Curated OER
Enrichment Activities - "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH"
Fifth graders read the novel "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH." They discuss the various characters in the book, and the different types of conflict that take place within the book. They also research owls and rats to make comparisons...
Curated OER
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Fourth graders research and write an author report on Roald Dahl, including books written by him, birthplace, family life, and other information on his writing. Students read aloud chapters in the book. Students create a newspaper...
Curated OER
Sketch It to Stretch It!
Third graders listen to a read aloud of a chapter of a book while creating a mental image that shows comprehension. They draw pictures of their mental images. Next, they read a passage of a book silently and sketch the images they create...
Curated OER
The Poet's Message-"The Colored Soldier" by Langston Hughes
Young scholars analyze the poem, "The Colored Soldier" by Langston Hughes to gain a greater experience of how poets use language to create meaning, influence thinking and thus become pioneers of change in American society. They work on...
Curated OER
Powerful Language
Students study word choice by authors. In this reading comprehension lesson, students read the book The Little Fir Tree by Margaret Wise Brown and discuss with their classmates the importance of an author's words. Students create a...
Curated OER
Shaking Things Up In Summarization
Students practice several techniques and strategies to become better at summarizing a piece of writing. They emphasize the five "W's: who, what, where, when and why. A book of Earthquakes is read and then summarized by each of the students.
Curated OER
Map Out the Important Stuff!
Students practice summarization by creating a story map. Students listen to a read aloud by the teacher, after which the class creates a storymap of the major events in the story. They read a passage from the Indian in the Cupboard...
Curated OER
Punctuation and Book Titles
Young scholars participate in lessons that focus on reading and writing skills. They work on punctuation in sentences with book titles present and not present. The lesson has a scaffolding section for ESL. This strategy is usually...
Curated OER
Environmental Issues
Learners investigate the natural resources on earth by reading a book in class. For this environmental lesson, students read select pages from the book Alaska by Rebecca Stefoff and discuss their feelings on the material. Learners...
Curated OER
Easy Steps for Summarization
Students practice techniques and strategies to assess mastery on the concept of summarization. They read, discuss and summarize the story, "How Goose Got Ready for Winter," by David Wingfield. Each student picks out the most important...
Curated OER
Found Poems
Students summarize articles found in the newspaper and use key concepts to write a poem. In this reading comprehension and writing instructional activity, students work with a partner to choose a current newspaper article. Key concepts...
Curated OER
Folktales: "The Storytelling Stone"
Students create a folktale after finding out the importance of folktales in different cultures. In this folktales lesson, students determine the definition of a folktale and read a "The Storytelling Stone." Students then discuss the...
Curated OER
Choosing a Subject for a Research Paper
Students choose an appropriate subject for a research project. In this choosing a research subject lesson, students discuss the purpose and process of writing a research paper and read a sample paper. Students create a subject web to...
Curated OER
The Keeping Quilt
Students discover story analysis by discussing a book the class reads together. For this reading comprehension lesson, students read the book The Keeping Quilt and discuss the different characters and plot points among the class. ...
Curated OER
No Title
Fourth graders identify and practice a variety of prereading strategies to assess how to ask questions that a new reader might ask about the book, "One Day in the Woods." They skim the book, brainstorm the topic of the book and preview...
Curated OER
Tell-Tale Heart
Pupils discuss the title of Edgar Allen Poe's story, The Tell-Tale Heart before reading it, and discuss information about the author. They use a graphic organizer to help them comprehend the story as they read.
Curated OER
Grabbing For Vowels
Students explore the short /a/ sound. Taking turns, they pick short /a/ sight word apples from a bulletin board apple tree. Each student reads the word and then chooses someone from the class to identify the /a/ sound in the word.
Curated OER
Scanning Text
Students search for particular piece of information in text. They develop skills of looking for information and finding specific data without reading the whole text.
Curated OER
Wondering About Saturn: A Short History
Students read an article about the history of Saturn. They complete reading comprehension tests. They examine what has been discovered on the planet.
Curated OER
The Mysterious Tadpole
Second graders examine books written by Steven Kellogg, looking for similarities in his illustrations. They also look at images found on the Internet. They listen to a read aloud of The Mysterious Tadpole up to the point where the eggs...
Curated OER
Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse: Kevin Henkes
Kevin Henkes has composed a series of books in which Lilly the mouse is a main character. Third graders use illustrations and key details as they compare and contrast the books, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse and another story staring the...
Scholastic
Summarizing: Using Hand Motions for Key Words or Points
Learning to summarize texts takes practice. Jump into the training ring and guide your learners through a summarizing practice session. The classic direct instructional practice of "I do, you do, we do" is used to help them identify key...
Curated OER
Analysis Through Character Action/Beliefs
Students explore characterization. In this characterization lesson, students give analytical responses to questions and determine a character's beliefs. Students use the school mission statement to develop two beliefs that the statement...
Curated OER
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Poems for Two Voices
"That man is not truly one, but truly two." The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde offers readers a change to craft a poem combining words and phrases from Robert Lewis Stevenson's novella to create a poem for two voices. The...