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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shizuko’s Daughter: Story Impression

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Craft your own fairy tale based on Momotaro, a Japanese story referenced in Kyoko Mori's Shuzuko's Daughter. A list of nouns guide learners in writing their own story, and predicting what might happen in the novel.
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Unit Plan
Cleveland Metro School District

Novel Lesson for The Giver

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Lois Lowry's The Giver is one of the most engaging and thought-provoking works of literature in the middle school curriculum. Round out your novel unit with a collection of reading activities, comprehension questions, memoir and journal...
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Activity
Novelinks

Touching Spirit Bear: Directed Reading Thinking Activity

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
What experiences lead people to change and how do they do it? After reading about Cole's encounter with Touching Spirit Bear, readers complete the second out of a series of five activities to predict future events in the text. The...
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Study Guide
Reed Novel Studies

Three Times Lucky: Novel Study

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
A car crash, a murder, a hurricane. With such a plot, why is the title of Sheila Turnage's novel Three Times Lucky? After making a prediction about the plot, scholars use the novel study to research and record facts about the United...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tangerine: Instructions for Guided Imagery

For Teachers 6th - 8th
A guided imagery exercise draws class members into a particularly intense scene in Edward Bloor's Tangerine. After listening to a reading of an excerpt from the text, participants respond to a series of questions and then share their...
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Activity
Curated OER

The Old Man and the Sea: Guided Imagery

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
What do you imagine when you think of the sea? Put on some ocean sounds, close your eyes, and listen to a guided meditation based on the imagery from The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. After class members listen to the...
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Study Guide
Reed Novel Studies

From The Mixed Up Files Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler: Novel Study

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Claudia Kincaid decides to run away to bring some excitement to her life, but she never expects the adventure she finds. A helpful study guide takes readers through the novel From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Maniac Magee: Fishbowl Discussion

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Split the class into two groups for a fishbowl discussion using of Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee. The first group initiates the conversation by reviewing the important points of Chapter thirteen while group two members are listening,...
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Assessment
IPA Productions

A Christmas Carol - The Story

For Students 5th - 8th Standards
Thirty-six pages familiarize scholars with the story and vocabulary of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. After reading and listening to an abbreviated version of the holiday tale learners show what they know about the sequence of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Maniac Magee: The Cloze Procedure

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Fill in the blanks with a Cloze activity based on Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. After listening to a passage read out loud, kids complete the worksheet by using their memories and context clues.
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Lesson Plan
Novelinks

The Dark Is Rising: Guided Imagery

For Students 5th - 9th
To launch a reading of The Dark is Rising, the second novel in Susan Cooper's award winning contemporary fantasy novel sequence for young adults, class members engage in a guided imagery exercise that asks them to visualize the setting...
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Study Guide
Reed Novel Studies

The Underneath: Novel Study

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Do you have a place that makes you feel safe and secure? Ranger, a hound in The Underneath, finds his new friend, a calico cat, and her safe place—underneath a porch. Scholars complete sentences using vocabulary from the novel as they...
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Study Guide
Reed Novel Studies

A Series of Unfortunate Events - The Bad Beginning: Novel Study

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
Scholars read about the unlucky events that continue to fall on the children in A Series of Unfortunate Events - The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket. A set of worksheet activities include completing sentences with vocabulary words,...
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Study Guide
Reed Novel Studies

What Katy Did: Novel Study

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
What doesn't break you makes you stronger. Katy, in What Katy Did, learns this lesson the hard way. After a terrible accident and a long recovery, Katy becomes what she always wanted to be—good and kind. Scholars learn about Katy's...
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Study Guide
Reed Novel Studies

The Fourteenth Goldfish: Novel Study

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
Change is not always easy. That becomes evident in the story Fourteenth Goldfish. Ellie, the main character, does not like change and struggles with new things in her life.  Scholars learn how Ellie deals with change as they complete...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Analyzing Structure and Theme in Stanza 4 of “If”

For Teachers 6th Standards
Here is a lesson that provides scholars with two opportunities to stretch their compare-and-contrast muscles. First, learners compare and contrast their experience reading the fourth stanza of If by Rudyard Kipling to listening to the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Monster: Guided Imagery

For Teachers 6th - 8th
How would you feel if you were on trial for murder—and you were only 16 years old? Put yourself in Steve Harmon's shoes before reading Monster by Walter Dean Myers. Kids listen to music that fits the theme of the book before listening to...
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Activity
Listening Library

The Sign of the Beaver

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
Extend a class reading of the novel The Sign of the Beaver across all subject areas with this literature unit guide. From basic discussion questions and writing prompts, to a research project about tracking animals, this resource offers...
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Study Guide
Penguin Books

A Teacher's Guide to Sue Monk Kidd's: The Secret Life of Bees

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
A 12-page teacher's guide to Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees provides the discussion questions and activities that lead readers to understand not only Lily's fears, but her reasons behind them.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Last Lecture: Exit Slip

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Here's an exit slip activity that asks readers of The Last Lecture to identify three lessons from "Part III: Adventures and Lessons Learned" that resonated for them.
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Gathering Evidence and Drafting a Two-Voice Poem (Chapter 13: "Los Duraznos/Peaches")

For Teachers 5th Standards
Begin class with a short comprehension quiz and review and then move into a new genre: two-voice poems. The activity provides information about this type of poetry as well as a video example made by eighth graders that you can show your...
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Lesson Plan
Recorded Books

Teacher's Guide: The Pinballs

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Dive your class into the novel The Pinballs by Betsy Byars with the support of this reading guide. Including short answer questions, a multiple choice comprehension quiz, and extension activities, a variety of materials are provided for...
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Lesson Plan
Penguin Books

An Educator’s Guide to Gayle Forman

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Sometimes a novel is the best way to tackle a tough topic. A helpful educator's guide for the novels of Gayle Forman discuss tough topics such as teenage suicide. Discussion questions and writing activities encourage readers to think...
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Activity
Novelinks

Wildwood Dancing: Guided Imagery

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Reader's of Wildwood Dancing engage in a guided imagery exercise designed to encourage them to visualize the setting of Juliet Marillier's young adult fantasy novel.