Give this skills-based assessment halfway through your unit on Esperanza Rising. After a brief review, class members take the test, which asks them to show that they know how to analyze the novel independently. They are asked to...

Explore point of view and more with a Common Core-designed instructional activity. Learners experience different points of view by representing one of two characters from Esperanza Rising during a partner discussion. They must use...

A unique writing lesson plan, this plan begins with learners talking about multiculturalism in small groups. Each learner will choose a picture from a newspaper, describe it to their small group, and think about how it relates to...

Students are introduced to four strategies of context clues. While reading, they use all four strategies in different sections of the reading to determine the meaning of words they are unfamiliar with. To end the lesson, they share new...

Kindergarteners read the bold words that are unknown by using the strategies of initial sound and picture clues. They meet individually with their teacher in order to assess this concept. Excellent resource!

Could the history of bread really be interesting? Yes, it could! An informational text gives scholars wheat production background from 8,000 years ago, discussing different types of bread and the current industry in Oklahoma. Learners...

The engaging story Rain School is further explored in the third lesson of a larger unit that explicitly teaches close reading skills by answering questions whose answers can only be found inside the text. Through teacher...

Explicitly explained and delightfully detailed are two ways to describe this tenth lesson plan in a larger unit designed for the first few weeks of third grade. Learners continue to use and develop previously learned close reading...

"How can a few good words save a pig's life?" Posed with this question, your ELD students explore E.B. White's Charlotte's Web in a meaningful, valuable way. By analyzing specific word choice from the book, especially the excerpts...

How do you know what a character's personality is like if an author doesn't tell you? With a focus on character development in Esperanza Rising, pupils complete a jigsaw activity to analyze the actions of Mama, Abuelita, and Miguel. Once...

As the final lesson plan in a larger beginning-of-the-year unit to establish routines and teach close reading skills, this plan is designed as an assessment piece. Using the story, The Librarian of Basra, learners independently...

Students observe and interpret images of artifacts in different contexts in order to recognize importance of leaving artifacts in original context to correctly understand their meaning, and observe what is surrounding object to interpret...

Students explore world history by completing artifact worksheets. In this archaeology lesson, students identify the importance of finding clues when researching historical information by utilizing artifacts. Students research the...

Sixth graders explore culture by reading a book with classmates. In this Hispanic history lesson, 6th graders read the story First Day in Grapes, and discuss the tough lives of migrant workers. Students answer study questions after the...

Third graders answer text-dependent questions of the story Nasreen's Secret School both independently and then collaboratively through using the carousel of questions strategy. This plan is the seventh instructional activity in a...

What can maps tell us about the past? Find out with a Spanish lesson that incorporates geography. After examining maps individually, comparing two old maps of Spanish Florida and writing notes in the provided Venn diagram, pupils pair up...

Here is a nicely designed lesson on ancestry and family history. In it, learners read an article entitled, "Where Were Your Ancestors in 1871?" Then, they make up a series of questions to profile their family and their community 100...

Seventh graders are introduced to making inferences about artifacts. Using a grid system, they locate the artifacts and determine where they originated from. They use this information to make conclusions about the way people lived...

Young animal lovers engage in a lesson plan that's all about elephants. They access an elephant sanctuary website and read a story about Shirley the elephant. They perform a series of activities based upon that story, and also study...

Sixth graders are introduced to artifacts and explore an online archaeological site to  connect clues about how people once lived. In this deductive reasoning lesson, 6th graders participate in the stratigraphy game on Kids Dig...

Students explore U.S. History by researching Kansas. In this immigration lesson, students discuss the benefits of immigrating to a state like Kansas in the 1800's while writing their thoughts and research in a reporter's notebook....

Readers analyze an excerpt from Kate DiCamillo's novel Because of Winn-Dixie. They read silently, and then hear it read aloud. Definitions for underlined vocabulary words are in the margin, and other potentially difficult words...

Fifth graders explore world history by reading historical fiction. In this World War II lesson, 5th graders read the story My Secret War and identify the importance of fiction when analyzing history. Students answer study questions about...

Students demonstrate how descriptive epidemiological clues can be used to make educated guesses as to what might be the cause of a disease.