+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Genre Lesson: Biography/Autobiography

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
Practice distinguishing biography from autobiography through point of view. Tell a brief story of your morning. Have a class member retell the story to you (using second person). And have another retell the story to the class (using...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Genre Lesson: Autobiography

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
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...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Textual Analysis Lesson: Segregation: Past or Present?

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
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....
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Genre Lesson: Poetry

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
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...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Real World Connections

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
Explore universal themes in literature with a literacy and multicultural awareness lesson. Elementary and middle schoolers make real world connections between themes in books from several cultures. They make inferences and locate text...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Interpreting Perspective

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Work on characterization with a narrative writing lesson, in which middle schoolers interpret a character's perspective. They discuss family traditions and examine how culture can influence a character's perspective. Next, they read...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Predicting a Mystery's Solution

For Teachers 5th - 6th Standards
Practice making informed predictions. Have your class create a paper fortune-teller and ask questions about the future. They compare the fortune-telling process to the more informed kind of predictions they make while reading. They...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Poetic Word Choice

For Teachers 6th Standards
Groups or pairs choose ordinary objects from a bag and rename them based on traits, so that a stapler becomes a "paper cobra." Then they connect this exercise to the way authors use language to emphasize certain traits through word...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Analyzing a Plot Conflict

For Teachers 6th - 7th Standards
Sixth graders analyze plot conflict with science fiction and TV programs. After discussing the conflict, they identify solutions for the programs selected. They examine Only You Can Save Mankind for conflict, and consider ways the...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Effects of Character Decisions

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
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,...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson 4: Theme Matters

For Teachers 5th - 6th Standards
This useful approach to determining themes based on specific details from a book is aimed at readers of Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee. It could also easily be adapted for use with other books or readings. The class identifies recurring...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Compare and Contrast Key Words

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
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...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Read Works

Signal Words in Expository Text

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
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...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Thinking About Theme

For Teachers 5th - 6th Standards
Writers use the literary element of conflict to develop their theme. Use the conflict between the Johnny and the ScreeWees in Terry Pratchett’s Only You Can Save Mankind to model how a major theme is revealed. The conflict between the...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Read Works

The Language of Setting

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
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...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Which Story Matches the Given Theme?

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
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...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Deciding Theme

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
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. 
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Two Settings

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
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...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Strategies for Identifying Genres

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Examine the different strategies that could be used to determine what genre something is with upper graders. They will learn that knowing the genre type can sometimes help their comprehension. They will also complete a worksheet to help...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

What's the Point of View?

For Teachers 6th Standards
Sixth graders explain what a point of view is. They list two different types of examples of third person point of view and identify the difference between a third person limited and third person omniscient . Additionally, they read a...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

What's the Point of View?

For Teachers 6th Standards
What is the point of view? Sixth graders discuss third person limited and omniscient perspectives while reading several short stories. Then, complete a worksheet and share findings with peers. 
+
Interactive
Mr. Nussbaum

French and Indian War

For Students 4th - 6th Standards
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.
+
Interactive
Mr. Nussbaum

Christopher Columbus

For Students 4th - 6th Standards
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.
+
Activity
Perkins School for the Blind

Please Call Me Names!

For Teachers Pre-K - 8th
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...