EngageNY
Close Reading of Thank You, Mr. Falker: Identifying the Superpowers of Reading
Third graders read excepts from the story, Thank You, Mr. Falker in order to gain practice in understanding an unfamiliar story by focusing on the details. They use a worksheet, embedded in the plan, which directs them to certain...
EngageNY
Launching Readers Theater Groups: Identifying Passages from Esperanza Rising for Readers Theater that Connect to the UDHR
Teach young readers how to compare two texts and select passages that exemplify a specific theme with Lesson 6 from Unit 3. Begin by modeling how an expert reader selects examples from a text, performing a think aloud on how Article 2 of...
Curated OER
Writing From Mythological Narratives
Young scholars compose a short piece of creative writing based on a painting depicting a mythological narrative. In this creative writing lesson, students create a short piece of writing and then learn more about the mythological scene...
Curated OER
Wagons West
Students assume the personality of a pioneer on a wagon train and create daily journals. In this journal writing lesson, students read excerpts from The Way West: Journal of a Pioneer Woman. Students use their...
Curated OER
Humorous Story Featuring Clowns
Middle schoolers write stories that feature funny clowns. In this creative writing instructional activity, students follow the outline for a story in order to write their own humorous story set at a circus.
Curated OER
Activity Plan 5-6: Book-Character Homes
Students use their creativity to build character homes. In this early childhood lesson plan, students develop creative-thinking, social, language, math, and motor skills as they work together to create buildings for characters from...
Curated OER
Mother Nature Has Her Say
Students use their creative writing skills to develop interview questions for Mother Nature. Using writing, they respond to the questions another student developed and use the internet to research any topic they need more information on....
Curated OER
Zoom into Writing
Students take a picture and create a writing piece. In this creative writing lesson, students use a digital camera to take a picture and then zoom in on what interests them. They use this picture as inspiration as the character, setting,...
Curated OER
Creative Writing Inspired by Paintings
Third graders view a PowerPoint presentation of the images by Maxfield Parrish. They wirte a short story based on one image and create drawings of an imagined character.
Curated OER
Creative Outline for Your Short Story or Book
Students discuss the information listed about how to make an outline for a short story or book. They then begin writing their short story and edit it and revise before turning it in to be graded.
Novelinks
Touching Spirit Bear: The Literary Mandala
Even someone with a dark side can make a good decision—and vice versa. Readers explore Cole's traits and decisions in Ben Mikaelson's Touching Spirit Bear and analyze his sunside and...
EngageNY
Making a Claim: Emma Burke’s Point of View of the Immediate Aftermath of the Earthquake
Sharpen those pencils; it's time to write! Scholars begin writing the first body paragraph of their literary analysis essays. Additionally, pupils use graphic organizers to analyze a character's point of view from Laurence Yep's...
EngageNY
Contrasting Perspectives: Should the Farmworkers in Esperanza Rising Go On Strike? (Chapter 12: "Los Esparragos/Asparagus")
Explore multiple perspectives through a jigsaw activity that will improve your pupils' understanding of the characters in Esperanza Rising as well as their understanding of strikes and human rights. Tapping into prior knowledge, and...
California Department of Education
How to Succeed in Life
Is it possible that six simple traits lead to a happy, successful life? Part four of a six-part series of college and career readiness lessons examines the effects of character in determining success. Working groups discuss...
US Institute of Peace
Perspectives on Peace
Much like a garden, once the seeds of peace are planted, they need to be tended! How can humankind make and keep peace? The second installment in a series of 15 peacebuilding activities focuses on different perceptions of peace. The...
Curated OER
Beanie Baby Biographies
Learners write a biography for their favorite Beanie Babies and then share their biography out loud. A simple, yet effective idea! Everyone loves their Beanie Baby!
Curated OER
Image to Word
Students research art and write about how a certain art piece relates to their own life. In this art lesson plan, students go to Brooks museum and discuss the art they find there.
Curated OER
Ending a Famous Fairy Tale
Altering the ending of a famous fairy tale is a really fun way for kids to experience creative writing. The instructional activity here has them do just that! Learners listen to the famous fairy tale, "The Twelve Brothers," and change...
Novelinks
The House on Mango Street: Biopoem
Young poets demonstrate their understanding of a character from Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street by crafting a biopoem that captures the essence of this person.
Curated OER
The Ancient Art of Shadow Puppet Plays
Shadow puppetry has an ancient past, it is also a great way to build oral expression and reading fluency. Young thespians research folk tales, compare and contrast reality and fantasy, then create and perform a shadow puppet play based...
EngageNY
Modeling Video Game Motion with Matrices 1
Video game characters move straight with matrices. The first day of a two-day lesson plan introduces the class to linear transformations that produce straight line motion. The 23rd part in a 32-part series has pupils determine the...
Carolina K-12
Propaganda, Spin and Soundbite Politics
It's all about the spin! In an introduction to propaganda techniques and soundbite politics, scholars first learn about common propaganda techniques before seeing them in action in the context of the 2016 election cycle. Activities...
Curated OER
Scenarios: Beginning, Middle (incidents), End
Pupils investigate writing scenarios that can be performed. They examine the parts and levels of scenarios that can actually be performed.
Curated OER
A Wanderer's Point of View
Students write an imaginative story using a specific point of view. Students imagine what life along the Mississippi River is like and pretend they are there. Students may use the scenario provided, or create their own for their story.