Illinois State Board of Education
Common Core Teaching and Learning Strategies
Here's a resource that deserves a place in your curriculum library, whether or not your school has adopted the Common Core. Designed for middle and high school language arts classes, the packet is packed with teaching tips, materials,...
Curated OER
Breaking News: English Athlete's Hairstyles
Practice vocabulary and speaking skills in this ESL reading comprehension lesson. Middle and high schoolers participate in a number of before, during, and after reading activities based on an article entitled "Footballer Sent Off for...
Curated OER
Akron: This City Reads
Young scholars write their thoughts about the value of reading and of Akron launching a city wide reading campaign. Students also research literacy in their own community, finding out how it compares to Akron's statistics where it has...
Curated OER
12 Days of Christmas
Learners utilize different problem-solving strategies and creative writing when dealing with the words from the song, "12 Days of Christmas." They try to problem solve how may presents were given and then explain their sequence in the...
EngageNY
How Does the Author Convey Themes in Bud, Not Buddy?
After reading up to chapter 12 of Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, scholars read chapter 13 and take part in a grand conversation about the author's writing techniques. Pupils discuss how his writing conveyed literary themes...
Curated OER
Charlotte's Web
Fourth graders focus on fluency by reading the book Charlotte's Web. In this reading strategies lesson, 4th graders partner read, do guided reading, and independent reading to increase fluency. Students use Venn Diagrams, discuss...
Curated OER
Daily Lesson Plan for a Struggling Reader
Strategy-based programs that are executed with consistency are the best for achieving growth in any learner with a learning disability. Here is a seven-step lesson plan that is highly structured and is intended to help learners with...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: “Thanksgiving” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Victor Laredo's painting "On the Beach" and Ella Wheeler Wilcox's poem "Thanksgiving" allow young scholars to use their noticing skills. Class members identify elements of the painting the artist uses to create the feeling of...
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
How Much Water Do You Use?
Incorporate reading strategies, math, research, and the scientific method into one lesson about water conservation. After reading a story about a landlady trying to determine how many people are living in an apartment, learners develop a...
Curated OER
Visual Thinking Strategies
Students explore Visual Thinking Strategy as a way to examine art and photography. They discuss the strategies, and analyze and discuss photographs using the Visual Thinking Strategies techniques.
Scholastic
Test-Taking Strategies for Three Subject Areas
Sometimes a test page loaded with text can make a student's face go blank. Help them decipher what a text question is asking with a series of tips focused on reading comprehension, vocabulary, and language arts mechanics.
Novelinks
The Hobbit: Question Answer Relationship
Chapter 12 of The Hobbit provides the text for an exercise that asks readers to use the QAR strategy to develop and respond to questions about story.
For the Teachers
Main Idea Outline
Find the main idea in an informational text with a versatile lesson. Three levels of differentiation help you implement the strategy in any age or class level, based on the ability and objectives of your learners.
Curated OER
Guided Reading: Shapes Where We Play
Students discover shapes on a playground. In this guided reading lesson, students discover new vocabulary words related to shapes as they read Shapes Where We Play. In small groups, students use picture clues and one to one matching to...
Curated OER
Introduce /k/
Explore the ins and outs of the letter k using these strategies combining pronunciation, letter recognition, and initial phoneme examples. Scholars examine the letter shape and listen to you pronounce the /k/ sound. Use these tips to...
Curated OER
Reintroduce /c/
Do you c what I c? Use these strategies combining pronunciation, letter recognition, and initial phoneme examples to examine the letter c with kindergartners. Scholars examine the letter shape and listen to you pronounce the soft...
Visa
Make It Happen: Saving for a Rainy Day
Every little penny counts, especially when it comes to saving for emergencies or long-term goals. Pupils evaluate different saving and investment strategies, such as a CD or money market account, through worksheets and by...
Curated OER
Knights of the Round Table adapted by Gwen Ross
Everyone loves the tales involving King Arthur and his knights. After reading Knights of the Round Table by Gwen Gross, learners draw inferences and conclusions, analyze story elements, and discuss figurative language, including...
Curated OER
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
Have your class explore the effects of war by reading Eleanor Coerr's story, "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes." This is a story about a sixth grader who lives in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb is dropped. Learners answer questions,...
Stanford University
Letter from Birmingham Jail: The Power of Nonviolent Direct Action
What strategies are most effective in changing an unjust law? Class members examine the tactics used in the Birmingham Campaign of 1963 (Project C) to achieve social justice and social transformation. After examining documents that...
Novelinks
The Joy Luck Club: Vocabulary Strategy (Magic Squares)
As part of their study of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, readers engage in a magic squares vocabulary activity.
Curated OER
SWOOP Reading
First graders read fluently. In this phonics lesson students practice reading strategies for fluency. They write a response in their journal about the book read in class.
Curated OER
Compass Reading
Here's a basic instructional activity on reading a compass. Learn the names of the parts of a compass. Learn how to read a bearing in degrees. Then go outside and follow a course of cones set up on the grass or in a clear area. Starting...
EngageNY
TASC Transition Curriculum: Workshop 12
How can opinions slant facts? Workshop participants learn how to examine primary and secondary sources and identify the author's point of view. They also examine how visual art impacts the meaning and rhetoric of sources. Full of...