Association for Library Service to Children
Summer Reading List Grades 6-8
What better activity is there for summer than reading? Provide your pupils with 25 book ideas for their summer reading pursuits. A variety of different genres are represented on this list, and each book is paired with publication...
Waunakee Community School District
Identifying Themes in Literature
If your language arts learners have a hard time determining the universal theme of a written work, use a straightforward learning exercise to help them find it. After reviewing a list of common themes, kids note the title, character,...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Creative Reading, Predicting and Writing
In this predictions worksheet, 4th graders guess what the book Black and White will be about based on the first line. Students answer questions related to the book's genre and story line. Students write and illustrate their own short...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan 18: Art Project! Design Your Own Book Cover
Finished your novel? What’s next? Designing the book cover, of course. But how to begin? After examining the covers of published books and noting the common elements of these jackets, young novelists design a front and back cover for...
Curated OER
Fabric Art
Do kids use problem solving skills when they create scrap art? You bet they do! After examining the art of Mary Katherine Lamb, they create their own pieces using recycled products and vintage art techniques. They watch a video about the...
Curated OER
Torn Paper Collage Books
An excellent lesson on bookmaking awaits your learners! This simple, and easy-to-implement plan should provide you with some excellent student-made products that you'll be proud to send home with them. The instructions are clear, and the...
Scholasic
The Magic School Bus and the Missing Tooth
We chew with our teeth every day, but how much do we really know about them? Allow Ms. Frizzle to teach your kids a thing or two about teeth. Kids complete a prereading exercise, read the book, and respond to several prompts about the...
Curated OER
Introduce: Comparison and Contrast
Class discussions can really make concepts come to life. The class discusses the differences between compare and contrast, read a book, then talk about ways they can compare events or characters in the story. Good leading question are...
Poetry4kids
How to Create a “Found Poem”
Writers compose an original found poem by searching for words that inspire them. Words are taken from everyday conversation, books, cut from magazines, the mail, or an already written poem.
Curated OER
Predict and Clarify with The Old Woman & Her Pig
Primary readers predict and check for understanding by using comprehension strategies. Prepare readers the first day by frontloading vocabulary and using pictures to visualize the words. On the second day, read the story The Old Woman...
Novelinks
The Little Prince: Response to Art Exercise
Depending on your perspective, solitude can be lovely or very, very lonely. Kids take a look at the simple landscape illustrated in Antoine de Saint Éxupery's The Little Prince, and write a short journal entry about their...
Reed Novel Studies
Pippi Longstocking: Novel Study
Have you every known someone that marches to the beat of a different drum? That is exactly what Pippi from Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking does! Scholars complete a worksheet packet as they read about Pippi's outrageous...
Curated OER
Building Up Books
Students participate in a book club in which they share the setting, characters and plot of the book they read. Individually, they make a list of the most important or appealing features of the book on construction paper to try to...
Curated OER
Memory Book
Young writers create memory books. They think of important events in their lives from the past year. Then they draw pictures that depict these events, and dictate captions to an adult who writes them down in their books for them. These...
Curated OER
Chef for a Day
Have class members create a recipe flip book for their favorite after school snack. Using ordinal words (first, second next, etc.), young chefs write and illustrate each step in the process on separate cards. They then design a cover,...
Curated OER
Reading Comprehension 5: Level 8
Why is an atlas called an atlas? Because it is named for the Greek Titan, Atlas, of course. Young readers learn all about Atlas and atlases in a short passage used as the basis of a reading comprehension exercise. After responding to...
Curated OER
Splat! Boom! Pow! the Influence of Cartoons in Contemporary Art
Students relate abstract expressionism and cultural influences on 1960's art. They use images appropriated from comic books to create a painting in the abstract expressionist style by changing the scale of the comic and reducing content...
Curated OER
Alternative Ideas for Book Reporting in Primary Grades
Looking for a new way to have your students complete book reports? Then, this lesson is for you! Young learners read literature of their choice and complete diorama, filmstrip maker, costume and letter, or puppet making activities...
Curated OER
Analyzing Literature via Literature Circles
Introduce literature circles with Roland Smith's novels. Your seventh graders will see the activity modeled as you read The Three Little Pigs together and apply the format to a Roland Smith novel of their choice. The lesson includes...
Curated OER
Accordion-Book Summary
Introduce your young readers to the book review. Groups of writers practice the basic steps of writing a book report and complete an Accordion-Book Summary activity. The lesson includes book report basics and directions to make...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan 3: Great Book, Gross Book
It's time for your scholars to become book reviewers! Start with a fun review of foods: are they good or gross? Learners apply these evaluation techniques to books, recording their thoughts on large pieces of butcher paper. Simply have...
Curated OER
My Favorite Book
Class members select a favorite book and write and present a book review. They view and discuss a sample PowerPoint presentation, then write a rough draft for their own slide show book review. They create a six-slide presentation to...
Curated OER
Multimedia Book Report
Young readers plan and draft a book report focusing on the five key components of a novel: plot, character, setting, conflict, and theme. After completing a story board, pupils then prepare a PowerPoint book report that is shown to the...
Curated OER
Research, Production, and Presentation of Abstract and Pop Art
Students analyze Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. They view and discuss artworks by Warhol, Lichenstein, Pollack, and Kandinsky, research a specific artist, and create an art piece in the style of their chosen artist.