Curated OER
Small Actions with Big Results
Students explore philanthropy in literature. In this literature lesson plan, students read text from three different genres that all have a moral. Students compare and contrast these pieces of literature, focusing on the character traits...
Reed Novel Studies
The Summer of Riley: Novel Study
The Labrador retriever is America's most popular dog breed. With the novel study for The Summer of Riley by Eve Bunting, scholars learn more about the sweet, lovable animal. Additionally, they write quatrain poems, explore foreshadowing...
Curated OER
Gettin' Through Thursday
Have your class explore active reading strategies! In this guided reading lesson, learners make personal connections to characters having a bad day as a prior knowledge activation discussion. After reading Gettin' Through Thursday, class...
Curated OER
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
In this story structure lesson, students read the book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and identify the characters, setting and main themes of the book. They answer a list of study questions about the book.
Curated OER
Look at Philanthropy in Children's Literature
Students listen to stories about different philanthropic acts. They work together in groups to create a list of the needs of their community. They chose a service project which could be completed by their class.
Curated OER
Coming to America
Students read one book together about the immigrant experience. Teacher asks students to identify some of the themes around immigration contained in the book (example: prejudice).
Reed Novel Studies
Mr. Popper's Penguins: Novel Study
Antarctica is actually a desert. Using the novel study that explores Mr. Popper's Penguins, pupils find four of their own interesting facts about the amazing continent. They also practice putting words in alphabetical order and answer...
Curated OER
Using Children's Literature to Teach Writing: No, David!
Students review beginning, middle, and end of a story and how details add to a story.
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Tracking Down Meaning in Great Expectations
Fourth graders are assigned an unique theme, symbol, or character in Great Expectations. They becomes the class expert on that facet of the novel while learning the basic skills needed to write a research paper.
Gwinnett County Public Schools
Analysis of the Tuck Everlasting and The Birchbark House Text Exemplars
Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...
Curated OER
Abuela's Weave Teacher's Guide
Students read and response to the book, Abuela's Weave. In this African-American literature lesson, students discuss pre-reading questions, that focus on family traditions and make predictions about the text. Students read the text and...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
ABA Form in Music
Patterns happen everywhere, in music, math, and language! Fourth graders listen to the "William Tell Overture" visualizing the patterns that they hear. They then discuss and write an ABA poem that matches the ABA form found in the music...
Curated OER
Solid Waste and Our Natural Resources: Utilizing the Story THE LORAX
Students gain an introduction to our planet's solid waste problem and our personal responsibility in curbing and solving said problem through the use of Dr. Seuss' book, The Lorax. After hearing the book, class discussion follows.
Curated OER
The Importance of the Rainforest
Students read "The Great Kapok Tree" by Lynne Cherry while listening to Tropical Rainforest music. They name all the speaking animals in the book and list each of the reasons the animals gave for not cutting down the tree. They then...
Curated OER
Genres, Genres Everywhere
Young readers assume the role of Genre Sleuths to investigate the characteristics of folktales, fantasies, and mysteries. For this session you will need to collect a variety of books on a topic you have been studying. Groups then examine...
Curated OER
The Magic in Writing
Pupils watch a portion of a familiar film and write responses to a series of questions. They apply their observations to short stories.
Curated OER
Trumpet of the Swan
In this literature worksheet, students, after reading the book Trumpet of the Swan, survey their friends to find out who was their favorite character from the novel. Students keep a tally sheet with their findings on it.
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The Declaration of Independence
Students examine the Declaration of Independence. In this colonial America lesson, students read literature regarding the document as well as excerpts of the document itself. Students also perform a Reader's Theatre script based on the...
Curated OER
Reading About Children from Other Places in the World: Structured Research Project
Students read about children in Ghana, Sri Lanka and Haiti. They compare these children to themselves in a structured lesson that focuses on note taking and research skills. Students work in groups to write a short essay about the...
Curated OER
Looks Like Respect, Sounds Like Respect, Feels Like
Students examine philanthropy through art using their senses. In this philanthropy lesson, students investigate what respect looks like, sounds like and feels like using their senses. They talk about diversity and tolerance before...
Curated OER
Cause and Effect
Young scholars identify cause and effect relationships in a short story. After reading a short story, they participate in a discussion of how one event in a story can lead to several others. Students are then paired for a matching task...
Curated OER
Author In The Spotlight
Complete an in-depth study of the works or a specific author. Working in pairs, students read at least four works by the same author. After completing the reading, they create an essay comparing and contrasting the works and create an...
Curated OER
Happy April Fool's Day!
Grab students' attention with these lesson and activity ideas on April Fool's Day.
Curated OER
Book Project Lesson Plans
Long term book projects can help engage students and enhance their critical thinking skills .