Education City
Reading Comprehension
Celebrate National Reading Month in March—or any month of the year—with a selection of versatile graphic organizers. The worksheets prompt readers to compare characters easily, predict what will happen next in a story, track their...
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Indian Boarding Schools
Students research government-run American Indian boarding schools. In this American Indian history lesson, students analyze primary documents to develop an understanding of the forced acculturation of American Indians through...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Process of Reading
Assist your pupils with literary analysis by discussing and exploring theme. This plan, the twelfth in a series of fourteen, builds in some time to explore theme as a class. Learners also blog about the main event in their stories and...
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The Anne Frank Story
What is genocide? Create timelines regarding the human genocide. Middle and high schoolers analyze information that requires them to consider links between Armenian genocide and the Holocaust. In groups, theydesign timelines that...
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Show Me the Story
Students examine the elements of a story, read a review of Chris Rock's new sitcom, "Everybody Hates Chris" and create original sitcom episodes based on their own lives.
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Stories That Really Add Up
Learners, in groups, develop math lessons for younger students that each stems from a popular student story. Group members individually develop lessons for other subject areas based on their group's story, creating interdisciplinary units.
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Angling for a Story
Students explore different news angles relating to a local sporting event, then create a detailed treatment of the story prior to reporting it.
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"User Friendly" Cause and Effect
Bring literature to life with your SMART board and this literary analysis activity. While reading "User Friendly" by T. Ernesto Bethancourt (from the Holt Elements of Literature textbook by Kylene Beers), have your class discuss the...
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Compare Two Versions: Folk Tales, Sequencing, and Summary
Compare two versions of "The Three Little Pigs" (traditional and Jon Scieszka's The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, told from the wolf's point of view). As your 4th graders recount the familiar version of the story, emphasize the...
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Where Do We Begin?
Primary learners grasp sequence of events by discussing morning routines and reviewing the story of Little Red Riding Hood. They explore the necessity of correct order of events. As a class, create a story with a beginning, middle, and...
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Introducing New Vocabulary Words
Using context clues, synonyms, antonyms, dictionaries, and original sentences, middle schoolers work through a new list of vocabulary words. A SMART board file guides them through the process of learning and reinforcing the words. After...
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Forming Plural Nouns
Everyone knows that a noun is a person, place, thing, or idea - but what happens when you have people, places, things, or ideas? Use this SMART board activity to guide your class through plural nouns. Several activities, including making...
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Listen To Me!
Young learners need practice speaking comfortably in front of others. Post a list of oral speaking tips on the board during this unit. Over a week-long period, they create a story from their interview sheet and present it to the class....
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Foreshadowing and Making Predictions
"What happens next?" Using real-life scenarios, movies, images, and other prompts, pupils practice making predictions based on inferences from clues. A SMART board activity takes them from making predictions to writing a prediction...
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The Swiss Family Robinson Teacher's Notes
Guide young readers through the classic novel The Swiss Family Robinson with this collection of activities and worksheets. From basic spelling and grammar practice, to reading comprehension skills, this resource will enhance...
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The Last Lecture: Text Impressions
To pique interest in The Last Lecture, readers are given a list of key terms and ask to craft a story inspired by the terms.
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Tell Me A Story
Students listen to the story Mrs. Wishy Washy and practice retelling the story. In this tell me a story lesson, students become familiar with all of the characters in the story, then use character pieces to retell the story. Students...
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"Retale" Value: Exploring Plot Similarities in Fiction and Nonfiction Stories
Students explore seven basic story lines and apply these story lines to news articles in the New York Times. They write reports comparing the plot of a news article to novels, plays and movies with which they are familiar.
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Introduce Vocabulary: Tell Me a Story, Mama
Learners are read Tell Me a Story, Mama, by Angela Johnson. In this vocabulary focused activity, students discover the definitions of at least three Tier Two words. They discuss the meanings of the words, as a group, both before and...
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Story Quilts-For the Classroom
Students create a classroom story quilt. In this literacy lesson, students recall events from a text and illustrate their favorite part of the story on a quilt piece. The quilt is sewn together to form a classroom quilt.
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"The Story of Ruby Bridges"
Third graders examine the role of Ruby Bridges in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. They listen to the teacher read the book "The Story of Ruby Bridges" by Robert Coles, identify what is fact or opinion in the story, and sequence events in...
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"The Zoo" Writing Practice- Finish the Story
In this writing practice worksheet, students read the beginning of a story entitled, "The Zoo." They write an original ending to the story which is about a class field trip.
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Daniel's Story Study Guide
Students explore the concept of prejudice. In this World War II lesson plan, students read Daniel's Story by Carol Matas. Students complete the provided study guide as they read the novel and discuss the Holocaust.
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Snowy Day
Students investigate the concept of reading comprehension while focusing upon the sequencing of a story. They read the story and use the cutouts included in the lesson plan to put the story in order. Students also engage in a class...