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Pre-writing activities for improving students' connections to literature
Students, while reading a novel together in class, jot in their journals any connections to their own lives they can make between the text and self, text to text or text to the world. Various themes are connected to open more doors to...
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Creative Characterization
Students write a character description journal in which they take on the voice of one of the character's made-up friends or relatives. They write a sketch of that character from the friend or relatives' point of view.
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Wonderful Westerns
In this book report worksheet, students choose a novel about westerns to read and then completes six various assignments dealing with the novel of their choice.
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Genre Lesson: Autobiography
Start kids thinking about point of view and autobiographies by telling them a short story about your morning (first person), and then asking a volunteer to re-tell the story to you (second person). There are tips to help you tie this...
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Only the Facts
Practice the strategy of summarizing to gain meaning and knowledge from an informational text. Young readers highlight supporting details and main ideas, and then they use this to summarize two articles: "The Great Quake" and "What is an...
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Home Reading Log
Ask your learners to keep track of their independent reading progress on a weekly reading log. There is space to write the title of the book, the pages read, a brief summary of what was read each time, and the minutes read. Each of the...
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Summarizing Story Events
Here is a way to build your pupils' public speaking abilities. The lesson describes a reader's report chair, which is used each week by a student who has just finished reading a book. The featured reader sits in the chair and talks about...
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Read and Get Smart
Use the class textbook to read a full story about Martin Luther King, Jr. The class writes facts about him and outlines his life, then they read the author and illustrator summaries at the end of the story. They compare and contrast the...
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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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A Look At Rocks
Students write letters to organizations, such as United States Geological Society, to find out more about rocks. Students write about a pretend time they found a magic pebble. Students calculate distances to travel to see various...
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King Bidgood's in the Bathtub
students add their own scenarios to the book using the same rhythmic pattern. Students describe what is happening in the picture as a class shared writing activity. Students discuss reasons why the people in the kingdom were upset that...
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Lyddie
Students investigate the character trait of perseverance and how it is used to help a girl gain independence in a fictional story. The story also has them think about the value of relationships and then write reflectively about...
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The Young Basketball Player
Students explore the history of basketball by reading and listening to a book entitled, "The Young Basketball Player." Afterwards, they create a trivia basketball game and write an interview for their favorite player. As a...
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Animal Diary
Students create a diary of an animal. In this creative writing lesson, students read the book Diary of a Worm and conduct a brief research session on their animal. Students fill in a template with facts and create an animal diary.
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Sato and the Elephants
Students write a persuasive letter to the government of an African country that has elephants as a resource. Students research and debate the pros and cons of ivory use. Students identify the value of ivory products versus the lives of...
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The Outside Dog
Pupils observe the book, "The Outside Dog," and predict the events of the story. At the conclusion of the story, students act out various paragraphs from the book and write about specified characters. Additional cross-curriculum...
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Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas-Duke Ellington
Students read Duke Ellington by Andrea Davis Pinkney. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the life of the 20th century composer. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social studies, and...
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Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas-Miss Spider's New Car
Learners read Miss Spider's New Car by David Kirk. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the study of spiders. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social studies, and library connections.
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The Young Gymnast
Second graders compare and contrast gymnastics in 1859, 1900 and today. Students contrast differences in gymnastics for boys and girls today. Students pretend that they are interviewing a famous gymnast and write up their interview....
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If You Lived at the Time of the Civil War.
Students investigate major characters of history that are represented in children's literature. They conduct research using a variety of resources and each character is put into a class book as a presentation. The character includes a...
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Following Their Footsteps
Students research and create a book report on a famous person. In this character education lesson, students examine the positive traits exemplified by a famous person and present an oral presentation for their classmates.
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Owl Eyes.
Students create an animal with clay and use toothpick to draw or carve features. Students write descriptions of their animal and tell why they created it in a certain way. Students write legends on their own, perhaps using their created...
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Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas-Hanukkah Lights, Hanukkah Nights
Pupils read Hanukkah Lights, Hanukkah Nights by Leslie Himmelman. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the study of Hanukkah. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social studies, and library...
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Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas-If You Made A Million
Students read If You Made A Million by David M. Schwartz. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the study of earning, saving and spending money. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social...