional activity, students predict what the story read to them would have been like if the genders of the characters had been different. Students write a...
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What Qualities Does a Hero Have?
Study the characteristics of real-life heroes in your history or language arts lesson. After reading about the soldiers of World War I, kids write autobiographies from their future elderly selves, and reflect on their acts of heroism yet...
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Youth Helping to Elevate Awareness
Eighth graders read a book whose main character has a physical disability, and complete various related activities. They listen to a guest speaker, simulate experiences at school as a disabled individual through the use of wheelchairs,...
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A Center Approach to Poetry
Students experience the different types of poetry in order to classify them. In this poetry lesson, students discover the multiple types of poetry while reading in the library. Ultimately, the students create their own poetry and share...
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ESL Network: Tezen, A Haitian Folktale
Sixth graders brainstorm various types of friendships prior to reading "Tezen," a tale about a young girl's friendship with a fish. After writing story reviews, they work in small groups to create dramatic skits based on the text and...
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Creative Writing - Poetry Project
Students, after following step by step instructions/guidelines, contract to make a particular grade on a poetry project. They purpose of this project is to complete a collection of poetry using a variety of techniques studied in class,...
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"Ivan the Fool" Lesson 1
Students in an ESL class read "Ivan the Fool", a folktale from Russia. In groups, they work with their partner to read the material and discuss what they have read. They write down any vocabulary they are unfamiliar with and write a...
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Henry's Freedom Box
Third graders create a shipping box from a cardboard material. In this measuring activity, 3rd graders read the book Henry's Freedom Box and discuss the main idea. In the story a slave ships himself to freedom and the students measure...
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Paper Mosaics
Third graders read the story "Pompeii...Buried Alive." They locate Italy on a world map and define the term artifact. Students conduct an artifact dig on the playground. Students study the characteristics of mosaics and their...
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Using Team Games Tournaments
Students review the unit on evolution and natural selection by playing a card game. Students take turns drawing a card from the stack and reading the question out aloud. The reader gives an answer. The other students, in turn may pass or...
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Science Fiction Literature
Students identify the elements of science fiction literature. They write and illustrate a science fiction story using real and exaggerated science. In addition, they read their stories aloud in small groups.