Read Works
A Bird Came Down the Walk
"A Bird Came Down the Walk" by Emily Dickinson is the focus text of a narrative poetry-based reading comprehension worksheet. After reading her poem, young readers respond to seven multiple choice and three short answer questions. The...
Curated OER
Lesson 3: Puns
Encourage more pun-derstanding of word play in your literary scholars as they explore Brian P. Cleary's book Rhyme and Punishment: Adventures in Wordplay. Although this isn't suggested, consider beginning this study by simply showing...
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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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Textual Analysis Lesson: Segregation: Past or Present?
Are your scholars reading Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee? If so, use this textual analysis packet and lesson guide to drive deeper thinking about the characters, create personal connections, and apply historical contexts to the text....
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Figurative Language
Do your learners need to practice identifying figurative language? This lesson plan outlines a method for working on that tricky skill. After teacher modeling and think-aloud, fourth and fifth graders identify examples of figurative...
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The Best Main Idea
What is the main idea? Interest your young readers with this fun introductory lesson! After selecting several items from a paper bag, the teacher leads learners to determine the big idea for those items. This concept is then applied to...
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Genre Lesson: Poetry
Hook kids into a study on poetry elements by asking them to bring in the lyrics to their favorite song. Discuss the elements in one or two songs (preferably that demonstrate rhyme, figurative language, or a repeating phrase). Groups do...
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The Effects of Character Decisions
Learners explore characters' decisions. They play a card game in which they match a decision card with a direct effect card. Then they examine characters from The Wizard of Oz, record important decisions that they make on index cards,...
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Using Compare and Contrast Key Words
Compare and contrast while challenging your class with this higher-level thinking and reading comprehension lesson. After observing the teacher model comparing and contrasting bats and birds, learners read passages about two towns. They...
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Signal Words in Expository Text
Signal words are one way that authors make the relationships between their ideas clear. Allow your learners the chance to investigate cause and effect in texts by identifying signal words. They locate and analyze cause-and-effect...
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Identifying Universal Themes Across Cultures
Have your class read the story "The Magic Lake," retold by Liana Romulo, from Filipino Children's Favorite Stories. Guide them to identify the problem, solution, and universal theme. They compare the theme of this story to the theme of...
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Compare and Contrast Author's Voice
Follow the procedural details here to model for your class how to identify author's voice in two poems, "Since Hannah Moved Away" by Judith Viorst and Mirriam Chaikin's "I Hate Harry." Together, determine voice and the words that reveal...
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Predicting Actions
Analyze and predict a character's actions in a text by reading the book Julius, Baby of the World and discussing the character's personality. Individuals use a character action chart to record their actions throughout the story, and then...
Read Works
The Language of Setting
Examine the connection between descriptive language and emotional impact. For the first few chapters of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, learners record the descriptive writing the author used to vivify the woods in...
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Which Story Matches the Given Theme?
Model for young learners how to determine the theme of a story. Read aloud Aesop’s The Fox and the Stork. Chart the plot and the main idea of the fable, showing class members how these elements support the theme. Fable titles for guided...
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Deciding Theme
Read aloud to your class the fable "The Lion and the Mouse" as you explore characters' choices and the effects they have on a story. Apply what is discussed to finding a theme of the chapter "Not Giving Up" from The Wizard of Oz.
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Story Elements that Support the Theme
Three great graphic organizers guide readers to see how the elements of plot and main idea can be charted to reveal the theme of a story. Model the process on the provided Direct Teaching Teacher Graphic Organizer using Aesop’s The...
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Antagonist
Young learners explore the antagonist. They retell Hansel and Gretel and identify the witch and the stepmother as antagonists. They then brainstorm common character traits of an antagonist, and then write a paragraph describing an...
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Two Settings
Learners respond to the text Riding Freedom. They will compare and contrast two settings by filling in a graphic organizer. They explore different settings, discuss the reasons why settings change, and draw conclusions using descriptive...
Read Works
What's the Main Idea?
By sharing a summary about their favorite book or movie, your young readers can then discuss the main ideas of their beloved stories. The concept transitions to finding the main idea in poetry. Class members use textual clues in various...
Mr. Nussbaum
French and Indian War
Scholars read a short information text about the French and Indian War, then answer 10 multiple-choice questions. A score sheet appears when all the questions have been answered.
Mr. Nussbaum
Christopher Columbus
A short informative text features the European explorer, Christopher Columbus. Scholars read or listen to the text then answer ten fill-in-the-blank and multiple-choice questions.
Perkins School for the Blind
Please Call Me Names!
Teaching students who are blind means teaching them skills a sighted person may take for granted. To practice calling people and objects by name, learners engage in a cueing activity. The child calls for an adult by name, and then uses a...
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Genre Lesson: Historical Fiction
Take a trip through history with a lesson on historical fiction. With instructions for games, reading activities, and literary analysis assignments, this resource would be a great addition to any reading unit with a historical fiction...