Curated OER
Autobiography - Student Trading Cards
Motivate your class with this lesson! Learners use the trading card format to create an autobiography. They are given a list of characteristics to list, write down what they would like to include on their trading card, and head to the...
Curated OER
Tissue Paper Dye Painting
Use tissue paper squares to create collage art. Young artists discuss colors as they place and glue each piece of tissue on the paper. Tip: Cut out large basic shapes instead. Have the class create images using the tissue...
Curated OER
Safe schools, Scary Schools
Students write an essay discussing the balance between safety and restrictions when it comes to the placement of metal detectors in schools. They research the safety situation in their district, including discussions about safety issues...
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The Sand Horse
Fourth graders are introduced to the book THE SAND HORSE and discuss the title and cover illustration. They listen to the story listening for words and phrases to describe the setting. They then brainstorm key words to illustrate the...
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The Furry News: How to Make a Newspaper
Students investigate the process of making a newspaper using children's literature to create context for the lesson. The readers are asked to predict the events of the story as it is read to them. Then the teacher uses guided questions...
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Chad's Choo Choooo
Choo, choo! Do your youngsters like trains? After studying the target sound, have your learners read A Peach for Chad. Do a class read and an independent read to increase fluency. At the lesson's close, consider creating a ch train...
Curated OER
Mmm, Mmm ... Good!
Help primary students learn the /m/ sound. As they listen as the teacher introduces the "Secret Code" of language they will practice the /m/ sound by rubbing their tummies as if eating something good. They also practice hearing and...
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Sarah Plain and Tall
Students read the story, dividing it into chapters per day until complete. They respond to the ad, just as Sarah, Plain and Tall did and use the correct parts of a letter used including a return address, greeting, body, closing and...
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Fairy Tales Unit Ideas
Students listen to children's fairy tales and watch them on a video. Afterward, they list the heroes from each story. Students write a short paragraph about a typical day for the hero. Students dress up like their character and give a...
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Story Retelling
Students explore storytelling by participating in an image analysis activity. In this story structure lesson, students read the book Cookie's Week by Tomie dePaola and retell the story to their teacher in sequential order. Students...
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Mixing Colors with Corn Syrup and Food Coloring
Anyone who has worked with small children know that color identification and color mixing can be fun! This simple idea has a lot of potential. It suggests to mix food coloring with corn syrup to provide an opportunity for color mixing...
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Dramatizing Your Story
Pupils write a script, planning and recording improvisations based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature and history.
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Vocabulary Development
Learners utilize various vocabulary strategies. They use vocabulary logs to record strategies they have been taught, such as the Frayer Model (definition, picture, examples, non-examples), writing their own definitions, and using...
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A Walk Around the School: Mapping Places Near and Far
After reading Pat Hutchins’ Rosie’s Walk, have your young cartographers create a map of Rosie’s walk. Then lead them on a walk around the school. When you return class members sequence the walk by making a list of how the class got from...
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Musical Hoop Addition
Musical chairs is a great activity to get children moving while still paying attention and listening. This activity, which is based on musical chairs, gets students moving while learning basic addition facts. They hop from hoop to hoop...
Curated OER
Reading Miss Lady Bird's Wildflowers
Students discover the impact "Lady Bird" Johnson had on America by reading a short biography. In this historical persons lesson, students read a multi page biography of the former first lady and write a summary of her life's work....
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Families and Communities
Here is a week-long activity on the roles of family members designed for first graders. In it, learners share stories of their families, listen to books about families read to them by their teacher, complete homework assignments and...
Urbana School District
Knocking Down Fences
After reading The Other Side and guiding children through a picture walk, third graders investigate evidence of the civil rights movement. In the mini unit, 3rd graders analyze photographs of the past and make connections...
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Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: A Novel
Jamie Ford’s historical novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, explores the relationship between a young Chinese American boy and a Japanese American girl set against the backdrop of Seattle during World War II. The teaching...
Curated OER
Four Famished Foxes and Fosdyke; The Letter F
Students listen to the story of the four famished foxes and practice writing the letter F. In this letter F lesson plan, students work with their teacher to find F words in the story and make a list on the board. Students then...
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Monster Voices
Students create stories based upon the techniques of author Maurice Sendak in Where the Wild Things Are. They use a word processing program and the Apple software program GarageBand to create new voices for the story. ...
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Small
Students research visual arts by examining a children's book. In this art identification instructional activity, students discuss the history of art after researching information on the Internet. Students read the book Small which...
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Authoring Stories for Guided Reading
Students in a teacher education program write their own children's book. Using books already written, they review age appropriate for their grade level placement. They write their own story and illustrate it using various software...
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Splish, Splash Poetry
Students write weather shape poems and sing weather related songs. In this creative writing lesson plan, students read the book, It's Raining, It's Pouring and list weather words they heard in the story. Students use the writing process...