Curated OER
Give Me Some Expression!
Work to improve oral expression while reading aloud. Young scholars read sentence strips, changing their volume, speed, and tone to match what is written, making the sentence more meaningful. They read an entire story with a partner who...
Curated OER
Lights, Camera, and Action!
These activities center around acting out a play to help create fluent readers who use expression and emotion. As readers work through the play the first time, they also practice decoding strategies. In small groups of four, they then...
Curated OER
Book Talk Fun!: Growing Independence and Fluency
Master reading fluently and with emotion and expression! Young learners read and reread the book Tiki Tiki Tembo by Arlene Mosel to practice this strategy. The remark on the end punctuation to help them decide how to read the sentence.
University of Texas
Essential Reading Strategies for the Struggling Reader
Beneficial for beginning readers, struggling readers, and those in need of review, a set of language arts activities is a great addition to any foundational reading unit. Focusing on phonological awareness, fluency, instructional...
Curated OER
What's the Buzz About Onomatopoeia?
Tap into onomatopoeia lesson plans to improve students' written expression and create motivating activities.
Curated OER
A Rose Is a Rose
Flowering learners explore the concept of figurative language as it relates to poems, songs, or creative written expression. In this creative writing activity, they complete several phrases using similes, metaphors, and...
Curated OER
Poetry As Oral Performance
Reciting poetry is a great way to build oral language skills and build classroom community. Pupils look at the text elements of poetry and choose a poem to read aloud. They focus on rhythm, fluency, and expression. This is a great way to...
Denver Art Museum
My Animal Symbol
Here is an art lesson plan that combines visual arts and language arts into one very nice package. In it, youngsters study a fascinating painting called Painting of Bear and Sun Dances. They begin to understand the importance of...
Curated OER
Beginning with Bosch
Students explore surrealism through the artwork of Hieronymus Bosch. In this surrealism lesson, students understand the characteristics of the art of Bosch and create an original artwork and poem to go with it.
Curated OER
Idioms: Get the Ball Rolling
Based on books written by Fred Gwynne, particularly A Little Pigeon Toad, this resource connects the language of idioms and figures of speech with visuals that make explicit the often humorous connections between the literal and...
Curated OER
Freewriting: Exploring Everybody's Favorite Topic
Students engage in the practice of freewriting to improve expressing written thoughts. Then the process of editing takes place to solidify the practice of the writing process.
Curated OER
Clay Story Adventure
Students build three-dimensional rough draft for a story by creating objects, people, places, animals, etc., with clay, and write story in a journal, poem, or other written form.
Curated OER
Writing - Letters
The basic structure of a useful lesson in formal letter writing is here, but there are no procedural details or support materials to implement it. However, the idea is worth pursuing, to help your learners develop a strong understanding...
Curated OER
Stonehenge Summarizations
Young scholars encounter the tools they need to begin their journey of reading. They must realize that they must gain comprehension skills to comprehend the meaning behind what is being read. Students use this strategy to pull out key...
Curated OER
Wacky Weather Stories
Students observe, identify and creatively express their ideas through literature and dramatize an original story that features a type of weather in the plot.
Curated OER
Poetry and Nature
Students observe an object in nature and record them. In groups, they create a group poem about the same object. They create their own poem based on another object using other their senses to help them. They share their poems with the...
Curated OER
Children of War
Take a closer look at the impact of war in this language arts and social studies instructional activity. Middle schoolers use primary sources to conduct research as they relate to the effects of war on children. They compare and contrast...
Curated OER
Civil War Diaries
Fifth graders examine excerpts from a diary of a Confederate soldier and his experiences in a Union prison camp. After receiving character cards, they write diary entries from the perspectives of their Civil War identity. As an...
Curated OER
Father Knows Best, Write a Father's Day Letter
Students write a Father's Day letter. In this friendly letter writing lesson, students brainstorm a list of parent responsibilities, then write three specific ways their fathers care for them. Students share learning experiences they...
Curated OER
Culture, Climate, and Current Events
Students decide on a country to research as a class, keeping a list of the countries already being researched. Using the internet, they research the culture, climate and current events of the country. They end the lesson by compiling a...
Curated OER
Philanthropy in Literature
Students research philanthropy in three genres: a play, a fable, and a parable. Students read an Aesop fable and answer questions in groups. Students complete steps in two worksheets from 'The Good San Franciscan' and 'Someone Should.'...
Curated OER
A Penny For Your Thoughts: Cross-Curricular Journal Writing
Students 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...
Curated OER
Rebus Writing
Fifth graders write rebus stories using technology. They share the rebus stories with younger students
Curated OER
What Your Signature Means to You and Others
Students discuss significance and value of writing their signatures on various documents, recall times they have signed their names, and demonstrate understanding that signatures are important representations of people, and symbols of...