Penguin Books
Addressing Text Complexity - Making Independent Reading Meaningful
Many English teachers dream of a classroom full of readers silently enjoying their books. A useful guide helps make that dream become a reality by providing book recommendations for a range of readers. Each suggestion includes the...
Curated OER
A Primary Source Picture Book
Travel through Europe with ten-year-old Teddy Roosevelt in this writing activity, which uses the picture book My Tour of Europe: by Teddy Roosevelt, by Ellen Jackson. After reading the book, readers compare it to passages from The...
Curated OER
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Discuss the life of Franklin D. Roosevelt. This story, called "Franklin D. Roosevelt" by Laura Hamilton Waxman, is used to explore comprehension skills. Some of these skills include identifying prefixes and suffixes, making comparisons,...
Missouri Department of Elementary
How I Act Is Who I Am
A lesson plan centers itself around the topic of family roles. A whole-class discussion uses puppets and posters to go in-depth into the following character traits; caring, responsibility, respect, and cooperation. The discussion closes...
Curated OER
The Gypsy Game
In this reading worksheet, students answer 10 multiple-choice questions about the book. For example, "What did Marshall name the stray dog?"
Education World
Edible Resource Maps!
Young scholars discuss resource maps and examine examples from library resources. Working in groups, they create edible resource maps by drawing examples, such as popcorn on the border of Iowa and Nebraska. Then they use cookies in the...
Curated OER
My Brother Sam is Dead: A study of the Revolutionary War
Fifth graders complete an analysis of the Revolutionary War through literature. After "My Brother Sam Is Dead," students create a time capsule containing items that would be relevant during the Revolutionary War. They identify key...
Penguin Books
An Educator's Guide to Counting by 7s
Everyone takes a different journey through grief. A series of lesson plans for the novel Counting by 7s introduces readers to the main character who loses her parents in a car crash. Discussion questions and writing prompts combine...
Curated OER
Food Contributions
Fourth graders make an alphabet book. In this food contributions lesson students identify foods first harvested by indigenous people. Students use the different foods that are still eaten today that were first harvested by indigenous...
Curated OER
A Weave of Woods
Focus on vocabulary, comprehension, and analysis while reading A Weave of Woods, a colorful picture book by Robert D. San Souci. Young learners use worksheets to preview, predict, practice paraphrasing, and make comparisons. The richly...
Curated OER
Painter of the Caves
What a great lesson! Learners read a story called Painters of the Caves by Patricia Lauber which discusses Stone Age wall paintings in Avignon, France. There is a series of discussion questions, comprehension questions, and a graphic...
Curated OER
The Star Fisher
What a terrific way to discuss racism in the 1920's. Learners read a story called The Star Fisher by Laurence Yep. It is about a Chinese American girl who experiences racism and prejudice after moving from Ohio to West Virginia. Learners...
Curated OER
Lesson Ideas to Enrich Student Inquiry into the Holocaust
Students inquire about the Holocaust. In this Holocaust lesson, students read books and discuss their thoughts. Students also collect current event articles from newspapers. Students investigate ghettos, Pearl Harbor and Navajo Code...
Curated OER
The Sunflower
Twelfth graders analyze the ethical and moral decisions made by people during the Holocaust. They role play a situation placing them in an ethical delima. They must make a choice and defend it to their peers. Readings and test...
Curated OER
The Geometry of Paul Goble's Artwork
Young scholars examine the concepts of geometry used by Paul Goble in his book Adopted By The Eagles. After analyzing Mr. Goble's work they create an original piece featuring symmetry, pattern, repetition, and other principles of...
Hampton-Brown
From "First Crossing"
Young scholars look closely at four tales taken from the collection of short stories, First Crossing edited by Donald R. Galloby. While examining the life of four teenagers and the lives they lead as U.S. immigrants, your enthusiastic...
Curated OER
Measuring Animal Sizes (and Relative Sizes in our Animal Environment)
Students discover the actual size and weight of many insects and animals. In this biology lesson, students investigate animals and insects to determine their actual weight and size. In groups, students create an animal or insect of their...
Curated OER
Country Cookbook
Students, in groups, create menus for five traditional meals from a country of their choice. They create a cookbook that includes all the recipes and describes when the traditional dish would be served.
Curated OER
Magic School Bus: The Wild Whale Watch Lesson Plan
Young scholars research information about whales. In this early childhood lesson plan, students create an illustration of a whale to display in a sea scene in the classroom. Young scholars then use the library and internet to research...
Curated OER
Matthew Henson
Discuss the work of Matthew Henson, an African American who traveled to the North Pole with Robert Peary. After reading the story "Matthew Henson" by Maryann N. Weidt, learners answer questions by drawing inferences and conclusions,...
Curated OER
Learning Life Lessons through Fables
Explore a variety of fables to learn life's lessons through engaging stories. Add rigor to the learning process with activities that include matching a a fable to the story's moral, short answer exit slips, and a three-column graphic...
Curated OER
Creating Dramatic Monologues from The Grapes of Wrath
The characters in The Grapes of Wrath come to life through an activity that asks groups to craft a dramatic monologue for a character in John Steinbeck's National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winning novel. Writers are challenged to...
Curated OER
Audio Aesop: Listen to the Lesson!
Aesop's Fables are the focus of this language arts instructional activity. Young philosophers study and discuss the morals found in the most famous of Aesop's Fables. They write an original fable that teaches a common moral. A "Fable...
Curated OER
Writing Newsletters!
A reading of Gail Gibbons’ Deadline! leads to a discussion of the differences between newspapers and newsletters. Class members then choose a favorite topic and create the front page for their own newsletter.