Curated OER
Discovering Yourself
Students explore Aboriginal storytelling. In this literature lesson, students read Knots on a Counting Rope and then create a story line as they discuss the attributes of Aboriginal culture. Students retell the story in their own words.
Curated OER
Turning Literature into News
Students analyze the format and structure of various newspaper articles. Then, they rewrite events from literature into news stories about acts of kindness.
Curated OER
Starting an Elementary Book Club
Discover the benefits of starting a book club in this two-part article.
Curated OER
A Penny For Your Thoughts: Cross-Curricular Journal Writing
Learners are introduced to the importance of journal writing. After creating their own journal, they write their thoughts and feelings about different subjects. If they choose to they can share their writings with the class to end the...
Brigham Young University
Harry Potter And The Chamber of Secrets: Reading Attitude Survey
Use this attitude survey to find out how your class members feel about reading. You can then analyze the responses, and design a unit study of Rowling's novel based on these attitudes.
Curated OER
Character Traits
Explore character traits using this resource. After reading the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears, learners fill in a graph identifying character traits. Then, they write and put on a skit. This resource provides a motivating way to...
Curated OER
Musicians and Vampires
Students practice techniques and strategies for understanding the parts of a story to help them remember what they've read. They review and analyze the elements of a story and how to find them first in a paragraph and then in a book.
Curated OER
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
Fourth graders examine the new vocabulary associated with the book, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly before listening to a teacher read aloud of the book. They complete a choral reading of the story, sequence it, and write...
Curated OER
Hermeneutics: Teaching Students Author's Purpose
Your developing literary critics discuss 'perspective' and discuss how the same occurence can be interpreted by two different people in two different ways. They read Ryszard Kapuscinski's untitled poem, infer meaning of the poem, and...
Curated OER
Children's Picture Books
Fifth graders will enhance their typing skills and practice using Pages, a software for Mac computers, by writing their own children's book. Note: This lesson plan refers to a template that is not included, however, you can adapt this...
Curated OER
Turning Literature into News
Students examine the newspaper. In this writing purposes instructional activity, students read the newspaper and discuss the purpose: to inform, entertain and persuade. Students identify facts and opinions. Students write an article and...
Curated OER
Accentuate the Positive
Learners analyze the attitudes, ideas and beliefs of characteristics that
assist humans in living a positive, proactive life that values self,
family, community, nation and world. Students identify their own strengths as individual....
Curated OER
Listening to Gather Evidence in a Reading Selection
Fourth graders explore an Ethiopian folktale, "Fire on the Mountain." In this literature lesson, 4th graders evaluate and record the evidence, as well as make predictions about what they think will happen. Students evaluate other groups...
Curated OER
Mini-Unit: Natural Resources
Students explore how their choices affect others. In this character development and ecology instructional activity, students debate choice-making issues. Students listen to The Lorax by Dr. Seuss and identify choices the...
Curated OER
Character Comparison: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
Fourth graders compare and contrast Fudge and Peter, two main characters from "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing". They use a software template to analyze and compare the characters in a rough draft, edit their work and then produce a...
Curated OER
Dear Diary
Work on narrative writing with this lesson, in which middle schoolers analyze the characters from a selected piece of literature and write narrative diary pieces as the character. They work to understand the point of view of the...
Curated OER
Helping Homeschoolers: Reading Critically and Analytically
Strategies for creatively monitoring reading to gauge comprehension and stimulate analysis without taking the joy out of reading.
Curated OER
Honoring Our Pets During National Pet Week
Recognize National Pet Week with reading and writing activities to celebrate the animals in your pupils' lives.
Baylor College
About Air
Give your class a colorful and tasty representation of the components of the mixture that we call air. Pop a few batches of popcorn in four different colors, one to represent each gas: nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and carbon dioxide. The...
Curated OER
Egyptian Pharaohs
Fourth graders give one oral example of a responsibility of a leader. In groups students answer questions on the information chart pertaining to Pharaohs.
Curated OER
Using Children's Literature to Teach Writing: No, David!
Young scholars review beginning, middle, and end of a story and how details add to a story.
Curated OER
So You Think You Got A Problem
Students find alternatives to conflicts that they, may confront in their everyday lives Through the use of literature, students are given opportunities to use parallel tasks that will instruct them on how to identify and correct their...
Curated OER
The Family That Endured An Historical View of African-American Families As Seen Through American Literature and Art
Learners identify racial stereotypes in advertisements from the past and survey their sources and implications. They compare advertisements from the past with those of today using similar approaches and create an original advertisement...
Curated OER
Making A Terrarium
Students make a terrarium from common household items that are brought to class. They can be creative with materials but the method is set for how the mini-lab is set up. Students read a book about an ecosystem to stimulate the topic for...