Curated OER
Civil War: The North History Lesson
Students demonstrate their reading comprehension skills, including reading strategies, inference, literal meaning, and critical analysis.
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Helping Children Read
Middle schoolers read books with younger children, incorporating context clues and vocabulary aids as reading strategies to help the younger children learn to read. They discuss the concept of community capital and how this activity...
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The Tell - Tale Heart
Students read The Tell Tale Heart and practice critical analysis while reflecting on its underlying meanings. In this reading instructional activity, students make predictions, monitor their own comprehension and adjust their reading...
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The Raven
After a close reading of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" individuals copy the rhythm and rhyme scheme and rewrite the final stanzas of the poem.
Novelinks
Touching Spirit Bear: The Literary Mandala
Even someone with a dark side can make a good decision—and vice versa. Readers explore Cole's traits and decisions in Ben Mikaelson's Touching Spirit Bear and analyze his sunside and shadowside. They identify a symbol that best...
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Esperanza Rising - Literature Circles and Review (Day 3)
Kids love working with their peers. Get your class into small literature circles and have them complete weekly assignments. Before beginning this week's activity, have each learner write a letter from Esperanza in California to Abuelita...
Curated OER
Bring Literature Circles Into Your Classroom
Tips and strategies for adding literature circles to your language arts curriculum.
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Kumeyaay Indians
Useful for literary analysis, citing textual evidence, or summary skills, this lesson about the Kumeyaay Indians would be a good addition to your language arts class. Middle schoolers read novels and summarize the literature in their own...
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Detective Fiction: Focus On Critical Thinking
Turn your 6th graders into detectives while growing their love of reading. Using critical thinking skills, they will be able to describe the five basic elements of detective fiction, read detective novels, make predictions, use the...
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Dinosaur Tracks and Critical Thinking
Get your young scientists excited about geology through the study of dinosaur tracks! They will use their power of observation to learn how tracks are made and use critical thinking strategies to suggest a scenario in which they were...
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Express Yourself Lesson Seed 12: Story Event
Focus on plot and the impact-specific events in The Cay. Class members use their double-entry journals, created in a previous lesson in this series, to record their thinking about the guiding question as they read chapters 15 through 17....
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The Civil War--Reading on the Internet
Students grasp how to read from text and retain it. They use reading comprehension strategies specific to the Internet. They search for answers to questions related to the Civil War.
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Narrative Strategies
Sixth graders explore strategies authors use to make characters and setting seem real to readers. They develop characters and describe setting in original narratives. Students read myths and determine common themes found in myths from...
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The Civil War - Reading on the Internet
Learners fill out a KWL worksheet and answer short answer questions about the Civil War. In this Civil War lesson plans, students find the answers to their questions by researching the Internet.
EngageNY
Launching the Module: Quotes about the Middle Ages
Pick a corner. Scholars receive a quote about the Middle Ages and then participate in a four corners activity by choosing a corner pertaining to their quotes. They then work in groups of three to discuss the bold words in their quotes....
Curated OER
Tangerine: Writing Assignment: Paul’s Witness Account
As a final assignment in a unit study of Edward Bloor's Tangerine, individuals assume the voice of Paul Fisher and craft the witness report Paul mentions in the final pages of the novel. A great way to assess the writer's understanding...
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The Family: Louisiana Family Folklore
Learners explore and identify family treasures and research the history to each one. They also organize a variety of artifacts into various categories and research traditional Louisiana artifacts online. Each student draws inferences...
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Freedmen's Bureau
Young scholars examine the African American experience after they received their freedom after the Civil War. They complete a Mind Map, read and analyze a poem, and write a paragraph using key vocabulary words. They analyze the impact of...
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Twisting Versions of Little Red Riding Hood
Students read orally two versions of Little Red Riding Hood (Classic and Cajun) They compare and contrast the two Little Red Riding Hood versions. Students create a concept map to demonstrate the comparisons/contrasts. They could also...
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Slavery and Abolition: Three Unforgettable Names
Students research the people and events involved in the abolitionist movement prior to the U.S. Civil War. They read about and discuss the roles of Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, and John Brown. Students complete a word splash, Venn...
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Teaching Imagery with Gary Paulsen
Learners read excerpts from memoirs written by Gary Paulsen as examples of how to write a narrative piece. They identify figurative language used and then they write a memoir of their own that contains imagery and figurative language.
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Make a Harry Potter Board Game
Students, in groups, make a Harry Potter Board Game. They explore how to write inference and recall questions.
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The Underground Railroad in the I and M Canal Area
Learners discuss provocative statements about the Underground Railroad and form opinions. They locate and read a selection on the Internet that either supports of discredits their written opinions. They then read a speech by John Hossack.
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The Law of Inertia
Students practice the 4 question strategy to form more questions and develop further experiments. The four questions are engage, explore, explain, and elaborate. They use the 4 question strategy on an investigation involving the mass...