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Inner Beauty
Young scholars analyze inner and outer beauty in a text. They raise questions about the main characters and their portrayals and explore issues such as friendship, love, and respect for yourself and other individuals. They choose a...
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Tango's Story
Fifth graders listen to "Grandfather Tang's Story" and use tangram pieces to create animals described by the main character.
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Aztec Myths 1
Students write a diary entry or a letter from the viewpoint of a character in a myth. For this Aztec myths lesson, students define myths and read "The Heart of Copil" and "The Eagle of Tenochtitlan" and find the land of the...
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Curiouser and Curiouser!
Students imagine that they are casting directors for a student story-turned-movie, and assess considerations for making the book's characters as accurate, interesting, and fun as they are in the original piece.
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Cinderella Is A Fella
Second graders identify the universal theme in the Cinderella story. In this fairy tale lesson, 2nd graders develop their vocabularies as they read a variation of Cinderella.
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Same Old Story
Students relate their favorite childhood stories to their lives today. Through personal interviews, students discover the connections between their favorite stories and their own choices and characters, as well as connections to the...
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And the Moral of the Story is...
Students retell a story using computer software. In this story elements lesson, students retell the story giving the plot, setting, characters and moral using Pixie software.
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Motel of Mysteries
Students determine that even though inferences are based on observations that does not mean they are always true or correct. They pull the topics and main ideas out of a piece of difficult text.
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Young Learner's Writing Workshop 2
Young scholars choose a short story or book and a student takes on the role of one of the characters in the story. They complete an interview worksheet and then students question each other further about the character they are playing.
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Common Good
Students explore the concept of philanthropy. In this service learning instructional activity, students read stories and then discuss the meaning of philanthropy as they identify ways the characters contribute to the common good.
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Philanthropy in A Christmas Carol
Students explore philanthropy in literature. For this cross curriculum literacy and character development lesson, students read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and note charitable acts described in the story. Students relate story...
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Polar Express Lesson Plan
Students develop a podcast as they retell the story of The Polar Express. In this early childhood lesson plan, students experience technology by creating a podcast. Students also create illustrations to be scanned for the podcast.
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Cassie's Timeline
Fourth graders read Cassie's Journey: Going West in the 1860's. In this pioneer literature activity, 4th graders develop a timeline of the major happenings in the story by creating a timeline. Students discuss new discoveries about the...
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Character Comparison: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
Fourth graders compare and contrast Fudge and Peter, two main characters from "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing". They use a software template to analyze and compare the characters in a rough draft, edit their work and then produce a...
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Introduction to The Stone Cutter
Students write journals in response to the beginning of The Stone Cutter. In this The Stone Cutter lesson, students discuss the opening of the book and the main character. Students look for connections with architecture in...
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Venn Diagrams With the Pain And the Great One
Students read the story, The Pain and the Great One, written by Judy Blume, and discuss the characters and the sequence of events. They compare/contrast the two main characters using Venn diagrams.
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Creature Creation
Second graders listen to a read aloud of a fictional story about a frog. They compare the characteristics of the main character with a real frog. They work with two partners to create a creature; one student draw the head, one the body,...
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Tell Me a Whopper!
Sixth graders investigate tall tales as a literary genre. They listen to a number of tall tales to discover how exaggeration is used as a story element. They write and publish a tall tale using word processing software. They illustrate...
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Aunt Chip And the Great Triple Creek Dam Affair
Students examine Patricia Polacco's web site as an introduction to her life and literature. They listen to "Aunt Chip and the Great Triple Creek Dam Affair" before discussing how the main character believe in the power of books. They...
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Morning Girl
Fifth graders read the novel "Morning Girl" by Michael Dorris. Using the text, they compare and contrast the two cultures, Arawak and Taino in the novel and research the landing of Columbus in San Salvador. They create a family tree...
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Blackwater by Conn Iggulden
Young scholars read, analyze, critique and discuss the novel, "Blackwater," by Conn Iggulden. They brainstorm and evaluate what's in a name, follow the clues to solving the mystery and explore what happened next to the main character...
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Plain Polly: Adding Relevant Details
Students use a stick figure to help them learn to write with details. In this details lesson, students brainstorm details to add to the stick figure 'Plain Polly.' Students then draw stick figures for their own writing and give them a...
EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge About Physical Environment: What Makes it Hard for Some People to Get Books?
How far would your pupils go to be able to have access to books? Revisit Heather Henson and David Small's That Book Woman and challenge class members to take on the role of Cal or the Book Woman. By putting themselves in someone else's...
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The Study of Theme and Figurative Language in Poetry and/or Prose
Identify and analyze the use of figurative language used in select pieces of writing. These pieces of literature will represent at least two pieces by one writer and at least two pieces by different writers. This lesson would be a great...