EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge: Jigsaw to Build and Share Expertise about the 2010 Haiti Earthquake, Part 1
Using the Jigsaw protocol, scholars study chunks of text from a speech given by former US presidents following a devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti. As they read the speech in small groups, they build background knowledge and share...
Prestwick House
Reading Nonfiction: Analyzing Joseph McCarthy's "Enemies from Within" Speech
Looking for a instructional activity that teaches class members how to analyze nonfiction? Use Joseph McCarthy's famous "Enemies from Within" speech as a instructional text. Worksheet questions direct readers' attention to the many...
EngageNY
Reading for Gist and Answering Text-Dependent Questions: Local Sustainable Food Chain
Readers use sticky notes and a Reading Closely: Guiding Questions handout to record the gist of a different section (pages 161-166) in The Omnivore’s Dilemma. They then pair up and share their ideas. To end the lesson, readers complete...
Penguin Books
Core Curriculum Lesson Plans for Jefferson's Sons
Thomas Jefferson lived a controversial life. A series of lesson plans shares information about Jefferson's Sons, a novel about the infamous founding father. Discussion questions and other tasks explore different points of view and cover...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 2: Unit 2, Lesson 3
Does trauma have a lasting effect on people's lives? Scholars dive into the topic as they read paragraphs 9–11 of "A Genetics of Justice" by Julia Alvarez, in which the author describes her family's return to the Dominican Republic....
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 7
A story about feral girls raised by werewolves will have some interesting character development! Track how the girls and their teachers act, speak, and change with a lesson focused on Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by...
EngageNY
Close Reading: Paragraph 1 of “Refugee and Immigrant Children: A Comparison” (from “Refugee Children in Canada: Searching for Identity”)
What common challenges do refugees and immigrants face? Using the 9th lesson plan from the 20-part Grade 8 ELA Module 1, Unit 2 series, pupils read about the similarities between refugees' and immigrants' adaptation processes. Partners...
EngageNY
Reading for the Gist and Answering Text Dependent Questions: Hunter-Gatherer Food Chain
Readers use sticky notes and a close reading guide to identify the gist of "My Pig" on pages 240–245 of The Omnivore's Dilemma. After reviewing their thoughts with peers, they answer text-dependent questions about the section.
EngageNY
Close Reading: Paragraphs 2 and 3 of “Refugee and Immigrant Children: A Comparison” and Introducing the NYS Expository Writing Rubric
What factors make adaptation successful for refugee and immigrant children? The class explores the topic by reading two paragraphs from "Refugee and Immigrant Children: A Comparison." Next, they engage in a think-pair-share to discuss...
EngageNY
Establishing Structures for Reading: Getting the Gist (Chapter 1)
Class members review expectations for successful discussions before reading chapter one of A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. They engage in a think-pair-share to discuss the gist of the text and add their thoughts to their Readers'...
EngageNY
Practicing Structures for Reading: Gathering and Using Evidence to Analyze Salva’s and Nya’s Points of View (Chapter 4)
Class members discuss the gist of chapter four of A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park with a partner and share their responses with the class. Next, they complete graphic organizers to answer text-dependent questions based on a close...
Workforce Solutions
Workforce Solutions Pre-K Lessons
Four lessons, each following the same routine, explore the careers of a teacher, nurse, electrician, geologist, plumber, and police officer. After listening to a read-aloud and thoughtful discussion, young scholars construct puppets on...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 4
Connect with the text using helpful annotation strategies. As your class reads the first section of Karen Russell's short story, "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," they note important passages that establish character...
Curated OER
Building Reading Skills: Fluency
Students practice their fluency skills. In this fluency lesson plan, students read aloud stories to their peers and they help to coach one another on their fluency, pronunciation, phrasing, and inflection. They discuss what makes a good...
Curated OER
Shared and Guided Reading with Ice Cream Money
Here is a lesson plan which has young scholars locate an exclamation point and a comma from the text. They locate previously learned words on the page, and create a word map from the word "Money." Students write about and illustrate...
EngageNY
Reading and Taking Notes on Colonial Trades
In the tenth instructional activity of this unit, young scholars learn to categorize information as they continue researching their colonial trade. During guided practice, the teacher models how to read informational text slowly while...
Historical Thinking Matters
Spanish-American War: 3 Day Lesson
Why did the United States choose to invade Cuba in 1898? As part of a 3-day lesson plan, your young historians will first develop working hypotheses to answer this question, then work with a variety of historical primary source documents...
Scholastic
Abe Lincoln Remembers Lesson Plan
Discover the life of Abraham Lincoln with help from the story Abe Lincoln Remembers by Ann Turner. After listening carefully, scholars reflect on what they deem as Lincoln's most influential life event and how it relates to them,...
NPR
Young And Brave Lesson Plan
Honor brave young women with a lesson that showcases 30 individuals who's achievements made a lasting impression on our country's history. Here, scholars randomly choose a person to examine from an interactive myseum exhibit then share...
EngageNY
Establishing Structures for Reading: Gathering Evidence about Salva’s and Nya’s Points of View (Reread Chapters 1 and 2)
Readers practice gathering textual evidence to support their understanding of character point of view in A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. Working with partners, they complete a Gathering Evidence graphic organizer and engage in...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 10
Finish your unit on Temple Grandin's Animals in Translation with a two-part written assessment. As ninth graders refer to their notes, annotations, and discussion guides from the first part of the unit, they prepare for a writing prompt...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 2: Unit 1, Lesson 4
Just read between the lines. Scholars analyze rhetorical devices in Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter by first discussing them with guided questioning. They then complete a rhetorical impact tracking tool before finishing the lesson plan...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 2, Unit 3, Lesson 11
Who is to blame for Bernie Madoff's crime? Class members look for evidence Diana B. Henriques uses in The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust to support her claims that we share the responsibility with Madoff.
EngageNY
Grade 11 ELA Module 1: Unit 2, Lesson 14
How do Ophelia's interactions with Hamlet help develop her character? Pupils continue reading Act 3.1 from Shakespeare's Hamlet. Using writing and discussion, scholars analyze the dialogue between Hamlet and Ophelia, paying particular...