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Idioms
Use this podcast lesson to familiarize scholars with the characteristics, history, and cultural implications of idioms. As part of the Walking Classroom curriculum, kids listen to a 12-minute podcast as they walk around campus. If you...
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Pablita Indian Legends
Scholars are introduced to the characteristics of a legend. They read and discuss Old Father Story Teller by Pablita Velarde. Then, in groups, they write and illustrate a poem based on one of the legends from the book. This lesson plan...
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We Are All Authors: Create a Book
Every child is an author with this engaging reading activity. First the class reviews the various parts of a book such as the title, author, dedication, and author-biography. Then each individual will choose a story of their own to...
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Map It Out
Explore how illustrations add to a story. Young learners will look at picture books to see how the pictures tell the story. They create illustrations to go with a chosen story, and then flip the activity so they have to write a story to...
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Only the Facts
Practice the strategy of summarizing to gain meaning and knowledge from an informational text. Young readers highlight supporting details and main ideas, and then they use this to summarize two articles: "The Great Quake" and "What is an...
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Guided Reading: Main Idea
Readers are presented with a list of three questions and asked to actively listen to a story or article to answer them. They verbally answer the questions to learn the strategy. Next, read a story to them or have them silently read a...
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The Best Main Idea
What is the main idea? Interest your young readers with this fun introductory lesson! After selecting several items from a paper bag, the teacher leads learners to determine the big idea for those items. This concept is then applied to...
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Lesson 3: Labeled Diagrams
Examine the book Stargazers by Gail Gibbons. Young readers will practice reading and interpreting information from diagrams in this informational text. They work together as a class on this skill and then move into independent practice....
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Renewable vs. Non-Renewable Resources
Fifth graders are introduced to the important topic of renewable, and non-renewable, resources. They are expected to be able to correctly categorize different types of resources as renewable or non-renewable. Another emphasis of this...
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Fun With Fluency
Practice reading with fluency by blending words together. To start, prepare flash cards with pseudowords on them (words that can be pronounced but have no real meaning), and work with the class to sound out the words using known...
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Where is Shirley the Elephant?
Young animal lovers engage in a lesson that's all about elephants. They access an elephant sanctuary website and read a story about Shirley the elephant. They perform a series of activities based upon that story, and also study about the...
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What Kind of Ladybug Are You?
As a class, read different sentences prepared by the teacher, identifying the punctuation that is needed for the appropriate expression. In small groups, have each child assume the role of one or more character in The Grouchy Ladybug by...
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Nevada Native Seasonal Activities
Here is an excellent series of lessons on the Paiute Indians of Nevada. In them, learners see that the four Native Tribes of Nevada respected and depended on their natural environment. They had four distinct ways of life according to the...
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Let's Get it Together! Reading to Learn
Let’s learn about frogs! Young readers are led through “Freaky Frogs,” a non-fiction article. Teach learners how to edit an article so there are fewer details to sift through. After talking through the article, they learn the six steps...
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A Speeding Rocket, a Shooting Star... It's a Racing Reader!
Prepare a gameboard and die-cut race cars to play a fun fluency game. Also create several flash cards to review the long /i/ sound. Then, model reading smoothly and with expression, emphasizing the importance of re-reading texts to...
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Speed Racers
A review of decoding words is incorporated in a discussion on reading with expression in order to increase fluency. The teacher gives several book options for readers to practice smooth and inflected reading, giving a short book talk on...
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We love to Express Ourselves: Growing Toward Independence and Fluency
Reading with expression is an important component in developing fluency. Emerging readers learn different strategies for accomplishing this skill through the teacher's model reading of Earrings!. Partner practice is combined with...
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Weathering and Erosion
Fourth graders take a look at the effects of weathering and other geologic activities found in the environments in which they live. Along with a guided geologic walk outside of campus, there is also an effective in-class demonstration of...
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As a Matter of Fact
Elementary-aged scientists discover that all matter has mass. They are shown the difference between mass and weight, and learn how to calculate mass using the appropriate tools and methods. The scientific method is used while estimating...
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Disguise for the Eyes
Young scientists discover how many, many animals use color as a way of helping them to survive in the wild. They understand how animals use color in their everyday lives. Pupils engage in hands-on activities, watch videos, access...
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Nutrition
Fourth graders identify food groups, foods that fit into those groups, and look at the nutritional value of each food group. They also discover how to interpret and understand food labels. The whole class makes some burgers and fries,...
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One Grain of Rice
Upper graders read the story One Grain of Rice, and use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast topics found in the story to current event topics today. Groups of three learners work together to create their diagram. The topics they must...
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Introduction to Ozone Reading Activity
Simple, but suitable, this lesson gives mini-meteorologists a glimpse at ozone in the atmosphere. By reading an article, they find that ozone in the stratosphere is vital to life, but ozone in the troposphere is problematic. A reading...
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Sachets and Nosgays
An impressive lesson plan on the many uses of gardens during the Colonial and Federal periods of history is here for you. In it, learners explore the uses of flowers and herbs grown in gardens at that time; from deodorants, to insect...