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Workbook
US Department of Education

School-Home Links elling, self-to-text connections, writing lists, author

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Engage families in at-home practice using this 100-page worksheet packet for elementary school English Language Arts practice. Each worksheet briefly explains the objective to parents so they can guide their child through the activity....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The First Strawberries

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young scholars explore Cherokee legends. They read The First Strawberries by Joseph Bruchac, and then do several activities to help comprehension. They discuss the book and answer comprehension questions. In addition, they retell the...
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Lesson Plan
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Merlyn Education and Climate Protection Project

Short Story Lesson Plan: "Ghostwriter" By Kyle Downey

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Frankenstein, Mr. Data, Hal, and DEFCON, the computer featured in Kyle Downey’s tale, “Ghostwriter,” all illustrate the dangers of creating intelligent life. After reading Downey’s story, class members craft their own narrative in which...
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Lesson Plan
Facing History and Ourselves

The Nazi Party Platform

For Teachers 7th - 11th Standards
Not all party platforms stay democratic. A resource covers many political issues in Germany during the time of World War II, and teaches pupils about the Nazi party platform and what went wrong. Individuals participate in a warm-up...
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Organizer
Library of Congress

Muhammad Ali

For Students 3rd - 6th Standards
Muhammad Ali was the greatest, as he'd tell you himself. A set of reading comprehension worksheets walks through parts of Ali's life and promotes individuals to become good readers and writers.
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Unit Plan for The Catcher in the Rye —A “Place-Based” Approach

For Students 10th Standards
"People never notice anything." As part of their study of The Catcher in the Rye, class members adopt Holden Caulfield's approach and spend time as quiet observers of their surrounding, recording their observations/reflections in a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Phineas Gage: Personal Phrenology Chart During Reading Activity

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Phrenology, the belief that parts of your brain control certain aspects of your personality, is described in Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science. While we now know much more about the brain, learners use this idea...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Phineas Gage: The Teenage Brain and Connections: Free Choice Activity

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
During this lesson, 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.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Phineas Gage: Questioning Strategy

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Focus on chapter two of Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science with a questioning activity. After teaching and modeling several types of questions, learners work with partners and then independently to answer and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Phineas Gage: “How Do You Get Through Hard Times?” Chalk Talk

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Hold a discussion in writing about coping strategies to prepare your pupils for reading Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman. After journaling, pupils come up in an organized fashion and write...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

My Antonia: During Reading Strategy

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Home in on the quote on this page to explore setting, the author's and character's voices, and plot in Willa Cather's My Antonia. Pupils draw a picture of what is described in the quote, discuss the content, and make connections to their...
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Unit Plan
Tell City Schools

The Cay

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
Support your instruction of The Cay by Theodore Taylor with this extensive unit of materials. Provided here are prereading activities, worksheets and discussion questions for the entire book, and reading quizzes that you can use to check...
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Lesson Plan
Harper Collins

Parrot in the Oven: Response Journal

For Teachers 6th - 12th
After completing Chapter 5 of Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida, readers make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections to Victor Martinez's novel by crafting journal entries addressing comments and questions to characters in...
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Activity
Curated OER

The Night Before Thanksgiving

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Natasha Wing's story The Night Before Thanksgiving is a great way to incorporate rhyme and literature into the Thanksgiving season. Learners make text-to-self connections, recall main events, and choose post-reading activities from an...
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Organizer
Teacher Printables

Making Connections

For Teachers 3rd - 10th
Encourage your readers to make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections with a graphic organizer that also asks them to detail how they made these connections. Reproduce the template for each learner or project the...
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Printables
Curated OER

Paper Chain Connections

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Make real connections in literature and in life. While reading, class members fill out links for a chain, circling the connection type, noting the page number, and commenting on each one. When they've completed all the links, they cut...
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

James and the Giant Peach Comprehensive Guide

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Each page of a comprehension packet that accompanies James and The Giant Peach requires learners to think, comprehend, focus on characters, make text-to-self and text-to-world connections, and build vocabulary through context. The...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Blue Ribbon Readers: Making Connections

For Teachers K - 5th Standards
Model for young readers how to make the shift from passive to active reading by making text-to-self and text-to-text connections. After a series of activities that provide guided practice, the focus shifts to making text-to-words...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Newcomers

For Teachers K - 3rd
Explore emotions associated with moving to a new home with young learners. First they listen to the books Painted Words/Spoken Memories by Aliki and Going Home by Eve Bunting. Then they are invited to share their experiences as well as...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poetry Through Digital Storytelling

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Bring digital storytelling to your language arts class! To begin, learners select their own topic, such as a poem that reflects a life experience they had or a historical figure who interests them. Then they work to create a storyboard...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Build a Connection

For Teachers 2nd - 8th
Learners discuss their personal connections with stories they've read in the past and identify techniques to connect with more stories. They create illustrations, construct task cards, and complete sentence stems based on books they read...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Those Fabulous Fables

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
A video leads off this activity on fables, introducing the class to this important form of traditional storytelling. The group defines fable and hears an explanation of the origin of this type of folk tale. They summarize the story they...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Teaching Peace through Literature and Song

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Negative effects of bullying come to light through listening to the book Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco. Class members identify philanthropic acts portrayed in the story and make illustrations to connect them to their own...
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Interactive
Curated OER

Student Opinion: Should Couples Live Together Before Marriage?

For Students 9th - 12th
Bring nonfiction into the classroom with this high-interest op-ed piece from the New York Times about love, marriage, and relationships in the 21st century. Pupils read a short article on the topic of cohabitation and offer their own...