Curated OER
Read All About It! California History of the 30s and 40s
Explore the Great Depression! Discover the challenges people experienced during the time period. Learners investigate photographs from the Dust Bowl and WWII era and create a story line about the photographs, writing a newspaper article...
EngageNY
End of Unit 2 Assessment: Working with Two Texts - Reading, Listening, Summarizing, and Synthesizing
As a summative assessment for this unit on colonial trade, fourth graders listen to and read informational texts in order to demonstrate their ability to take notes, write summaries, and draw connections. Young scholars first listen as...
Curated OER
Asking the Questions and Questioning the Answers
What would you ask a presidential candidate if you had the chance? Bring politics to your language arts classroom with this instructional activity, in which young readers brainstorm questions they would have liked the presidential...
Curated OER
Forming Open-Ended Questions
Help readers learn to create their own open-ended questions for any text you are working with. Using Bloom's Taxonomy, learners begin on the lower levels and work their way up to form questions that focus on synthesis instead of simple...
Curated OER
Answering and Scoring Open-Ended Questions
Help learners respond in the best way possible to open-ended questions. Go through the ACE method with a text and question of your choice. Scholars work in groups to post their responses on the board. An attached rubric is used for...
Penguin Books
An Educator's Guide to the Works of Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Middle school years can be tough. An educator's guide for the works of Lynda Mullaly Hunt introduces readers to two texts that discuss the struggles pre-teens face during middle school. Chapter-by-chapter questions and activities for two...
Curated OER
During Reading Strategies (Prediction, Self-Question, and Correct)
Students practice their reading skills. In this reading fluency and comprehension lesson, students read instructor-selected passages and use metacognitive skills to predict, self-question, and correct.
Curated OER
During Reading Strategies (Inferring)
Students practice their reading skills. In this reading fluency and comprehension instructional activity, students read instructor-selected passages and use metacognitive skills to make inferences based on the selections.
ReadWriteThink
Looking for the History in Historical Fiction: An Epidemic for Reading
Combine informational reading skills with fictional text in an innovative historical fiction lessons. After reading a fictional text related to diseases, class members read non-fictional text to gain knowledge about specific infectious...
Curated OER
Phineas Gage: “Medicine: Then and Now” Pre-Reading Activity
What did medicine look like a hundred years ago? Two hundred years ago? Invite small groups to conduct research on the history of a chosen medical advancement before reading Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science....
Curated OER
Guided Reading: What Is Government?
Learn about the government's role in everyday life in a guided reading activity. Groups create a KWL chart concerning the government's impact on the community.
Reed Novel Studies
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing: Novel Study
Many turtle species can retreat their heads into their shells when threatened by predators. With the Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing novel study, pupils conduct research to uncover other interesting turtle facts. As they explore Judy...
Penguin Books
Core Curriculum Lesson Plans for Jefferson's Sons
Thomas Jefferson lived a controversial life. A series of lesson plans shares information about Jefferson's Sons, a novel about the infamous founding father. Discussion questions and other tasks explore different points of view and cover...
Curated OER
Using a Graphic Organizer to Research a Question
Is Pluto still a planet? Using this popular question, kids are introduced to graphic organizers as a writing tool. As a class, they watch a demonstration on how to use them and work together with a partner to research whether Pluto is a...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Ray Charles
Introduce young learners to the read-aloud process with a short biographical passage about Ray Charles. After listening to the passage, class members respond to factual, inferential, and evaluative questions, and then create a timeline...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "The Shapes of Leaves" by Arthur Sze
Arthur Sze's poem, "The Shapes of Leaves," encourages young scholars to notice and speak for others who "do not speak." The activity begins with pupils writing about a tree that they really like. The class then examines an image of...
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
Mummies in the Morning Egyptian pyramids, hieroglyphics
Visit the Magic Treehouse and take your class on a trip through time with a reading of the children's book Mummies in the Morning. Using the story to spark an investigation into Egyptian culture, this literature unit engages...
Heritage Foundation
Substantive Amendments: Amendments I and II
The First and Second Amendments remain some of the most famous, even to this day. Learners read about several clauses from the US Constitution through a variety of captivating activities including before and after reading, group work,...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Unit 7: The United States Constitution
Fourth graders delve into the United States Constitution in a unit designed to boost reading comprehension, grammar, and writing. During each lesson, scholars read through and discuss a new chapter and work with prefixes and verbs....
Heritage Foundation
The Amendment Process and the Bill of Rights
Did you know that lawmakers have proposed more than 5,000 bills to amend the US Constitution in Congress? Your class learns intriguing facts about the process of choosing amendments. A variety of activities including before and after...
Curated OER
Iran Hostage Crisis: Reading Primary Documents
Following brief instruction about the Iran Hostage Crisis during Jimmy Carter's presidency, small groups read three-page sections from the diary of hostage Robert C. Ode. They write editorials from the perspective of either U.S. citizens...
Peter Bunzl
Cogheart and Moonlocket
Peter Bunzi takes readers to the Victorian era with two stories, Coghaert and Moonlocket. Accompany the literary time warp with a companion packet that offers a plethora of exercises. Learning opportunities include activities for before,...
Curated OER
Exploring the Sky: Reading Maria's Comet
Discover the science behind astronomy. After reading the book Maria's Comet, which is about a young woman who breaks new ground by becoming a female astronomer, young learners practice reading comprehension with worksheet questions about...
Curated OER
Reading in Context: The Diary of Anne Frank
Step into the hopeful and tragic world of Anne Frank with this lesson on reading in context. After complete a variety of activities related to the first two scenes of The Diary of Anne Frank, eighth graders participate in a read aloud to...