Curated OER
Meaty Words
Headlines from newspapers launch a discussion of image-rich, meaty words. Just as headline writers choose vivid vocabulary to attract readers, young writers develop headlines that capture the essence of a passage from a book they are...
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Enjoying the Adventure
Middle schoolers watch the video of "The Prince and the Pauper" and analyze, compare and contrast the characters. They write letters to a character from the point of view of another character and create a new ending to the play.
Curated OER
Compounding the Problem
Pupils sharpen their dictionary skills and their understanding of compound words in this plan. Tailor it to the grade level you teach by honing in on specific skills. For older learners, the plan suggests providing a word and having them...
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Collective Nouns and Verb Agreement Practice
Break down subject and verb agreement with this exercise. This activity only deals with present tense verbs and collective nouns. Pupils learn how to make the verb of a sentence agree with the collective noun by reading sentences and,...
Curated OER
Journey to Topaz: KWHL Strategy
Japanese Internment and World war II are the focus of a KWHL strategy used to scaffold for a reading of Journey to Topaz, Yoshiko Uchida's story of 11-year-old Yuki Sakane and her family. Complete directions for the activity...
Curated OER
War Story Documentary
Students research and create an aspect of a war. They practice on writing a bibliography and essays.
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Cleveland may gamble on gambling
Pupils write a news feature or editorial discussing the debate of whether gambling should be legalized in Cleveland. Students research and debate about the issue. Pupils interview community members to hear views.
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Cops and Robbers
Second graders observe the teacher model writing a letter to the author of the book, COPS AND ROBBERS. They then compare the story structure of the book to those of FUNNYBONES and identify the setting, characters and theme.
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Shamrock Alphabet Match
Here is an alphabet activity that has learners match uppercase and lowercase letters printed on shamrocks. They work in pairs to create matches. An extension activity is provided.
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Chopping Sounds
With the swing of a paper ax, young learners demonstrate how to appropriately segment three-letter words. Consider breaking learners into small groups and having them share a paper ax to keep the peace. This plan is so creative, but be...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Debate in the United States over the League of Nations: Five Camps: From Voices of Consent to Voices of Dissent
Students explore and discuss Woodrow Wilson's concepts for peace and the League of Nations. They understand efforts made to foster American support for the League and discuss the opposition shown in the Senate.
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Aches and Pains
Being able to distinguish between short and long vowel /a/ sounds is an important skill for young readers. They are introduced to the vowel-consonant-e pattern that changes short vowel sounds into long vowel sounds. They practice reading...
Curated OER
/sh/ Sound Work
What letters create the /sh/ sound? Have your elementary learners study the sound, write different words that use the sound in their letter boxes, and read One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish! After this mini-lesson, can your...
Curated OER
Introduce: Summarizing Narrative Text
When scholars re-tell a story, do they boil it down to important details in a logical order? Practice summarizing narratives using this think-aloud strategy, which is scripted here for your convenience. After explaining why this is an...
Curated OER
Freak the Mighty: Chapter 18 Semantic Feature Analysis
Intelligent? Arrogant? Obnoxious? After completing Chapter 18 of Freak the Mighty, individuals fill out a semantic feature chart for characters in Rodman Philbrick's novel. Group members then use their charts to discuss relationships...
Novelinks
Count of Monte Cristo: Unsent Letters
To demonstrate their understanding of the relationships in Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo, readers are asked to assume the voice of one of the characters and draft a letter addressing another individual in the story.
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Sentence Order: "Tell Me Why!"
In this sentence order worksheet, pupils rearrange words to correctly put sentences together. Then they complete sentences in their own words. There are sixteen questions to complete.
Learning Links
The Josefina Story Quilt Study Guide
Considering using The Josefina Story Quilt in your classroom? Check out this sample teaching guide for a list of pre-reading activities.
Curated OER
Open Your Eyes Wide-Shut
Students improve their language skills through 11 activities. In this language skills lesson, students listen to picture books, answer questions about elements of a story, enhance their vocabulary and grammar skills, use 5 W questions,...
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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A NURSE
Second graders examine the front cover of the book, A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A NURSE and discuss with a friend about a time they visited the hospital. They then read the book together as a class and review events. They make a list as a class...
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Transmission of Family Histories
Students examine how different artifacts represent family history, stories, and experiences. They act as reporters for their own family artifacts sharing them with the class.
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"The Tiger Who Came to Tea"
Students complete various activities related to the book "The Tiger Who Came to Tea" by Judith Kerr Collins. They participate in a shared reading activity, list the foods from the story, write and read sentences in speech bubbles, and...
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Job Talk
Students write about a job. In this careers and communication lesson, the teacher explains how stories are structured, then students choose a career to research and present the information to the class.
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Cause and Effect
Students explore subtext by reading sample paragraphs in class. In this cause and effect lesson, students read several different paragraphs and practice identifying the relationship between cause and effect within the short passages....