EngageNY
Reading Closely to Expand Understanding of Adaptations
Third graders work to determine the main idea, recall key details, and answer questions using an informational text on the topic of animal adaptations. Using the non-fiction text "Staying Alive: Animal Adaptations" (provided) the teacher...
Curated OER
Halloween Counting Book
First graders recognize and write numerals from 1 to 10. They estimate and count to identify sets with more, fewer, or the same number of objects, listen and respond to others in a variety of contexts, and take turns speaking in a...
Curated OER
Ten Red Apples; The Five Senses
A clever lesson plan designed around an apple awaits your learners. Descriptive words are used to explain what they believe is inside a bag while using their five senses. Learners read the story The Apple Pie Tree and are introduced to...
Curated OER
Who Invented English Anyway?
In these English lesson plans, students use video, the Internet and non-fiction essays to research the history of the English language. They write a short research paper and design a PowerPoint presentation showcasing their findings.
Teaching Tolerance
Puppet Show
It's a play, it's a story, it's a puppet show! A lively resource provides academics with a creative outlet to express their views on diversity and social justice. Scholars are responsible for writing, creating, and performing a puppet...
Curated OER
Reading to Learn
Children learn to read and comprehend non-fiction text and explore how to relate non-fiction texts to things they already know. They then examine how to stop and think about what they are reading repeatedly to make sure they understand...
Curated OER
Very Good Facts About Very Good Books
Learners identify the characteristics of fiction and non-fiction texts. In this genre study lesson, students read the books A Butterfly Alphabet Book and I Wish I Were a Butterfly. Learners develop a graphic organizer to compare and...
Curated OER
From Fact to Fiction: The Origins of Constellations
Sixth graders investigate the constellations. In this constellations lesson, 6th graders discover where the constellations are located and the myth associated with them. Students create their own myth and make a slide show about stars...
Curated OER
Elaborating the Main Idea, Using Supporting Details
A desk is used as a visual analogy to construct the main idea and supporting details in a story. The top of the desk is the main idea, and each of the four legs provides supporting details. The legs of the desk provide support for the...
Curated OER
Genres, Genres Everywhere
Young readers assume the role of Genre Sleuths to investigate the characteristics of folktales, fantasies, and mysteries. For this session you will need to collect a variety of books on a topic you have been studying. Groups then examine...
Curated OER
Civil Disobedience from Antigone to Hunger Games
Study the concepts and practice of civil disobedience through fiction and nonfiction texts.
Curated OER
Using a Matrix to Compare, Contrast, and Analyze Connections
Learners explore writing techniques by comparing fiction vs. non-fiction. In this literature analysis lesson, students read stories from Aesop's Fables and compare the themes and characters to stories from their own life. Learners...
Curated OER
Personal Narratives
Students discover journalism by writing about themselves. For this non-fiction writing lesson, students discuss the outline of a personal narrative and write a paper about an experience they've had. Students reflect on the story...
Curated OER
"Taming the Bicycle"
Eighth graders discuss invention of bicycle and early obstacles to riding, listen to and discuss short story "Taming the Bicycle" by Mark Twain, define vocabulary words from story, and create and present humorous "how to" project to...
Curated OER
Breaking News English: Poems and Poetry
In this poems and poetry worksheet, students read the article, answer true and false questions, complete synonym matching, complete phrase matching, complete a gap fill, answer short answer questions, answer discussion questions, write,...
Curated OER
Writing to Analyze, Comment and Review
For this writing to analyze, comment and review worksheet, students analyze blurbs, comment on the openings and endings of novels, and review a book from their own choosing. Students answer seventy short answer questions.
Curated OER
Fiction and Poetry
Students explore fictional text and poetry. They explore the story structures used in the types of texts and examine the language patterns used. Students practice tracking text in the correct manner.
Santa Ana Unified School District
The Power of Point of View
Sometimes a whole story can change based on the perspective of the person telling it. Practice identifying and analyzing point of view in various reading passages and writing assignments with a language arts packet, complete with Common...
Independence Public Library
Unmasking the Truth Behind the Red Death
"The Masque of the Red Death" provides readers with an opportunity to research and plan a presentation about a topic related to Edgar Allen Poe's classic short story.
Curated OER
Phineas Gage: The Teenage Brain and Connections: Free Choice Activity
During this lesson plan, which is all about making connections, learners watch a documentary about the teenage brain and connect it to Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science, their own lives, and the world.
Curated OER
Writing A Thanksgiving Day Story
Middle schoolers write a Thanksgiving story. In this holiday writing lesson, students use s list of specific words to create a fictional or non-fiction Thanksgiving story.
Curated OER
Story vs. Plot
Students, after reading and discussing the two texts by Flannery O'Connor, "Good Country People" and "Greenleaf," analyze the plot, tone, characters, themes and setting in each story. They write their own short stories dealing with a...
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Early American Novel: Exploring the Emergence of a Genre
Need an extra challenge for your best readers? Check out a unit that uses Hannah Webster Foster’s epistolary novel, The Coquette, published in 1797, as the anchor text. The resource is packed with project ideas; each with its own...
Curated OER
Identifying the Theme in a Story
Students recognize Theme through the use of simple, short stories. Using Pro Quest, students begin by researching the literary element, theme, and how it can be identified. They then identify the themes in Aesop's Fables and other short...