Reed Novel Studies
Runaway Ralph: Novel Study
Maybe the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Ralph, a mouse character in Runaway Ralph, thought that summer camp had to be better than dealing with his mother, uncle, and cousins. However, camp has its troubles, too. Worksheet...
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Write a Round-Robin Story
Students discover the elements of a story (introduction, plot, climax, resolution, denouement). In groups of five, one student writes an introduction and passes it to the next person, who writes the plot and passes it to the next person,...
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The Gingerbread Man Trail
What a fun way to familiarize your young learners with friendly faces on campus! Scholars read "The Gingerbread Man," discussing the characters he meets. Then, they examine a map of the campus, placing photos of employees (such as the...
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Origin of the Modern Summer Games
Where did the Olympic Summer Games originate? The class takes a look at ancient origins of modern Olympic games. They research the Olympics and write a compare and contrast essay that describes how the Olympic Games have changed since...
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Hubris Lesson Plan
Bring this lesson on hubris to your short story unit. After reading Jack London's "To Build a Fire," young readers discuss the role of hubris in the protagonist's death. The lesson has connections to other short stories, such as "The...
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Tuning Out Telemarketers
Students research laws for telemarketers in their state, examine whether there are effective laws in other states, explore concept of national telemarketing legislation, and write news features about telemarketers and impact they have in...
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The Play's the Thing
Students describe to a partner theater experiences they have had in their lives that were memorable, and analyze why. They study about one director's original artistic choices for staging Shakespeare by reading and discussing "Nature's a...
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Technological Grand Conversations
Conduct a written literary discussion and diminish stress about public writing. Class members, already arranged into literature circles, compose and post responses to novels, signing with initials or class number. The process continues...
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How are People Portrayed by Different Media?
Your 9th - 12th graders can hone their analysis and critical thinking skills by studying the way a subject is portrayed across media types. They examine how various print, visual, and online sources have portrayed key players in the 9/11...
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The Ancient Art of Shadow Puppet Plays
Shadow puppetry has an ancient past, it is also a great way to build oral expression and reading fluency. Young thespians research folk tales, compare and contrast reality and fantasy, then create and perform a shadow puppet play based...
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The End?
This lesson asks young readers to predict what will happen to Harry Potter. While the question has been answered by the last book and film in the series, the concept and links provided by The New York Times’ Learning Network are...
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I Know An Old Lady
Have your young pupils complete a variety of activities related to the story "I Know an Old Lady." They act-out the story using puppets, visit the illustrator's website, discuss his cartoon drawings for the book, and generate a list of...
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The World of Amelia Bedelia
Get ready to laugh with your class by reading the book Amelia Bedelia's First Day of School. After they read the book and do activities comparing their first day of school with Amelia' they will then have conversations around the story....
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Movie Maker: Retelling a Story
Using Movie Maker, sixth graders make an eight frame movie based on a story they have written. They choose music clips, select pictures from PowerPoint, and make their movie. The lesson should take about ten days to complete.
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Extr@ Spanish
Has your Spanish class seen an episode of Extr@? Have small groups write scripts, act out their parts, and record a video project for their classmates. Consider assigning each group a specific topic to ensure project diversity.
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Mo Willems Author Study
Who is Mo Willems? Explore the author with your class. Learners read books written by Willems, compare and contrast the characters therein, and make predictions about what will happen. Finish off this author study by having small groups...
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The Poetry Archive
Listening to poems about feeling lonely and feeling like an outsider set the stage for a group activity that focuses on Stevie Smith's "Not Waving But Drowning." Groups examine the three stanzas of Smith's poem separately and identify in...
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Sign of the Beaver: Book Club Discussion
Good question are the heart of great discussions. To prepare for a book club discussion, introduce young readers to the characteristics of good conversation-starting questions. Practice crafting questions for a text the class has...
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"I Never Knew That!"
Incorporating To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, narrative writing, and friendly letters, this lesson plan is ideal for any number of units in your classroom. First, read chapter 10 of the novel, noting Scout and Jem's reactions to...
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Interrupting and Disagreeing Politely
Explore communication by completing argument related worksheets. Learners discuss appropriate ways to communicate with someone they are having a disagreement with and what techniques are not polite. Students read example arguments and...
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The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
After reading Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, bring your class to the computer lab so they can study for an upcoming unit quiz. There are 12 multiple choice questions provided, and they all have to do with information...
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Jeffrey and Sloth: Six Traits of Writing
Use drawings as inspiration. Have learners doodle for 10 minutes before beginning the lesson. Then, have them use their doodles to inspire a story. Several writing activities are included here to play with writing. One of my favorites...
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Reading about Recent Exhibits in the Art and Design Section
A large part of analyzing or understanding art is knowing how to read about it. The New York Times has put together these who, what, where, when, and how questions to aid learners in comprehending informational pieces related to art and...
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Word Roots 2: Fin, Sed, Fer Intermediate-Word Search
Make learning Latin roots a game! After you have introduced the roots fin, sed, and fer, learners can use this word search to build their vocabulary. (Within the word search are words containing these roots.) You can further the activity...