Anti-Defamation League
The Name Jar: Discussion Guide for Grades Pre-K–1
A lesson spotlights the story, The Name Jar, by Yangsook Choi. After a read-aloud, the class retells the story using puppets or dress-up. They participate in a thoughtful discussion about the story, answer questions relating the book to...
Curated OER
Keywords: A Memorization Strategy
Here is a fabulous, five-page lesson plan on how keywords can help a reader with his/her reading comprehension. After a teacher-led discussion, pupils pair off with each other and work together to identify the main idea in a passage of...
Anti-Defamation League
"What is it Like to be an Outsider?”: Building Empathy for the Experiences of Immigrants
This lesson plan highlights the struggles of immigrants and the importance of showing empathy. Beginning with a read-aloud of a book in another language and a poem, scholars take part in a thoughtful discussion. Then, the class examines...
Curated OER
Teaching "A Week in the Woods"
The book, A Week in the Woods is the focus of the very interesting language arts lesson presented here. After the book has been read, learners engage in study of certain parts of the book in order to gain a better understanding of how...
Curated OER
Mystery Lessons
Learn about mysteries with your readers. They will investigate plot, basic elements of mystery, famous characters, and become familiar with genre vocabulary. Bring in props and mystery books to begin and then have learners create story...
Curated OER
Reading Research!
Young scholars observe the pictures in non-fiction books that focus on animals in the winter. In addition, they also listed to some read aloud books about hibernation, migration, adaptation and dormancy. Students draw pictures and write...
Curated OER
Phrase Card Reading
Fourth graders, after reading and discussing the book, "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing," by Judy Bloom, complete a vocabulary worksheet and read sections from the book fluently and accurately. They utilize dictionaries and thesauruses...
Curated OER
Lesson Plans for Sweet Dreams: How Animals Sleep
Students explore the sleeping patterns and sleeping habitats of animals. In this where animals sleep lesson, students research different animal species. Students also write and illustrate an animal picture book, make connections about...
Curated OER
Activity Plan 3-4: Dreamy Rhymes
Students write a story about an animal using rhyme. In this literacy lesson plan, the teacher shares different versions of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" with the class and that becomes the basis for the creation of a picture and story for...
Curated OER
Writing a Book Review - Non-Fiction
Fifth graders write a book review for a nonfiction book. In this response to literature lesson, 5th graders read a nonfiction book and write a review that gets others interested in reading the book without giving too much away. The...
Curated OER
The Seeds We Need
Learners apply word analysis skills to recognize new words, identify genres of fiction and nonfiction, and identify important themes and topics. They explore differences in plants, flowers, and vegetables. A book bag full of activities...
Curated OER
Satire and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Does Mark Twain’s satire become sarcasm and does he cross the line of propriety in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? As an introduction of satire, class members view an excerpt from The Daily Show and discuss Stewart's use of this...
Curated OER
Nadia's Hands
Students locate the parts of a book and respond to a read aloud of that book. In this literacy lesson, students participate in an interactive read aloud of Nadia's Hands in which they locate the cover and title of the book. They discuss...
Scholastic
Perfect Postcards: Illinois
Connect the geography and history of Illinois using an art-centered lesson on the railroads. The railroad connected once-distant places, particularly in the Midwest. Using research, class members create postcards of fictional cross-state...
Curated OER
Tomas and the Library Lady
Students practice read aloud comprehension strategies. In this literacy comprehension instructional activity, students listen to Tomas and the Library Lady, stopping to discuss with a partner aspects of the story suggested by the...
Curated OER
It's On Sale
First graders read the book The Great Pet Sale to learn about economics and advertisements. In this economics lesson plan, 1st graders read the book The Great Pet Sale and define related vocabulary words. Students compare prices to find...
Curated OER
All Aboard!
Learners recognize and identify onomatopoeia. They will read the book All Aboard! A True Train Story, by Susan Kuklin. After reading the book, they list and illustrate examples of onomatopoeia. Then they write a poem or story using...
Curated OER
Combining with Participial Phrases
Combine participial phrases and creative writing with this lesson, which is equally helpful for writing skills and conventions. After a mini-lesson on participial phrases and reading the picture book Dancing in the Wings, pupils use a...
ReadWriteThink
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Me: Identifying with a Hero
Here, young historians compare their early lives to that of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s. They listen to a read aloud of a story by Dr. King's sister, and then write in the provided reflective journal template. Lastly, they share their...
Write Away!
Voices In the Park
Explore the impact a narrator's point of view has on a story with a reading of the children's book, Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne. Written in four different voices, the story is told and retold from different perspectives to...
Curated OER
Build a Connection
Learners discuss their personal connections with stories they've read in the past and identify techniques to connect with more stories. They create illustrations, construct task cards, and complete sentence stems based on books they read...
Roald Dahl
Matilda - Miss Honey and The Trunchbull
As the instructor reads aloud several quotes from five chapters of the story Matilda, class members mime their interpretation of the scenes. Then, after reading "Miss Honey" and "The Trenchbull" (chapters seven and eight), the class...
August House
The Drum
Take a journey to India with a read aloud of The Drum: A Folktale from India by Rob Cleveland. Make connections to the story's theme by building and practicing drums, role playing story characters, and practicing skills in phonics, math,...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Narrating a Family Tradition
After examining a piece of art, scholars discuss what they see, paying close attention to details and space. A read-aloud introduces the topic of family traditions. Pupils interview their family members about a tradition in preparation...