Curated OER
Predicates
Sharpen writing skills in your young learners! Five sentence starters are written with blanks after them. Predicates are listed in a box at the top to choose from as writers complete the sentences.
Curated OER
Syllable Activity
Have young learners practice breaking apart multi-syllabic words. The entire word is written to the left and writers first copy the word adding a backslash, then write each syllable separately. The structure of this worksheet makes it...
Curated OER
Snappy Solutions, Sizzling Sentences
An examination of the figurative language in Gwendolyn Brooks’ To Young Readers challenges your writers to think about the richness of language. Ask your class why Brooks says, “Good books are bandages.” This discussion of alliteration,...
East Stroudsburg University
In Your Own Words... Paraphrasing
How can you put a passage in your own words without changing the meaning of the original text? That is the question facing many young researchers. The advice modeled in this presentation is that writers read the passage carefully,...
Ms. Effie's Lifesavers
Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man in the Spotlight
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is the most frequently cited novel for the Advanced Placement Literature and Composition Open Response Question. Those new to using the book and and veterans as well will find the teaching strategies, the...
Curated OER
Story Starters: Woodpeckers' Park
A great Earth Day and environment assignment, or even a basic creative writing lesson, this prompt helps students to begin the story of Woody and Woodruff, two woodpeckers who don't like litterers! Both a picture and an introduction can...
National First Ladies' Library
Flopsy, Mopsy, Eleanor, and Beatrix
Young scholars read "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" and view the photos of the pets that inspired Beatrix Potter to write. They then select a different book to read from the University of Pennsylvania's website or from the public library that...
National Endowment for the Humanities
"Old Southwest" Humorists and George Washington Harris
Young scholars discover the work of George Washington Harris and his influence on American humor. For this George Washington Harris lesson, discuss cultural differences in the United States and read Sut Lovongwood stories by George...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Nathaniel Hawthorne and Literary Humor
Young scholars examine Nathaniel Hawthorne's style of humor and compare it to other humorists. They discuss the purpose of literary humor and determine how it develops characters and plots in stories. They analyze the use of different...
Curated OER
Trait Variations for Survival
Young learners examine how different traits could give one organism an advantage over another. In groups, they view two different organisms in different environments. To end the lesson, they complete a Venn Diagram on the two organisms...
Curated OER
James Welch's Fools Crow
Learners explore the history of Montana's Native Americans by reading James Welch's Fools Crow. Set shortly after the Civil War, the novel focuses on a young Blackfoot Indian and his tribe. Over the course of several weeks, class members...
Curated OER
Until Then I Had Only Read About These Things in Books
Young scholars read assigned text about the World War II. In this Holocaust survival lesson, students identify the mass murders associated with Adolf Hitler's Nazi party and read stories of young men who narrowly avoided the death camps....
Curated OER
Lesson Exchange: Is This A Real Word? (Elementary, Reading/Writing)
Young readers practice looking words up in the dictionary. This lesson describes a simple, yet engaging, game that can be played as a whole-class activity.
Curated OER
Clauses as Fragments
Need a quick assessment of whether or not your young grammarians understand subordinate clauses and fragments? While the rules are reviewed and examples given, the terms are not defined and no directions accompany the 10 sentences...
Curated OER
Ane Frank: Writer
Tenth graders investigates a website to gather information on the Holocaust and Anne Frank. They compare Anne Frank's characteristics to other peers. Students explore specific examples and draw conclusions about human behavior.
Random House
Mapping Skills
Spark interest and enhance your pupils' map skills using Matteo Pericoli's book, See the City: the Journey of Manhattan Unfurled. Through Pericoli's illustrations and text, learners explore the East and West...
University of North Carolina
Verb Tenses
Twelve categories of verbs exist in the future tense, ranging from simple present to future perfect progressive, but only three have a place in academic writing. Those three tenses make up the content of an informational handout that...
Penguin Books
Folklore and Fairytales: A Guide to Using Traditional Tales and Reimagined Classics
Every culture has its own stories to tell. An interesting educator's guide shares a large collection of fairytales and folktales, some from different cultures and some re-creations of classics. A summary and brief teaching ideas...
Penguin Books
An Educator’s Guide to Ruta Sepetys
Historical fiction novels give readers a chance to step into someone else's shoes. An educator's guide from Penguin Common Core Lesson Plans provides resources to accompany three historical fiction novels written by Ruta Sepetys: Between...
Curated OER
Read The Words and Copy The Words
This instructional activity offers young readers and writers a chance to read ten sight words, then try their hand at writing them in empty boxes at the bottom of the instructional activity. Not the most exciting instructional activity...
Curated OER
Finding Yourself Through Autobiography
Learners read the writings of individuals whom they know and admire. They see that writing about themselves is worthwhile and important and helps them become better writers. They share their own life experiences, write about personal...
Curated OER
Gandhi's Voice: Writing as Nonviolent Resistance
Ninth graders identify how Mahatma Gandhi used writing as a means of nonviolent communication. In this nonviolent resistance activity, 9th graders watch a film about Gandhi as a writer and identify characteristics of nonviolent activism....
Curated OER
Exploring Satire - Jonathan Swift
Students study about satire and find examples Part One of GULLIVER'S TRAVELS. They then write an essay about the examples they found and how the writer used satire in his literary work.
Curated OER
Refrigerator to Renoir: Ten Great Art Lessons on the Net
Every learner can be an artist with a series of activities designed to access their creativity. With reference links and instructional ideas, this art resource is sure to enrich your class and bring new ideas to even your most reluctant...