EngageNY
Choosing a Book That Interests Me: Seeking the Superhero Reader in Me
Selecting a "power book" and engaging in a structured class discussion are the learning targets for this fourth instructional activity in a larger unit. It is designed as a beginning of the year unit for establishing norms and routines...
EngageNY
Paragraph Writing Instruction
Writing a paragraph from details found directly in a text is the central focus of this thorough and explicit lesson plan. Using the stories Nasreen's Secret School and Rain School, third graders are lead step-by-step...
EngageNY
Continued Close Reading of Nasreen's Secret School: Discussions of Questions and Evidence
Third graders answer text-dependent questions of the story Nasreen's Secret School both independently and then collaboratively through using the carousel of questions strategy. This plan is the seventh instructional activity in a...
EngageNY
Reading Closely to Expand Understanding of Adaptations
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...
EngageNY
On-Demand Assessment: Writing of an Information Paragraph About How a Bullfrog Survives
Having read and discussed Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, third graders demonstrate their bullfrog expertise by writing informational paragraphs. Building on the note-taking and paragraph planning from the previous lesson plan,...
EngageNY
Continued Close Reading of Rain School: Text-Dependent Questions and Vocabulary
The engaging story Rain School is further explored in the third lesson of a larger unit that explicitly teaches close reading skills by answering questions whose answers can only be found inside the text. Through teacher...
EngageNY
Continued Close Reading of Thank You, Mr. Falker: Text Dependent Questions and Vocabulary
In the second lesson plan in a series that revolves around the story, Thank You, Mr. Falker, learners practice the skill of answering direct questions from the text while using complete sentences. After a teacher-led review of how to...
EngageNY
Science Talk: How do Bullfrogs Survive
Following the reading of the book Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, the ninth instructional activity in this unit involves emerging experts in a science talk about how bullfrogs survive. Looking back through the text, young scholars...
EngageNY
Planning Writing: Bullfrog Information Paragraph
Lesson ten in this unit for the book Bullfrogs at Magnolia Circle, prepares third graders to begin writing an informational paragraph about the adaptations of bullfrogs. First, young writers work either independently or in pairs to...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment: Close Reading of Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle: Bullfrog Life Cycle
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...
EngageNY
Close Reading of Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle: Main Ideas about the Bullfrog
As your class reaches the end of the book Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, the seventh lesson in this literary unit helps third graders transition from reading narrative to expository writing. Scholars develop their note-taking skills...
EngageNY
Developing Reading Fluency: Selecting a Text and Practicing Reading Aloud
Young readers continue to strengthen their fluency skills with a text of their choosing. The teacher first engages the class with an audio recording or read-aloud of a short poem, modeling for children how to read fluently. Next it's...
Curated OER
Learning to Hate Math
Give your class a different kind of reading assignment with the text included here. Anne Miller's essay "Learning to Hate Mathematics" details a hatred of math that grew from early childhood and still haunts the author today. After...
New York City Department of Education
What Did I Do to Be so Black and Blue: How Did Jazz Influence Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man
How did jazz influence Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man? Class members read some of Ellison's non-fiction writings about blues and jazz, listen to records, watch videos, and engage in student-centered discussions. They then produce podcasts...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Character Comparison
Fourth graders, using Kidspiration, compare and contrast the two main characters from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. They use a teacher-created template to describe their characters. Students then create their own character analysis.
Curated OER
Language Arts: Character Analysis
Fourth graders identify the character traits of Peter in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. They find quotations in the story that illlustrate the traits. Students use Kidspiration to write their reports on a template.
Curated OER
Northwest coast Button Blanket Art
Students explore artistic design by viewing video clips on the Internet. In this blanket making lesson, students view tutorial videos in which they discover the creative process in button blanket designing. Students create their designs...
Curated OER
Enough to Make Your Head Spin
Students investigate the world of nonverbal communication by analyzing body language around the world. In this cultural communication lesson plan, students research the Bulgarian language and how we could easily misinterpret their...
Curated OER
Analyzing Literature via Literature Circles
Introduce literature circles with Roland Smith's novels. Your seventh graders will see the activity modeled as you read The Three Little Pigs together and apply the format to a Roland Smith novel of their choice. The lesson includes...
Curated OER
I Spy (Camouflaged Animals in Art!)
Make connections about animal characteristics and the animal's environment. In this animal characteristics lesson, students use a piece of art as a springboard for a discussion about animals and camouflage. Students choose an animal that...
Curated OER
I spy (Camouflaged Animals in Art!)
Students create a picture of a camouflaged animal in its habitat. In this visual arts lesson, students look at Hans Hoffmann's painting A Hare in the Forest and discuss the animal's camouflage. They research their own animal to...
Curated OER
Presidential Gallery
Students identify the three branches of the federal government and their role in our government. They identify important events and accomplishments in the life of one president of the United States. Students identify the major national...
Curated OER
Writing about Art:Comparing Portraits
Students compare and contrast an academic and Impressionist portrait. In this art history lesson, students look at two different styles of painting and write a paragraph as if they are the subject in the painting. They compare and...
Curated OER
Lon Chaney: Three Faces of Lon Chaney
Students watch the Lon Chaney episode of American Masters, read chapters from three original books on which Chaney's films were based, and use a reading strategy called Reader's Theater to adapt each chapter into a script. After...