Curated OER
The Game is Afoot - A Study of Sherlock Holmes
Mystery is an exciting genre for young readers to investigate. The plots are so intriguing! Here is a series of lessons featuring Sherlock Holmes stories that invite learners to enter the world of the mystery genre. Based on what they...
Curated OER
A Weave of Woods
Focus on vocabulary, comprehension, and analysis while reading A Weave of Woods, a colorful picture book by Robert D. San Souci. Young learners use worksheets to preview, predict, practice paraphrasing, and make comparisons. The richly...
Curated OER
Native American Literature: A Paradigm Shift
Students explore Native American literature. In this cultural diversity lesson plan, students read selected Native American books and analyze the themes of the books and familiarize themselves with the vocabulary used in the books.
Curated OER
Fantasy Stories
Students create fantasy stories. In this creative writing lesson plan, students write a fantasy where they can use characters that they have read about in The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Curated OER
Story vs. Plot
Students, after reading and discussing the two texts by Flannery O'Connor, "Good Country People" and "Greenleaf," analyze the plot, tone, characters, themes and setting in each story. They write their own short stories dealing with a...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Tell Me Again
Students demonstrate how to retell a story in sequential order. In this reading comprehension lesson, students listen to a suggested read aloud, such as Little Boy Blue. Additionally, students practice retelling the story by using...
Curated OER
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Students analyze classic children's stories by creating story maps. For this children's literature lesson, students read Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and practice retelling the story with picture cards that need to be put into the...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Mark Twain and American Humor
“The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is famous, in part, because it established a uniquely American form of humor. For this famous story, Mark Twain combines the tall-tale, the dialect story, and satire. Here is a resource...
Curated OER
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Students read and discuss the story "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" and design a structure that will withstand a clay bear's force sitting on it. They develop a list of activities that the three bears do that real bears can't do, and in...
Curated OER
Do You Have Character?
Sixth graders read Katherine Paterson's novel, Bridge to Terabithia, and watch a video of Maurice Sendak's book, Where the Wild Things Are. They examine the characters in both stories that share similar characteristics. Students use the...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Faulkner's As I Lay Dying: Burying Addie's Voice
High schoolers explore the use of voice and title in William Faulkner's, "As I Lay Dying". They identify and discuss the use of image, symbols and narrative voice in the story.
Illustrative Mathematics
1.OA, NBT, The Very Hungry Caterpillar
First graders are exposed to addition of three whole numbers in a math activity centered around Eric Carle's, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. As the teacher reads, young mathematicians use counters and ten-frames to symbolize the number of...
Council for Economic Education
Green Eggs and ...Economics?
Scholars use four different children's books by Dr. Seuss to analyze microeconomic concepts. Group presentations and research help them better understand simple economic concepts through simple stories.
Curated OER
Literature: Esperanza Rising
Students read and discuss the book, Esperanza Rising. After analyzing and identifying the novel's structural elements, they examine working conditions for migrant workers in the 1930s. As part of the lesson, students in groups choose...
Curated OER
Identifying the Theme in a Story
Students recognize Theme through the use of simple, short stories. Using Pro Quest, students begin by researching the literary element, theme, and how it can be identified. They then identify the themes in Aesop's Fables and other short...
Curated OER
A Storybook Romance: Dante's Paolo and Francesca
High schoolers study the structure and artistry of Dante's, Divine Comedy. They examine how romantic love is interpreted in the episode of Paolo and Francesca while experiencing literary allusions.
Curated OER
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
In this story structure lesson, learners read the book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and identify the characters, setting and main themes of the book. They answer a list of study questions about the book.
Curated OER
Acid Rain
Create a simulation of acid rain in your classroom with lemon juice and bean plants to help kids study the effects of pollution on plants. In addition, learners will listen to a story and write responses based on guiding questions.
Museum of Tolerance
Immigration Journeys
Through the journey of four stories of immigration, scholars complete graphic organizers and apply knowledge to create a visual representation of their findings on a large poster. Third and fourth readers write a letter to their family...
For the Teachers
Cause and Effect Matrix
Study cause and effect in both literature and informational text with a lesson designed for several different reading levels. After kids review the concept of cause and effect, they read an article or story and note the causes and...
Art Institute of Chicago
Lesson Plan: A Writer’s Odyssey
Looking for a fresh approach to an end-of-unit project for The Odyssey? Check out a resource that has class members write their own hero's journey short story and then craft an illustration that depicts their tale. Apollonio di...
Curated OER
Write Right!
After watching part of a Club Write Kids video and discussing the editing process, each group of learners writes a letter to a favorite author. They ask for a copy of a page of manuscript that has gone through the editing process. Prior...
Curated OER
Prometheus Bound: Rebel with a Cause
If you are teaching Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, you can't afford to miss this source. An extensive list of ideas outlines numerous discussion topics, writing prompts, comprehension questions, oral presentations, and projects. Have class...
Curated OER
Understanding Dialect as Used by Mark Twain
A reading of Mark Twain’s The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County not only offers pupils an opportunity to practice their listening skills but also provides them with examples of dialectic speech. This is the gol’derndest lesson...