Curated OER
Creative Writing - Writing a Story
Here is a nicely designed lesson with everything you need to implement it in your classroom. First, pairs of learners get together and each write their own version of a classic fairy tale. They then peer edit each other's stories, taking...
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Pink and Say
Read Pink and Say and discuss the Civil War with your upper elementary learners. They create a KWL about the Civil War and record words relating to the Civil War as they read the book. Then they work in groups to create an ABC...
Digital Public Library of America
Teaching Guide: Exploring To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, considered by many to be a seminal piece of American literature, contains many complex literary themes that carry through United States history. Use a series of discussion questions and classroom...
Curated OER
Picture This!
Students practice the strategy of visualization to aid in their reading comprehension of text. They paint mental pictures from readings from their history books, "The World and Its People: the US and It's Neighbors," and short stories...
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The Impact of War on Children
Students discover how students are affected by wars in their country. After reading a UNISEF report, they work together to summarize the article and answer comprehension questions. They examine the short- and long-term affects of...
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Guided Reading: Three Little Pigs (Plus Wolf: Javalinas)
Guide your class through reading various versions of The Three Little Pigs. Talk about the traditional story line and then discuss a different point of view: Maybe the wolf was just an innocent bystander! This lesson plan, which has...
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Cat in the Hat
Explore the book The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss with your class. They will design a pattern for the cat's hat. They will create color pattern designs with candy and frosting. In the end, they will describe their pattern.
Penguin Books
An Educator’s Guide to Gayle Forman
Sometimes a novel is the best way to tackle a tough topic. A helpful educator's guide for the novels of Gayle Forman discuss tough topics such as teenage suicide. Discussion questions and writing activities encourage readers to think...
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Philanthropy, Literature and You
Students identify philanthropic acts in the novel "To Kill A Mockingbird". They create a box of items that were found in the tree from the novel as well. They write journal reflections based on philanthropic acts they have done in their...
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Writing Prompts for High School
Here’s a great teacher resource - thirty-five writing prompts designed for high school writers. Categories include cause and effect, definition, expository/informative, persuasive, how to, descriptive, narrative, biographical narrative,...
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Books for Teaching "All About Me!"
Students learn about experiences and feelings through books. In this instructional activity, students read a variety of books to aid in their understanding of life. Through a listing and brief synopsis of twelve books, students explore...
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Mixing Colors with "Little Blue and Little Yellow"
Students mix colors to make new colors. For this color mixing lesson, students listen to Leo Lionni's Petit Bleu et Petit Jaune, before retelling the beginning, middle, and end of the story. They watch as the teacher mixes food coloring...
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Storytelling: Performance and Art Learning Center
Tenth graders explore the process of telling stories without words. In this literature lesson, 10th graders watch a music video performance made by Alaska Native students, and then examine art objects that may be used to tell a...
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Plan a Read-All-Day Day
Students celebrate Read Across America Day by holding a Read-All-Day Day. they spend an entire day involved in fun reading-related activities.
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The Political Dr. Seuss
Students discuss the role political cartoons have played in U.S. politics and public affairs since the 1700's. They analyze some of the political cartoons Dr. Seuss drew during World War II and discuss how these cartoons conveyed his...
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Freckle Juice
Third graders read Freckle Juice as a shared literature experience. This lesson plan has many good ideas of extensions you can do as your students go through the story.
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Sharing Under the Sea
Students listen to story The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister, discuss why sharing is good, demonstrate understanding of sharing by decorating and sharing cookies, and practice saying "please" and "thank you" as they share icing with other...
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Writing Prompts for High School
Are you teaching a high school language arts class and stumped for writing topics? Five pages of writing prompts for all kinds of writing should help you out. Many of these prompts refer to texts that are not included in this resource,...
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Books for Teaching Dinosaurs
Students investigate dinosaurs through books. In this lesson about dinosaurs, students read a variety of books about dinosaurs. Students become familiar with dinosaurs through reading about them. Students learn that reading is...
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Coming to America
Students interview a person who has immigrated to America and, based on that interview, to write an article about the person.
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School Lunches Get More Healthful
Learners read a story called School Lunches Get More Healthful and answer vocabulary and comprehension questions about it. In this current events school lunch lesson plan, student respond to literature by answering questions, recalling...
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Let's Learn About Jobs
Students evaluate the jobs that their parents do. In this literature-based social studies lesson, the teacher introduces the concept of work both at home and on the job and leads the children in the creation of a Venn diagram to aid in...
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Celebrate Books: A (Book) Week of Fun!
Students celebrate Book Week by participating in a variety of fun literature-based activities.
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Slim Down to the Good Stuff by Summarizing
Students summarize a piece of literature using the technique "mapping" in this lesson plan. The technique involves 6 main steps: delete unimportant information, delete repeated information, substitute easy terms, add a series of event...