Novelinks
Nightjohn: Bloom's Taxonomy Questions
After completing Nightjohn, Gary Paulsen's young adult novel about slavery set shortly before the Civil War, readers respond to a series of questions crafted to reflect Bloom's taxonomy.
Curated OER
What Size Is It?
The concept of size is taught in this comparitive meaning of words lesson. Learners discuss the comparative qualities of words such as small, smaller, smallest. They demonstrate their understanding by drawing a picture.
Curated OER
Out of the Dust: Questioning Strategies
Bloom's Taxonomy is a great way to address the many levels of comprehension. With explanations and examples of each level, you can create questions that focus on knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
Curated OER
Who Are We?
Over the course of a week, class groups interview one another, search for similarities and differences within the group, and then prepare a PowerPoint introduction of their group for the entire class. An interesting way to incorporate...
Curated OER
You Tell Me!
A good lesson on sentence writing is here for you! Young writers read sentences and determine the word that appropriately completes the sentence. They work in teams to develop their own statements and then exchange with another team.
Curated OER
Hoot: Bloom's Taxonomy- Questioning Strategy
What better way to examine a text than to ask your own questions? Use Bloom's taxonomy to guide kids through Carl Hiaasen's Hoot by asking questions based on knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
Curated OER
Narrative Tenses
Eighth graders review narrative tenses. In this narrative tenses lesson, 8th graders read a story, answer comprehension questions, and complete a worksheet. This lesson is designed for students who are learning English as a second...
Channel Islands Film
First Contact: Lesson Plan 4 - Grades 5-6
After watching Treasure in the Sea, a documentary about Channel Islands National Park and the video First Contact, about the voyage of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo to the Channel islands, groups research and then compare the experiences of...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Literature: What Is Happiness?
Jack London's heart for adventure has come to define the spirit of America and its frontier. Selected passages from the foreword The Cruise of the Snark take eighth graders through London's construction and voyage of his ship before...
Fluence Learning
Writing an Argument: Is Electronic Communication Helpful or Harmful?
Technology has undoubtedly improved the lives of people around the world—but has it improved communication? Seventh graders read two informative passages about the rise of texting and emailing versus in-person conversations before...
Fluence Learning
Writing Informative Text: Did Shakespeare Write Shakespeare?
William Shakespeare penned some of the richest and most fascinating works of literature—or did he? Middle schoolers read three brief informative passages and conduct additional research to evaluate the claim that Shakespeare did not...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Informational Text: Beyond the Beyond—Galaxies
Everyone has a different point of view, even when it comes to the enormity of the universe. Two separate text passages explain the scope of a galaxy, prompting young readers to write an essay about each author's argument and how the...
Fluence Learning
Writing an Argument: Persuasive Speeches to Students
Powerful orators make their messages compelling with a combination of factors. Learn how to be an inspirational speaker with a reading assessment activity that presents a list of persuasive speaking techniques, as well as two speeches...
Fluence Learning
Writing an Argument: The NIEHS
Should the work of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences be funded by the government? Middle schoolers weigh in on the status of federal funding for programs that protect the environment with three text passages and...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Informational Text: Political Parties
To demonstrate their ability to craft an analysis of informational text, class members read excerpts from James Madison's "The Federalist No. 10," from George Washington's Farewell Address, and from Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural...
Fluence Learning
Writing an Opinion Requiring Voting
Challenge writers to compose an essay detailing their stance on, and the history of, voting. Three assignments, each broken down into three parts, requires fifth graders to take notes, read and complete charts, write paragraphs, compare...
Curated OER
Picture Stories
Students write a story. In this picture stories lesson, students write a story on a topic of their choice and then rewrite their story using only pictures. Students share their stories with the class.
Curated OER
It Was a Dark and Stormy Night
Using Alpha Smarts, 3rd graders write a "Story-in-the-Round". The end result of this project is one story for every student in the class that has been written by the entire class. Students create a PowerPoint presentation with a...
Curated OER
Can We Switch Genders of Story Characters?
Students read and review the main elements of a story. In this language arts lesson, students predict what the story read to them would have been like if the genders of the characters had been different. Students write a new story in...
Curated OER
Persuasive Writing: Creating Book Reviews
By reading and analyzing examples of persuasive text, students can get a better idea of how to form their own essays.
Curated OER
The Appearance of a Graph
Sixth graders understand that the appearance and increment used on the x and y axis in a graph change how it looks. In this graphing activity, 6th graders work in pairs and interpret graphs using different axes. Students collect graphs...
Curated OER
Carousel Brainstorm Book Report
Students participate in a group review activity to analyze and discuss a book they have all read. They write a paragraph summarizing the findings related to one of the topics. Older students might summarize three topics or all the topics.
Curated OER
Seed To Plant
Learners are introduced to alternative methods of growing techniques: specifically, hydroponics. They, in groups, "adopt" a seed. They take care of their seed and make observations as it begins to germinate.
Curated OER
Take a Second Look!
Students explore positive qualities in people. In this character development instructional activity, students work in groups to select an inanimate object from a bag, imagine the object was a person, and generate positive statements...