David Suits
“Wild Readers” Decoding Skills Lesson Plan
Set young readers on the path toward fluency with this phonemic awareness resource. Based on the award-winning children's book, Where the Wild Things Are, this lesson allows beginning readers to practice isolating phonemes and...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Understanding Theme
The ninth in a fourteen-lesson series, this plan marks a sort of midpoint in a unit devoted to the study of short stories. Pupils learn about theme and work on their short story projects by adding to their blogs, checking in with the...
Curated OER
What is Your Story?
Learners listen to Picnic In October and Memory Coat to explore the concept of memoirs. They interview a family member and write a personal memoir that reflects their own family history.
Curated OER
Listening To a Guest Speaker
Pupils review the main points of note-taking to summarize the content of a formal or informal spoken presentation. They hear a guest speaker talk about a pre-arranged topic and take notes during the presentation. Next, they write a...
Curated OER
Cornell Notes with I Tunes
Note taking is an invaluable skill and requires practice. This lesson incorporates the Cornell Notes format, however the plan itself could be implemented to teach any style. The basic idea here is to use university lectures on podcasts...
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The Kite Runner: Amir Debate
Does Amir have an obligation to find Sohrab and take him to the orphanage? That is the question class members debate as part of their reading of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner.
Curated OER
Enhancing Poetry with American Memories
Students explore poetry using American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project. They compose their own unque "found poetry" based on the stories found in the collection.
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Beyond Media Messages: Media Portrayal of Global Development
Students discuss global development and create a graphic representation of the discussion. In this media analysis lesson, students deconstruct disaster coverage by reading articles and identifying missing information. Students research...
Recorded Books
Teacher's Guide: The Pinballs
Dive your class into the novel The Pinballs by Betsy Byars with the support of this reading guide. Including short answer questions, a multiple choice comprehension quiz, and extension activities, a variety of materials are provided for...
Curated OER
Playing Chaucer's Pilgrims
Students dress like Chaucer's pilgrims in the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales and act out a skit revealing Chaucer's description of each pilgrim.
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School Advisory Council
Learners discuss issues facing teenage students at their school.
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Gas Money
Young scholars write, edit and produce resum??s and cover letters in final form.
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Social Studies: Exploring Boston's Big Dig
Students, in a high school class for autistic children, take a virtual tour of Boston's "Big Dig" and the artifacts discovered there. During weekly lab sessions, they discover the processes involved in artifact preservation. Using...
Curated OER
Plant Identification: New Jersey vs. Ecuador
Sixth graders discover the different plants that grow in different climates through specimen collections. In this botany instructional activity, 6th graders examine plants from both New Jersey and Ecuador and discuss what conditions...
Curated OER
A Christmas Carol Exploration
Seventh graders explore the history of Christmas by researching classic literature. In this holiday instructional activity, 7th graders read the story A Christmas Carol and discuss the tone of Charles Dickens' classic literary work....
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The Group Essay
Students write an essay of comparison between two works they have studied but have not yet compared. They recognize similarities of themes between two very different works. They submit a group evaluation form.
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Reading Discovery
Students investigate literature to discover details and focus upon the main idea to analyze it. They use reading comprehension skills to interpret passages of choice based upon literary importance to the overall meaning. While evaluating...
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Propaganda Flyer
Fourth graders create a persuasive flyer to sway the opinion of the class on a controversial issue. They read assigned editorials representing the viewpoint that they must defend.
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An Immigrant's Journey
Young scholars use books, resource CDs, and the Internet to research and collect images of the experiences of immigrants in 1907. They are divided into groups of four to write journal entries for a fictional, yet historically accurate,...
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Soiled Again
Students propose and perform an experiment using the scientific method. The purpose of the experiment is to discern some earth materials or combinations of earth materials that best increases the pH of "acid rain". From the results of...
Curated OER
Power and Authority
Fourth graders study authority and power as its used in government. In this government lesson plan, 4th graders define power and authority. Students then read different scenarios of authority and power examples in people as well as...
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Spanish Artists in Powerpoint
Students select a Spanish author, architect, or painter to research. After composing a rough draft for teacher review, the give Powerpoint presentations to the class. Students answer questions from peers.
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Compass Rose Directions
Second graders use cardinal and intermediate directions to locate places on maps and places in the classroom, school, and community. They draw a setting map of "Little Red Riding Hood." Students give five steps of cardinal or...
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Spelling Success: correct spelling
Fourth graders circle the word in each row that is spelled correctly. In this spelling lesson plan, 4th graders read four words in each row and circle the correct one.