Curated OER
Big-as-Life Book Report
Students read fiction or nonfiction books that stretch their reading levels. They reflect on the books they read with classmates and select a dynamic scene, colorful setting, or appealing characters to illustrate in a visual book report....
Curated OER
We Are All Authors: Create a Book
Every child is an author with this engaging reading activity. First the class reviews the various parts of a book such as the title, author, dedication, and author-biography. Then each individual will choose a story of their own to...
Curated OER
Using a Title to Determine Main Idea (Nonfiction)
Young readers explore a nonfiction text for its main idea. They will listen to the book Animal Sight by Kirsten Hall, and then observe as the teacher models a main idea think-aloud. Later, for independent practice, they listen to the...
Curated OER
Guided Reading: Three Little Pigs (Plus Wolf: Javalinas)
Guide your class through reading various versions of The Three Little Pigs. Talk about the traditional story line and then discuss a different point of view: Maybe the wolf was just an innocent bystander! This lesson plan, which has...
Curated OER
What Do You See at the Pond?
With What Do You See at the Pond?, young readers explore pond life and practice reading strategies. Learners first make predictions and then read the simple story independently. After a second read-through with a partner, kids come...
Curated OER
A Pill with a View
Students brainstorm a list of potential uses for micro-video technologies. After reading an article, they analyze the development of a new pill-sized camera. In groups, they create a children's book that shows them the various systems of...
Curated OER
Butterfly, Butterfly: Teaching Vocabulary
Kindergarteners practice new words through listening to and reading the science book Butterfly by Jenny Feely. The teacher will first choose words that are essential for understanding the text. Then, using pictures in the text, pupils...
Curated OER
Authors and Illustrators: What do they do?
Help readers understand the roles of authors and illustrators and why they have been recognized by medals of excellence. Your class will discuss and then create illustrations for a book. When they have finished, you can hold your own...
Curated OER
Can You Find It?
Plan a Parts of a Book scavenger hunt. Begin by giving your young adventurers a book, and asking them to find the title, author, illustrator, and table of contents. After a discussion of the purpose of each of these items, class members...
Teaching Tolerance
Community Bulletin Board
A project-based lesson has pupils create a bulletin board to share artwork, nonfiction articles, and messages based on social justice themes. The finished board is displayed in the community to create a place for discussion.
Curated OER
A Zoo Book for All
A visit to the local zoo launches an integrated life science/ language arts research project into the habitat, feeding habits, offspring, lifespan, and other interesting facts about animals. Each group selects two animals to photograph...
Curated OER
Literal Meaning of Reading
Students practice basic reading skills. In this reading lesson plan, students review the letter M, read the story If You Give a Mouse a Muffin. Students will then write a book using their name, for example: If You Give a Taco to Tracy.
Curated OER
Poke and Look Learning Books
Students read Poke and Look Learning Books and complete predicting activities, reading, questioning, and more. For this Poke and Look Learning Books, students do this for 13 different books.
Curated OER
Problem-Solving Processes and Figurative Language
Nonfiction texts about people on the move provide young readers with an opportunity to examine not only the problem-solving strategies employed by immigrants, but to also find examples of figurative language these writers use to tell...
Curated OER
Muffins for a Moose
Students research all the information they can about moose. After reading a book about the animal, they compare and contrast nonfiction and fiction books. To end the lesson, they use Crayola markets to draw their favorite scene from the...
Curated OER
Call It a Hunch
Give young scholars a chance to practice making inferences after reading the book Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges. They confirm whether or not their conclusions are true, have a class discussion, and then independently complete an...
Curated OER
Radical Reads
Students recreate an "American Idol" contest in which they present their favorite books to their classmates using arguments for and excerpts from the books. Following the presentation, students will be polled and the least popular books...
Curated OER
All Kinds of Books
Students engage in a variety of book making activities to foster creativity, literacy, and fine-motor skills. In this book-making lesson, students author a book about the days of the week, illustrating the activities that they...
Curated OER
Character Scrapbook Teacher's Guide
Students analyze a book's characters and create a scrapbook to print and save. In this on line interactive characterization lesson plan, students identify character traits and gain a deeper understanding of a book's characters.
Curated OER
Creating a Newspaper
Get the scoop with a fun, engaging newspaper project. After analyzing the parts of a newspaper, including the headline, subtitles, and pictures or images, young journalists get to work by writing their own stories in a newspaper article...
Curated OER
Desert Drama
Students read both fiction and nonfiction books with desert themes. Then they write desert stories and reports, reviewing texts for information to include in writing. Students also design desert scenes with details and setting elements...
Curated OER
Researching Using Books
Pupils investigate researching techniques by exploring their library. In this literature references lesson plan, students identify the different types and genres of books that are readily available at their local library as well as...
Curated OER
Nonfiction Text elements
Students research Lewis and Clark and use the information for a book. In this Lewis and Clark lesson, students gather information and complete worksheets in an activity to write a book. Students use a variety of text features.
Curated OER
Pumpkins
Observe the differences between the inside and outside of a pumpkin. Learners discuss what pumpkins are used for and then view a pumpkin. Next, they view the inside of the pumpkin and draw the differences they see.