Curated OER
"What is an American?"
Eleventh graders ponder about what it means to be an "American." They discuss the impact of an author's word choice and sentence structure on text. They identify some major themes and development of the Letters... Compose paragraphs and...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Songwriting Skill - Elaboration: Jesse McCartney - “How Do You Sleep?”
The practice of developing lyrics by elaborating with sensory details and examples continues in the third lesson on songwriting. This time class members examine Jesse McCartney's "How Do You Sleep?" Using procedures established in the...
Curated OER
How Do Authors Use Imagery to Shape Their Writing?
Esther Forbes' award-winning Revolutionary War novel, Johnny Tremain and excerpts from Julie Otsuka's When the Emperor Was Divine are used to model how imagery brings alive the setting of a story. The young writers then craft their...
Curated OER
Ocean Life Mural
How many oceans can you name? First, have learners try to name as many oceans as they can, and then have them locate and identify the oceans on a world map. They create a recognizable ocean animal using poster board and tissue paper....
Curated OER
Oliver/Kenyon
Learners, through two pieces of writing, identify poetic/language devices through the speakers, personification , imagery, metaphor, etc. They assess the patterns those devices are used in and analyze the theme of each. Each student...
Curated OER
Breaking the Chains: Rising Out of Circumstances
Study history through photographs. In this visual arts and history activity, students learn to analyze photographs to discover details about life during the Civil War era. Students write journal entries as if they are the...
Curated OER
Descriptive Writing
Fifth graders develop compositions on self-selected topics. They choose a topic based upon their ability. Individual pupils earn points for each activity completed. Students use descriptive writing as they support their composition...
Curated OER
The Bracelet: Five Senses
Young scholars investigate the 5 senses by reading children's literature. In this descriptive writing activity, students read the story The Bracelet by Yoshiko Uchida, analyzing the story and characters as they go. Young scholars...
Curated OER
Seeing the Image in Imagery: A Lesson Plan Using Film
In our increasingly visual society, it is often difficult for some readers to create a mental picture of a picture created only with words. An image-rich text like F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby can therefore, present a real...
Curated OER
Children's Playthings And Books
Students categorize studenT toys by intelligence types. They review toy safety and function and identify the appropriate play age of various toys. They read and evaluate studenT books and write one of their own.
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
“Tell Me a Story”: Moving from Reading to Writing
Narrative essay writing is the focus of a series of exercises that model for learners how to not only read a narrative, but how to also examine the techniques fiction writers use to create a setting, develop their characters, represent...
Curated OER
How Does It Feel?
Young scholars identify the textures of materials in their environments in order to expand their language, math, sensory, and observational skills. In this sensory activity lesson, students first write a list of different words to...
Curated OER
Mardi Gras Madness
CStudents create a sensory chart in on the topic of Mardi Gras. They design a brainstorm web using Inspiration and complete creative writing assignment. Students write a poem about Mardi Gras that is presented to the class at the final...
Curated OER
Monet Water Lilies
Fourth graders recognize works of art from various cultures and identify the artist and culture. They view the artistic style and write a response to questions about the style. Students create a still life painting using the techniques...
Orange County Department of Education
Nights of the Pufflings
Third graders read the story to identify the problem and solution that occurs in Night of the Pufflings. They identify problems within the story that are solved through the characters' responsible actions. Students describe in their...
Curated OER
Moving With Your Roots
Students dissect common words to study the origins of those words. In this language arts lesson, students study the Greek and Latin roots found in many words within English language. Students use dictionaries to fill out worksheets...
Curated OER
Out of the Dust
Seventh graders read a book of poems called "Out of the Dust". In groups, they research the Dust Bowl and how it affected people living through the Great Depression. Using the text, they identify the theme and key turning points and...
Curated OER
Photo Essay
Learners examine the process of writing a photo essay. They examine and select a personal photo or photo from a magazine, and brainstorm a story that can go with the photo. They identify an emotion to go with their picture, then write...
Curated OER
Cloze Passage: Extra Senses
In this extra senses cloze procedure worksheet, students fill in the 12 missing words in the passage to help identify their reading level.
Curated OER
A Creative Presentation
Young scholars read chapter books by Gary Paulsen. In groups, they identify imagery presented in the book. Students locate 10 quotes, categorize each quote into one of the five senses, and then organize it and create a display of their...
Curated OER
Fantasy, Fables, Myths, Legends & Fairy Tales
Students identify the differences between fantasies, fables, myths, legends and fairy tales. In groups, they create their own versions of the different genres. They practice identifying the examples, as well.
Curated OER
Imagery
Ninth graders explore poems, various poetic devices, and identify imagery used in poetry. In groups, they examine poetic devices, define them, paraphrase and summarize poetry. Students study poetry by Robert Frost as they explore...
Curated OER
Kente Straw Weavings
Fourth graders explore world culture by creating an arts and crafts project in class. In this weaving instructional activity, 4th graders identify the Kente culture and their uses for straw and other natural elements in their...
Curated OER
We Write to Read
Students are introduced to cursive handwriting as a symbolic language system. For this cursive handwriting lesson, students apply the Peterson sequence approach and practice gross motor patterning and action word rhythm. Students...