Curated OER
Documenting Where We Are
Students contribute to discussions and identify how an artist elicits a viewer's response. They use William Henry Jackson's Pawnee Indian Village, photograph and painting. After analyzing this information, students use information gained...
Pyro Innovations
Get into Shape
Shapes are so fun! Little ones explore, identify, and create shapes using tangrams or pattern blocks. The activity is intended to stimulate critical thinking while engaging learners through play and shape identification. Each child will...
Curated OER
Learning to Ask Questions
First graders analyze historical materials and create questions about Dwight D. Eisenhower. In this question writing instructional activity, 1st graders ask and answer questions about the life of Eisenhower. Students write about...
Virginia Department of Education
Weather Patterns and Seasonal Changes
Get your class outside to observe their surroundings with a lesson highlighting weather patterns and seasonal changes. First, learners take a weather walk to survey how the weather affects animals, people, plants, and trees during...
Curated OER
Friar Margil & The Spanish Missions
Students explore the life of Friar Margil de Jesus as well as other Spanish friars. They research Friar Margil and write a paragraph explaining why Spanish friars came to Texas. In groups, students create a PowerPoint presentation...
Curated OER
The Meaning Behind the Mask
Young scholars explore the world of African masks and storytelling. They create masks that tell stories of their own.
Curated OER
Something Fishy Going On
Students create a video animation of how Swimmy gathered his fish friends together to form a great big fish that would frighten the predator tuna away. In art class each child create a small red fish which gets displayed in the ocean...
Curated OER
The Wall Inspires Letters to Veterans
Students examine the Vietnam war. They listen to and discuss the book, "The Wall," by Eve Bunting, conduct Internet research, and write a letter or send a card to U.S. military veterans in a local Veteran's Hospital.
Curated OER
Technology-commected Folklife Lesson Plan: Fables
Students discuss ways the stories were alike and different. The teacher demonstrate how to draw a Venn diagram using Microsoft Word. They label the two circles and enter the likenesses and differences on the diagram.
Curated OER
Alliteration
Students write and illustrate a sentence which names a letter of the alphabet. The sentence should have subject, verb, describing words, and incorporate alliterative techniques.
Curated OER
Producing Heat
Students listen to "Heat Wave" by Helen Ketterman and discuss the story by creating a word web with heat as the main topic. They break into groups and conduct an experiment using a thermometer to record the temperature of melting ice...
Curated OER
Old friends, New game
Students create characters from a book. In this Language arts lesson, the students act out the story by role playing. The students learn how to articulate correctly, by working together to arrive at the same destination.
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: 103 Things to Do Before/during/after Reading
The highly-respected Reading Rockets program offers both teachers and students a toolkit of ways to connect more actively with the materials they read. Some of these techniques are specifically for fiction-reading, others are designed...
Scholastic
Scholastic: Getting Started With Guided Reading
How do you get started with guided reading? At this site one can find the answer to this question. The online lesson plans will help get students started with guided reading.
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Introduction to Making Predictions and Inferences
First graders will engage in a shared reading of "Mr. C's Dinner" so that we can build a foundation for understanding what it takes to make good predictions and inferences.
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Using Word and Picture Clues to Make an Inference
First graders will use text evidence to make inferences about word and word phrase meanings in a text. Word and picture clues will be used to help students form inferences.
PBS
Pbs: Multiple Methods of Reading Instruction
This article surveys three strategies to incorporate into classroom repertoire. They include guided reading, choral reading, and readers' theater.
Other
Wisconsin Educational Communication Board: Into the Book
This series of videos and interactive activities provide an excellent set of resources for teaching or learning the 8 research based reading strategies provided here. After receiving your "key" you can investigate the features inside and...
SMART Technologies
Smart: Inference and Prediction
Students will learn the difference between making a prediction and an inference as they engage in class discussions about both reading skills, play a game, look at art, and listen to songs.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Molly of Denali: Dream Tube Lesson Plan
Use this comprehensive instructional activity as part of a comprehensive literacy, STEM, or social studies unit in which children will be using informational texts. In the "Dream Tube" animated story from the PBS Kids series Molly of...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: A Better Community [Pdf]
"A Better Community" is a one page, fictional reading passage that focuses on recycling. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes skills such as sequencing,...
Read Works
Read Works: 1st Grade Unit: Supporting Predictions
[Free Registration/Login Required] A lesson utilizing the book No Roses for Harry! by Gene Zionin in which students make a prediction and then support it with details from the text. Ideas for direct teaching, guided practice, and...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Molly of Denali: A Splash of Mink Lesson Plan
In the animated 11-minute story "A Splash of Mink," from the PBS KIDS series MOLLY OF DENALI, Molly and Trini must find a remedy after being sprayed by a mink. Despite getting advice from various sources about how to get rid of the...