University of Rochester
Common Cold – Self Care
When kids enter school, they often bring home new illnesses. Decode their symptoms, and help them to take care of themselves, with a fact sheet about the common cold. It delineates the symptoms one would experience as well as the signs...
Curated OER
Exploring the History of Canyon De Chelly: The Navajos
Students are introduced to the novel Sing Down The Moon written by Scott O'Dell. Throughout the book, after each chapter is read, class discussions and journal writing is incorporated into the unit.
Curated OER
Reading Rainbow
Beginning readers observe and demonstrate a variety of reading expression strategies. They listen to the teacher read the book Ten Hungry Monsters both with and without expression, and discuss the difference. Then it's their turn! Have...
Curated OER
On Your Mark, Get Set, Read!
Are your beginning readers trying to build fluency? Use this activity to teach them how to monitor their reading fluency. First they get a sentence to practice with, reading it to their partner once and rereading it silently five times....
Curated OER
Lesson 3: Idioms
You're as cute as a bug. But are you really as cute as a bug? Bugs aren't cute! Idioms are fun nonliteral phrases that mean something different than the words they contain. Second graders learn about idioms as they read the book, More...
Code.org
The Need for Encryption
Scholars investigate the need for encryption as they read a portion of the book Blown to Bits and discuss encryption techniques. They finish by attempting to decode a message written using a Caesar cipher.
Curated OER
Fluency is the Key!
A field trip to the library begins this lesson where children select their own books to practice fluent silent reading. They then practice their writing by creating a new ending to the story they chose before receiving a mini-lesson on...
David Suits
“Wild Readers” Decoding Skills Lesson Plan
Set young readers on the path toward fluency with this phonemic awareness resource. Based on the award-winning children's book, Where the Wild Things Are, this lesson plan allows beginning readers to practice isolating phonemes and...
Curated OER
You Can't Hear Me!
Teach the skill of reading silently through modeling. The teacher demonstrate how to read silently and also gives instructions on decoding skills. Individuals then read silently using the book Polly's Shop . The teacher uses an...
Curated OER
1, 2, 3, Read!
Explain to your readers a variety of decoding strategies to improve their reading fluency. They observe the teacher modeling blending, then in pairs take turns reading the book Clifford the Big Red Dog. Learners then time each other...
Curated OER
Kites are Slow, Reading is Fast
Speed read with your third, fourth, and fifth graders. Learners pair up and work together to improve their oral fluency. Use the technique of covering up unknown words to isolate the vowel and decode the word. There's a sheet included to...
Curated OER
Fluency Is Too Cool for School
What does a successful reader sound like? Help readers gain fluency and become successful readers through repeated readings of given poems. They use the cover-up method to help them decode new words and chart their progress as they...
Curated OER
Fire! Fire! Fire!
The book Play Ball, Amelia Bedelia, is read with quickness and fluency in this lesson. The teacher models slow, choppy oral reading, and then smooth, quick, and fluent oral reading. Then, students read orally with a partner, encouraging...
Curated OER
Expression!
Learners organize ways of reading expressively as well as fluently. They encounter books by Dr. Seuss within this lesson. Practice, practice and more practice makes perfect. Punctuation marks are reviewed for accuracy.
Curated OER
Please Read Quietly
Students become fluent readers by readling silently. They gain a better comprehension and discover that silent reading is a tool for understanding books. As an assessment, the class reads a decodable book. Each student then writes a...
Curated OER
Take the Prefix Challenge
Students form words using prefixes. In this prefix lesson, students compete in a "prefix challenge" to see which team can combine a set of twelve prefixes with a set of twelve words fastest. Students enter their words in a word log and...
Curated OER
Sneezing to learn about /a/.
Students practice the phoneme /a/ through a series of activities. They Students listen to a decodable book, "Ants In A Can." They answer comprehension questions. Students identify visual representations of the grapheme "Aa."
Curated OER
"Easy E Street"
Young scholars investigate how the same letter can make more than one sound. It is also important for students to understand that the correspondences can be spelled and pronounced differently. This lesson will review e=/e/ and introduce...
Curated OER
Reading With Expression, Fluency, And Accuracy Makes Reading Fun!
Students observe and demonstrate a variety of reading expression strategies. They listen to the teacher read different sentences with and without expression and discuss the difference, then in pairs read an "I Can Read" book using their...
Curated OER
Alphabet Game
Students recognize and orally name all of the letters of the alphabet when shown each letter individually. They pronounce words correctly when orally. Students decode words to orally speak the correct pronunciation. Students discuss...
Curated OER
Energy and How it Changes
In this energy instructional activity, students analyze a key to decode 4 sentences. Students also write what energy transformations are taking place in 4 different examples.
Curated OER
Outlines are Fun and Easy
Students goal is to achieve summarization. They read familiar words and decode words at their reading level. They summarize articles through the use of an outline in order ot improve reading comprehension. Students complete a basic...
Curated OER
Binary Coding
Students identify different uses and forms of coding information, such as memory chips, discuss and create list of everyday items in which memory devices are used, watch video, play Bits and Bytes Game, and use binary code to encode and...
Curated OER
Grade 1 Phonics- Short a
Work on the short /a/ in phonics lessons. Recognize and identify "Aa," name the letter "A," know the short /a/ sound, rhyme using short /a/ word families, decode basic short consonant-vowel-consonant words and transfer wisdom of the...