Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Imaginary Creatures
Drama and movement are wonderful ways to cover story elements such as setting, character, and descriptive writing. Little ones listen to a poem about imaginary creatures. As they listen, they shape their bodies into what they think the...
ReadWriteThink
Defining Literacy in a Digital World
What skills are necessary to interact with different types of text? Twenty-first century learners live in a digital world and must develop a whole new set of skills to develop media literacy. Class members engage in a series of...
Curated OER
So Much Depends Upon...Sixteen-Word Imagery Poems Inspired by Love that Dog by Sharon Creech
After reading Love That Dog by Sharon Creech (and possibly shedding a few tears), middle schoolers work on their own sixteen-word poems with a Six Trait writing activity. They focus on word choice in this activity to capture an...
Curated OER
Picturing Text
Students, through observation and discussion about the Coffin of Djed Mut, make connections between hieroglyphs and the English writing system. They create their own visual story using symbols that represent words.
Curated OER
Where in the World is Mrs. Waffenschmidt? #11
Boats, gondolas, and narrow canals! Sounds like Mrs. Waffenschmidt is hanging out in Venice, Italy. Your class needs to read the informational paragraph and use what they know about geography and culture to determine this mysterious...
Curated OER
Reviewing Good Playing Habits
The string section of your school orchestra can get a proper form make-over by incorporating this lesson. They reestablish proper playing form, posture, and sound as they compose an essay on how to maintain good playing habits during...
San Francisco Symphony
Quilt Making and Copland's Rodeo
Kids make quilts as they learn about pioneer life and the concept of tempo. The Aaron Copland piece, Rodeo is used to convey rhythm and tempo in music. As the children discuss tempo and rhythm, they also discuss what life was like for...
Rowland High School
The Catcher in the Rye Projects
What really knocks me out about this project list is that when you're done reading about the projects, you wish you could do them all. I'm not kidding. There are 16 terrific ideas and that doesn't happen very often.
Curated OER
Gathering Statistics for Research
Learners gather statistics to include in their research. In this statistics lesson, students investigate how to incorporate statistics into research and other readings besides math. They collect data based on other topics, analyze the...
Curated OER
History of Ponce de Leon in Florida
Based in sound Educational Theory, this instructional activity uses art to convey the story of Ponce de Leon. Mild to moderately disabled students hear the story of the Fountain of Youth, examine a paining of Ponce de Leon, and act out a...
California Academy of Science
Be Prepared for an Earthquake
Earthquakes can be frightening and dangerous, but being prepared can make a world of difference. Perform an earthquake simulation during which the class practices how to drop, cover, and hold on as you read a script describing what might...
Curated OER
Icky Stinky Fingers!
Students examine the letter 'i'. Through instruction and modeling they explore the sound the letter makes, how the letter is written, words that contain the letter, etc. They use letterboxes to write 'i' words and read stories...
Curated OER
Racy Readers
Students discover how to become more fluent when they read. Individually, they are given a notecard with a specific colored dot and read their selection based on emotion represented by the dot. To end the lesson, they participate in a...
Curated OER
Icky Sticky Hands!
Students examine the letter 'i'. Through instruction and modeling they explore the sound the letter makes, how the letter is written, words that contain the letter, etc. They use letterboxes to write 'i' words and read stories containing...
Curated OER
Excellent Expression
Students practice reading more fluently with expression and enthusiasm by reading aloud to help them realize how much more exciting and inviting stories can be when read with expression. They encounter the book, "Alexander and the...
Curated OER
IzzyWizzy
Students complete a variety of activities related to the short /i/ sound. As a class they recite a tongue twister, then spell different words using letter manipulatives. Students then read the book "Tin Man Fix It," and identify the...
Curated OER
Daytona 500
Student practice reading with fluency. They read In The Big Top and practice reading to improve their speed and fluency. Students discuss what it sounded like when they read the story at various speeds. Students time their reading and...
Curated OER
Ew...That's Iiiicky!
Students complete a variety of activities related to the short /i/ sound. As a class they recite a short /i/ tongue twister, then spell words containing the short /i/ sound using letter manipulatives. In pairs they read the book "Tin...
Curated OER
Practicing Smarter Not Harder is Best!
Students increase their reading fluence through repeated reading of a selected, leveled passage. Working in pairs, students read a grade level appropriate text in one-minute intervals. After reading they determine their fluency through a...
Curated OER
A-a-aaachoo!
Students complete a variety of activities related to the short /a/ sound. As a class they recite a tongue twister, and trace and write the letter A. Students then view a stack of picture cards and identify the words containing the short...
Curated OER
Alphabets And More Alphabets
Students identify and phonetically pronounce the letters in the alphabet. They participate in a letter identification game, and play musical letters. Students then listen to the book "Alphabet Family" and discuss their favorite words...
Curated OER
Icky, Icky, Sticky!
Students explore phonemes in spoken words as well as their corresponding graphemes in written words. They practice the short vowels /i/ and /e/. Students perform activities to practice sounds. They identify pictures with a particular...
Curated OER
Icky Sticky
First graders the /i/ sound by practicing the way the mouth moves while making the sound while saying "icky, sticky." They write the letter "i" using both upper and lower case letters, make words using letterboxes, and write about a...
Curated OER
Feeding Red
Students increase their reading fluency through the use of various strategies. After reviewing chunking, decoding, rereading and reading with expression, students complete an initial read of a novel text. Working with the instructor,...