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A Strong Right Arm
Through the book A Strong Right Arm by Michelle Y. Green, learners discuss the implications of a women playing on a Negro League baseball team. There are so many rich discussions that can be inspired by the questions in this packet.
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Parts of the Plot: Constructing a Plot Diagram
Sixth graders conduct a plot diagram for a short story. They identify the problem, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution. Students are able to sequence events in a story, and identify the parts of the plot...
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Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas-Lincoln: A Photobiography
Students read Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the life of Abraham Lincoln, including, but not limited to, the Civil War. Included are reading, art, math,...
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Samuel Pepys
Young writers examine the world of diaries. They study the diary of the famous Samuel Pepy, and discuss why it's so important. Together, as a class, they create a diary that describes what happened in school on a certain day. The catch...
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Rosa Parks
Second graders discover who Rosa Parks was and the significance of her role in Black History. Students place events in Rosa Park's life in chronological order.
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Nursery Rhyme
After reading several types of informational and narrative text involving Nursery Rhymes, have your young readers create a dramatic reading of their selected tale to perform for the class.
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A Walk Around the School: Mapping Places Near and Far
After reading Pat Hutchins’ Rosie’s Walk, have your young cartographers create a map of Rosie’s walk. Then lead them on a walk around the school. When you return class members sequence the walk by making a list of how the class got from...
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Civil War Essay
Upper graders explore equality by writing an essay. They read the story Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco, and discuss the meaning of the story and its relevance to Civil War events. Learners investigate the five writing process steps and...
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Narrative Literature Response Letters: Original Lesson Plan
Readers write a formal letter to an author offering an alternative ending to a story the author has written. First, the class reads a story or novel. Upon finishing the reading, they are introduced to the format of a formal letter. They...
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Narrative Nuts and Bolts
After viewing slides and reading about child labor, young authors compose an original narrative story. They practice note-taking skills and work to effectively engage a reader by incorporating plot, logical order, complex characters,...
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Strategies for Organization and Elaboration of Personal Narrative
Personal narrative writing is usually a favorite form of writing for youngsters because they get to write about a personal experience. The lesson here asks pupils to take a piece of narrative writing and improve it by following...
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Acrostic Book Report
Learners read the story Wild Horse Winter and construct acrostic poems. In this poetry lesson, students use adjectives and events in the text to develop an acrostic poem.
Brain Targeted Teaching
Tuck Everlasting Novel Study
The broad ideas included here provide clear ideas on how to use brain-targeted learning, what activities work best with Tuck Everlasting, how to apply the knowledge gained from their reading, and ideas for evaluation. Not teaching Tuck...
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Narrative Writing
A basic lesson on personal narrative writing is here for you. In it, learners are asked to imagine they're going to share an experience of their own with someone who did not participate in that experience. They verbally tell the story to...
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Narrative Writing
Imagine a day in the life of a child who has to work 12-14 hours a day, seven days a week. After viewing images and reading stories of child laborers, class members select an image and write a richly detailed narrative about a typical...
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The Great Kapok Tree..
Students predict what each animal in the story read says and then compare them. They pretend that a tree was cut down and write a new ending for the story. Students explain why the story is not true and create a Venn Diagram comparing...
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Reef Sharks!
Students visit an ocean aquarium exhibit where they can observe Black tip reef sharks. They observe the shark's behavior and read any information exhibited on the walls. They complete a worksheet based on information collected.
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The Faithful Friend
Students work in co-op groups to create a Reader's Theater production of the story. Students create a flow map that sequences the major events in the story. Students research the island of Martinique and create a travel brochure...
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Scrambled Stories
Character development, setting, and plot? Sounds like the makings of a good narrative story. Young authors read and analyze several narrative examples, and then they use what they know to pen an original composition. They work both in...
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Penguin Writing
After discussing the main events in Mr. Popper’s Penguins, young writers describe in sequence what they would do if they had 12 penguins living in their house. The narratives are then glued onto a penguin cut-out, mounted on construction...
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The Gift of the Magi
Test the true meaning of giving - and irony - with this lesson about "The Gift of the Magi." Using textual analysis, details, and text organization, middle schoolers make predictions about future events in the story and determine the...
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Humpty Dumpty Webquest
Students explore and dramatize the nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty." They explore a variety of nursery rhyme websites, and listen to, dramatize, and recite Humpty Dumpty. Students also answer comprehension questions and sequence the...
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Plot Mobiles
Learners read folktales and identify the plot of the story by making a mobile. In this inventive and colorful lesson, students listen to a variety of famous folktales, and practice identifying the plot. Then, they work together to create...
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Cause And Effect
Fourth graders read the book Stellaluna and cite sentences that show cause and effect in the story. In this cause and effect lesson plan, 4th graders also write sentences that show cause and effect in their own lives.