Curated OER
Beginning and Ending Sounds
First graders practice their letter and word recognition skills. In this initial and final sounds lesson, 1st graders participate in a classroom activity that requires them to blend phonemes into spoken words and sound out multisyllable...
Curated OER
Making Connection, Using Metaphor
Chief Seatle's "Letter to President Pierce, 1855" provides the text for a skills exercise that asks readers to consider how writers use metaphors to contribute to the meaning and impact of a work. Participants then apply what they have...
Virginia Department of Education
Editing and Proofreading
This task is best utilized after a rough draft revision is completed. Writers pair-up and identify when the author uses the passive voice, clichés, and wordiness. Basic examples for the revision points are provided for the...
Virginia Department of Education
Deciding the Mode
Are your young writers having difficulty distinguishing between expository and persuasive writing? Discuss the difference between the two, and how some prompts can be responded to in either fashion. Included here is a simple lesson plan...
Curated OER
Writing: Laying and Covering the Foundation
Your middle schoolers can become stronger writers with a lesson covering the basics. They compose effective thesis statements and introductions, discuss different ways to capture a reader's attention, and compare a poorly written...
Curated OER
Myths
Students complete activities using a software program that allows them to read about myths, magic and monsters, and answer multiple choice questions about main idea, prediction clues, details and sequencing. They participate in a number...
Curated OER
History of the English Language - Word Origins
Young scholars use on-line resources to research their own name, determine its language origin and meaning. They take an on-line quiz to determine their "naming-style."
Curated OER
Third Grade Language Activities
For this grade three language worksheet, students read several short passages, completing a multiple choice question for each, 25 total.
Curated OER
Creative Dancing
Students dance a Cossack dance. In this dance lesson, students learn to keep the beat and follow a movement sequence to dance a Cossack Dance.
Curated OER
Once Upon a Time...
Model for emergent readers how to write a story by interpreting picture clues. For guided practice a second book is used, and then pupils work independently or with an adult to write their own stories based on illustrations.
Curated OER
Double Jeopardy-Homophones
Second graders identify homophones as words that sound alike but have different meanings. They, given a pair of homophones, are to explain the meanings of the words using gestures, role playing, or drawing a picture with their partner.
Curated OER
The Classification Station
Second graders identify proper nouns and categorize them by subject. They apply correct principles of grammar: they write complete sentences, use correct capital letters, use correct punctuation and apply correct rules of usage and...
Curated OER
What a Character!
Guide your readers to explore character traits. As a class, discuss and record the traits of a commonly-known fairy tale character. Then do the same with the main character in the class novel. Finally, have learners use magazines...
Curated OER
Responding to Literature: James and the Giant Peach
Fifth grade reader/writers create an alternate ending to an episode in Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach in which our protagonist "loses" the chance to magically solve all his problems. Prompts students not only to write creatively...
Curated OER
Getting to Know You
After going over the five steps of the writing process, pupils fill out "Getting to Know You" worksheets. They trade papers with each other, and have the task of writing a descriptive paragraph about the person whose worksheet they...
Curated OER
Jackie Chan and James Bond Movies
Students investigate similarities and differences between popular films made in Asia and those made in the West.
Curated OER
Dancing Levels in Space
Learners practice mirroring human moves by performing a dance in class. In this physical education activity, students utilize different spaces around them to perform a dance expressing their full motion. Learners cooperate in...
Curated OER
Making Objects Human
Explore poetry, personification, and multiple languages with a poetry reading and writing lesson. After the teacher reads the poem to the class, a discussion about personification follows. The class then writes a collaborative poem...
Curated OER
Louisiana's Tragic Hero - "Evangeline"
"Ye who believe...List to a Tale of Love in Acadie." Longfellow's epic poem, "Evangeline," launches a study of tragic heroines, epic poetry, the expulsion of the Acadians from Canada, and their subsequent migration to Louisiana. The...
Curated OER
2nd Grade - Act. 04: What Time Is It?
How do you teach time? Using various stories, 2nd graders will learn about the concept of a daily schedule to develop a sense of self. They will complete a time of day chart and learn about the basic concepts of time beyond a minute....
Curated OER
Bringing Household Items to Life
Use folk tales as inspiration for learning about and using personification in creative writing. Learners brainstorm together in order to practice personification before writing their own poems or paragraphs about a household object.
San Francisco Symphony
By the Great Horn Spoon!
By The Great Horn Spoon is a fantastic novel for introducing learners to life during the California Gold Rush. First, kids research and analyze American folk songs, then they connect to the text as they listen to symphonic pieces written...
Curated OER
The Final Copy
Write short stories in which events are presented in logical order, point of view is clear, theme and characters are developed. Middle schoolers also work on sensory language, concrete language and/or dialogue. They establish their...
Curated OER
Left-to-Right Reading
Left-to-right, left-to-right, that's the way we read and write! Watch this short video clip and teach your young learners this chant before they start writing!