Polk Bros Foundation
Illustration Planner
One way to help your pupils more fully understand an idea from the text they are reading is to require them to draw or sketch the concept. This page provides some space to plan the details your students want to include in their...
Curated OER
The Man Who Went to the Far Side of the Moon
Practice comprehension skills using the story, The Man Who Went to the Far Side of the Moon by Bea Uusma Schyffert. Learners answer questions, fill out graphic organizers, and engage in extension activities involving writing and...
Curated OER
Secrets of the Mummies
How did the ancient people of Egypt preserve their dead so well that their bodies are still recognizable today? Learn the painstakingly complex process they used for preservation. Young scholars read and summarize a narrative detailing...
Curated OER
The Emperor and the Kite
Fourth graders develop critical listening skills and answer four questions related to the story, THE EMPEROR AND THE KITE. They identify the main idea and recall a question that involves making a judgment.
Curated OER
What's the Big Idea?
Students choose a paragraph from a book of their choice, identify the main idea, and draw an illustration of the main idea. They write original paragraphs, illustrate them, and trade with a partner, identifying the main idea of the...
Curated OER
Freckle Juice
Students complete activities with the book Freckle Juice by Judy Blume. In this literature lesson, students read chapter one and brainstorm adjectives for the four main characters. They make a page of vocabulary words and definitions.
Curated OER
Catch those Butterfly Facts!
Discuss the importance of comprehension and the use of summarization with your class. Through guided practice, they follow three steps in finding and highlighting important information, deleting information that is not needed and...
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
The Backpack Travel Journals
Strap on those backpacks, it's time to travel through history with this literature unit based on the first four books of The Magic Tree House series. While reading through these fun stories, children create story maps, record interesting...
Curated OER
Past and Present Tense
Students make predictions about the coming up chapter in their book. Students are introduced to new vocabulary words and definition for this new chapter. Students create a table where they can input the new vocabulary word, definition...
Curated OER
Celebrating Maurice Sendak's Legacy
Lesson ideas that focus on the author and illustrator's contribution to children's literature.
Florida Center for Reading Research
Comprehension: Expository Text Structure, Text Feature Find
Scholars explore an expository text to answer questions about its structure.
Curated OER
Synonyms
Students examine synonyms from their reading. In this synonyms lesson, students use vocabulary from their reading to create a chart and illustrate the words. Students complete online activities from the story.
Curated OER
Tall Tale Introduction
Students explore folk tales by completing a graphic organizer with classmates. In this tall tale lesson plan, students read the famous story Paul Bunyan and identify the many characteristics of a fictional tall tale story. Students...
Curated OER
Lesson Two - Compound Words
Students complete activities with the book Sarah Plain and Tall. In this literature lesson, students read chapter two and complete attached activities. They list the compound words they find and study new vocabulary.
Curated OER
Illustrated Dictionary
Students make an illustrated dictionary of words they've used and learned in class. In this vocabulary instructional activity, students find words from their notes, discuss the words in a group, select the best words as a class, and...
Roald Dahl
Matilda - The Platinum-Blond Man
Before reading Chapter Six, "The Platinum-Blond Man" in Matilda, readers preview the illustration of Mrs. Wormwood dropping her plate of food, and think about what may have happened to cause the scene. After reading the chapter, class...
Curated OER
Descriptive Writing Using the Book Rumpelstiltskin
Use the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin to teach your third grade class about descriptive writing. Following a teacher read-aloud of the story, the class brainstorms a list of adjectives describing the main character. Students use this list...
Curated OER
Sami and the Time of Troubles
Students read Florence Parry Heide and Judith Heide Gilliland's, Sami and the Time of Troubles before discussing it as a class. They brainstorm ideas for a letter to the main character, Sami. Next, they write a rough draft of a letter to...
Curated OER
Reading For Meaning
Select an article that explores people of another culture. After reading it as a class, distribute copies of this worksheet. It asks for a brief summary, encourages readers to make text-to-self connections, and asks learners to identify...
Curated OER
Chain Together A Book Report
Individuals examine a book's components, including key events, characters, and vocabulary and develop "chain book reports" with their peers. Strips of paper containing the book's important events are staples together and hung.
Curated OER
Guidance for Creating Phonics Lessons for Dyslexic Students
Here is a quick and easy guide to help a new teacher build phonics lessons for students with dyslexia. It stresses the importance of fundamental basics while also providing clear and direct instructional practices that will help you...
Curated OER
Help Me Learn About the Holocaust
Young readers select a book from a provided list to use as the basis for an intensive class study of Holocaust novels. After completing their novels, groups create a multimedia presentation highlighting the elements of literature...
Curated OER
Shaking Things Up In Summarization
Students practice several techniques and strategies to become better at summarizing a piece of writing. They emphasize the five "W's: who, what, where, when and why. A book of Earthquakes is read and then summarized by each of the students.
Curated OER
American Heritage Themes
Young scholars explore American freedom, unity, progress, and responsibility. In this American history lesson, students discuss what it means to be an American as they reflect on contributions of noteworthy Americans and write a...