Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
The Backpack Travel Journals
Strap on those backpacks, it's time to travel through history with this literature unit based on the first four books of The Magic Tree House series. While reading through these fun stories, children create story maps, record interesting...
Curated OER
Somewhere Under the Rainbow--The Romantic Period in British Literature
Students create 2-3 poems, a children's story, or a two or three dimensional piece of art. In this Romantic Period lesson, students discuss the historical background of the Romantic Period and relevant literary terms. Students analyze...
Curated OER
Pioneering Children on the Move
Students inquire about life for pioneer children. For this pioneer period lesson, students analyze photographs of children, make information foldables, and create a covered wagon that was typical of the ones of the past. Students will...
Curated OER
Responding to Literature: James and the Giant Peach
Fifth grade reader/writers create an alternate ending to an episode in Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach in which our protagonist "loses" the chance to magically solve all his problems. Prompts students not only to write creatively...
Curated OER
The Book of Life
Students discuss the factors that make a good children's book. After reading an article, they explore the prevalence of science in children's literature. In groups, they research a topic and translate it into easy language for a child...
Curated OER
"Knot" the Whole Truth: Writing a Modern-Day Story with a Tall Tale's Voice
Beyond Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, tall tales can be a great way to teach young writers about word choice and voice in their writing. Using Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee and the Six-Trait Writing process, they begin to write their own...
Curated OER
The Important Thing About Reading
Third through fifth graders discover the importance of reading and plan a service project to provide books to children. First, they read the book The Important Book and then they brainstorm about the importance of reading. Afterward,...
Curated OER
Farm Frolics
Students learn about farms through literature and center activities. In this farming lesson plan, students read about farming, sing songs about it, sort materials, and do more activities related to farming.
Curated OER
Microsoft Access Lesson Plan
Third graders read children's literature during the school year and compile a list of books and genres in an Access database. They print out a report of all the different books and genres of they read over the whole school year.
Curated OER
Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales
A thorough instructional activity introduces learners to Hans Christian Andersen, the nineteenth-century author who created wonderful tales. They read the original texts of several of his stories, including "The Ugly Duckling," "The...
Curated OER
Bon Voyage - Literature Travel Unit
Eighth graders locate and interpret information about the culture of another country using multi-media tools. Students read and interpret literature about characters and cultures from a foreign country. Students create a travel guide...
Curated OER
Celebrate A People!
Students explore African-American students literature as an integral building block in empowering all students to a better awareness when reading and writing. They use as a productive Social Studies tool for overall understanding of the...
Curated OER
Story Starters
Learners orally tell different types of stories using the assistance of props. For more advanced students, stories may be told according to a specific genre, or the story may have to include a given condition, setting, situation or theme.
Curated OER
Doo-Wop Pop
Doo-Wop Pop, by Roni Schotter is story that focuses on music and performing arts. Language arts activities include phonics, music, writing about dreams, poetry, and writing a letter are included in this literature guide. Furthermore...
Curated OER
Writing Book Reviews
Students explore new authors and genres they might like to read. The understand the ingredients of a book review. They write book reviews using persuasive language to recommend books.
Curated OER
Pizzeria (reading Encouragement)
Students create a pizzeria atmosphere in the classroom with Italian music, pizza menus and checkered table cloths. They compare their different tastes in pizza toppings to different tastes in reading. Then they use a reading menu to...
Curated OER
Linking Lines to Landscape
Students evaluate art to enhance their core knowledge of fiction, American folk heroes, and the water cycle. In this art lesson, students complete a unit of activities to use art to study various topics of literature, history, and...
Curated OER
All About Bugs
Students read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and practice the days of the week. In groups, they create a puppet show, design cards of the "days of the week," draw their favorite part of the story, create a visual representation of each...
Curated OER
Simile Stories
Fourth graders view song lyrics and identify similes in the song text. In this similes lesson, 4th graders define and identify similes on a worksheet. Students write their own similes using various adjectives.
Curated OER
Heart (and Arm) of Darkness
Young scholars read and translate a 19th-century American ghost tale into a Japanese hanging scroll in this exciting lesson for middle-level Language Art classes. The lesson can be completed in four or five days.
Curated OER
Blending Fiction and Nonfiction to Improve Comprehension and Writing Skills
Pupils explore a content area by reading both fiction and nonfiction texts on the topic. They do more research online about the topic. After comparing the texts, they create their own written original work, using both narrative and...
Curated OER
How We Have Changed!
First graders practice using their writing skills. They create memory books through the use of daily journal writing questions of the day. Students respond to story prompts and write autobiographies of themselves and another classmate.
Curated OER
Life on a Farm
Pupils take a field trip to a farm or observe pictures of farms and animals in the classroom. They paint a mural of a farm setting with animals. They practice phonetic skills with farm stories and songs. They explain how milk becomes ice...
Curated OER
Getting to Know You
Third graders explore different types of poetry and illustrate their own experiences through creating their own poem. For this getting to know you lesson, 3rd graders create and recite their poems with a self-portrait.