Unit Plan
New York City Department of Education

Grade 5 Literacy: TCRWP Nonfiction Reading and Opinion/Argument Writing

For Teachers 5th Standards
Choose a side! Pupils watch and read several nonfiction resources about zoos. After gathering their research, they choose a side either for or against closing zoos. Scholars complete KWL charts, anticipation guides, flow charts, and...
Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: The Snowy Day

For Parents K Standards
Scholars listen to a read-aloud of fiction and nonfiction books, The Snowy Day, written and illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats, and Snow Is Falling, written by Franklyn Branley and illustrated by Holly Keller, then take part in four creative...
Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

How To Reignite Their Desire to Read

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Promote independent reading by hosting a book tasting in your classroom where kids can sample new books and hear your personal recommendations.
Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: Building

For Parents 1st - 2nd Standards
Scholars become architects in an engaging unit on building structures. The Reading Adventure Pack features Roberto: The Insect Architect by Nina Laden and Construction Zone with photographs by Richard Sobol and text by Cheryl Willis...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Close Reading of Waiting for the Biblioburro: Finding the Main Message and Taking Notes

For Teachers 3rd Standards
Expose your class to Waiting for the Biblioburro, narrative nonfiction that will act as the bridge between ficiton and informational texts to come. Class members do a close reading of the text, looking at excerpts instead of the whole...
Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: Sleep

For Parents K Standards
A reading adventure pack features two stories—Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming and Animals Don’t Wear Pajamas by Eve Feldman. In response to reading the fiction and nonfiction texts, scholars create a dreamcatcher, discuss hibernation,...
Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: Music

For Parents K Standards
Music is the focus of the reading adventure pack. After reading, pupils complete hands-on activities. Scholars use household items to make shakers and cymbals. They listen to eclectic music by turning on the radio, borrowing music from...
Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: Archaeology

For Parents 2nd - 3rd Standards
Readings of fiction and nonfiction texts followed by a series of activities put scholars in an archaeologist's shoes. Learners read two texts, Archaeologists Dig for Clues by Kate Duke and The Shipwrecked Sailor: An Egyptian Tale with...
Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: Farms

For Parents K Standards
A Reading Adventure Pack features a fiction and nonfiction text—The Oxcart Man by Donald Hall and illustrated by Barbara Cooney and Farming by Gail Gibbons. Following the readings, scholars make a collage showcasing foods farmed from...
Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: Birds

For Parents 2nd - 3rd Standards
A Reading Adventure Pack takes a close look at birds. After reading a fiction and nonfiction book, scholars craft a thaumatrope, begin a birding journal using their sense of sight and hearing, and build a model bird using supplies from...
Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: Green Eggs and Ham

For Parents K Standards
A reading of Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss and a nonfiction book of your choice begins a reading adventure pack comprised of three hands-on activities. Following the reading, scholars craft a food mobile made of colorful fruit and...
Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: Time

For Parents 1st Standards
An activity packet explores the concept of time. First, scholars read two stories—The Very Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle and Telling Time: How to Tell Time on Digital and Analog Clocks! by Jules Older, illustrated by Megan Halsey....
Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: Cooking

For Parents 1st - 2nd Standards
A Reading Adventure Pack focuses on cooking. Scholars participate in three hands-on activities after reading the fiction book Easy as Pie by Cari Best and the nonfiction book How Did That Get in My Lunchbox? by Chris Butterworth....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Check it Out...Nonfiction Can Be Fun!

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Organizing information gathered for a research topic can be a challenge. Read aloud notes you have collected on a topic and use suggestions offer by the class to categorize and sort this information. Partners then follow this pattern,...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Reading Closely to Expand Understanding of Adaptations

For Teachers 3rd Standards
Third graders work to determine the main idea, recall key details, and answer questions using an informational text on the topic of animal adaptations. Using the non-fiction text "Staying Alive: Animal Adaptations" (provided) the teacher...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Close Reading of Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle: Text-Dependent Questions, Main Ideas, and Key Vocabulary about the Bullfrog

For Teachers 3rd Standards
As your 3rd grade class finishes reading Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, the eighth lesson plan of this unit helps readers from an understanding of the very specific information on the final page of the book. As with the entire unit,...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Mid-Unit Assessment: Close Reading of Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle: Bullfrog Life Cycle

For Teachers 3rd Standards
The sixth lesson plan in this Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle unit assesses your third graders' ability to read and understand informational text. The included assessment asks learners to take notes about the main idea and supporting...
Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: Dinosaurs

For Parents 1st Standards
Two books—Dinosaurs by Gail Gibbons and Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hof—begin a learning experience in which scholars complete three creative, imaginative, and real-world activities. First, pupils create a puzzle featuring their...
Assessment
Fluence Learning

Writing About Informational Text: Music and the Brain

For Students 6th Standards
Even if you've never picked up a musical instrument, chances are that music has directly impacted your mental and emotional development. Sixth graders engage in a reading activity in which they read two articles on the impact of music on...
Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: Environment

For Parents 1st Standards
A fiction and nonfiction text, The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry and I See a Kookaburra! Discovering Animal Habitats Around the World by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page begins a learning experience in...
Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: Robots

For Parents 2nd - 3rd
Two activities work with a fiction and nonfiction book about robots‚—Robot Dreams by Sara Varon and Robot by Roger Bridgman. Scholars read each story, then build a robot out of found objects, examine robot sensors, and search for...
Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: Weather

For Parents 1st - 2nd Standards
A reading adventure pack, featuring a fiction and nonfiction book focuses on the weather. Scholars read Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett and Seymour Simon and then complete three creative activities. Participants craft...
Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: Gardening

For Parents 2nd - 3rd Standards
A Reading Adventure Pack invites scholars to start gardening. Following a reading of two books—fiction and nonfiction—young green thumbs repurpose food containers to grow an herb garden in their kitchen, plant seeds in starter pots out...
Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: Heroes

For Parents 2nd - 3rd Standards
Three creative activities follow reading a fiction and nonfiction book about heroes. Scholars build hero action figures out of clay for make-believe play, explain in written form how they show bravery, kindness, patience, thoughtfulness,...