Curated OER
Meet the People In Your Neighborhood
First graders recognize various occupations and their roles in the community. In this communities lesson, 1st graders read the story I Stink and view a Powerpoint presentation of "Community Helpers." Students create a costume to...
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Famous Women in American History: Rose Freedman
Fourth graders read about Rose Freedman, a famous American woman. In this famous women in American history lesson, 4th graders read a story about Rose Freedman, answer comprehension questions, and complete an associated worksheet. They...
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U.S. Involvement in WWI – The Zimmerman Note
Students investigate the significance of the Zimmerman Note. In this World War I lesson, students use the provided analysis sheet to analyze the contents of the Zimmerman note and discuss how the note led to U.S. involvement in World War I.
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Great Expectations: DRTA Strategy
A Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) strategy for Great Expectations scaffolds and guides readers as they begin Dicken's novel. Step-by-step directions are provided, as are chapter one pair-share questions, a prediction worksheet,...
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Esperanza Rising - Anticipation Guide
Learn about Mexican culture while simultaneously strengthening reading, writing and computer skills. In order to get the most out of Esperanza Rising, pupils should have prior knowledge of Mexican culture. Therefore, there are links to a...
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Japanese Internment--How Point of View Influences Attitude
How does background and experience influence one's point of view? Dwight Okita's famous poem about the Japanese internment is the text used to explore this essential question. Class members study primary documents to gain the necessary...
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Design a Butterfly
Students access prior knowledge of butterflies. In this butterfly lesson, students create butterflies and compare and contrast their butterflies. Students describe the various body parts.
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Life Cycle of the Plant - The Pumpkin
First graders access prior knowledge about pumpkins and read the story Pumpkin, Pumpkin. They will sequence the life cycle of the pumpkin through the use of picture cards and then sing a song about the life cycle of the pumpkin and plant...
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Plant Part Exploration: Stems
Explore water transport in plant stems using this fun experiment! Your scientists will start by reading Stems by Vijaya Bodach. Then, activate prior knowledge about plant stem functions and water transportation....
Read Works
Predicting Events in Realistic Fiction
Predict what will happen next in The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson. Class members can use their prior knowledge of the story and other experiences to determine what will happen next. Active readers make predictions as...
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The Fight - Oral Fluency Practice
Second graders review the format of a statement, question and exclamatory sentences. After being read a poem twice, they discuss the concept of fluency when it comes to reading them. As a class, they read a different poem with each...
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Teaching Fluency Using Readers Theatre
Third graders listen as their teacher reads them a book. In groups, they are given a story and time to practice a skit. After taking suggestions from their teacher, they perform their skit and receive feedback from the class. They can...
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Word-O for Fluency
First graders are introduced to the game of Word-O to increase their fluency while reading. Individually, they look, say and write at their high frequency words and practice spelling them. To end the lesson plan, they are introduced to...
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What? You want me to read AND enjoy it?
Students appreciate independent reading through learning about authors and genre.
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Art About Me- The Skin You Live In
Students read the text The Skin You Live In by Michael Tyler. In this literacy instructional activity, students discuss the characters in the text and the various shades of skin they observed on each page. Students read the beautiful...
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Applying Reading Strategies to Aid Comprehension
Students practice their reading skills. In this reading comprehension lesson, students read articles about fast food topics using the wordstorming strategy described to prepare for reading the text.
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Romeo and Juliet: KWHL Strategy
Introduce Romeo and Juliet with a KWHL strategy that asks learners to record what they know, what they want to learn, and how they will find this information on a large chart posted in the classroom. During the reading of Shakespeare’s...
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Reading Between the Lines: Making Inferences About Idioms
Learners discover idioms. In this inferencing lesson, students identify idioms from passages and infer meanings of unknown idioms using prior knowledge and experience. Learners write sentences using newly learned idioms.
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The Tell-Tale Heart
Readers listen and critically read fictional prose to answer prediction questions at designated stopping points, and then they give a summary of the short story. This instructional activity is ideal for English language learners...
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Storytime
By reading two books aloud, Ben and Becky in the Haunted House and The Ghost in the Classroom, youngsters learn new words and understand story events. They workin small groups to review the vocabulary in a game-like setting.
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Annie and the Wild Animals
Here is a reading comprehension lesson in which learners predict the story plot of Annie and the Wild Animals, by Jan Brett, after viewing the cover. They listen to the story, and answer story structure questions during and after...
Random House
Recipe for an Ecosystem
Creating an ecosystem is as simple as baking a cake. Well, maybe not, but using a recipe analogy helps learners realize that ecosystems consist of different components that come together in unique ways. Offer this worksheet as an...
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Philanthropic Literature: Quilt to Freedom
A reading of Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson launches this study of slavery, freedom, and the Underground Railroad. After a discussion of the importance of showing respect for others and of helping each other in...
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Using Gustar
Expressing that you like something in English is quite different from expressing that you like something in Spanish. Clarify gustar for your class with the information included here. Pupils can read the information on the webpage to find...