Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse (Henkes)
Familiarize budding readers with new vocabulary in context as they listen you read Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, which can be found on YouTube if you don't have in on hand. Recommended focus words here are: considerate, creative,...
Curated OER
Old Lady That Swallowed a Fly
Youngsters listen to the story, "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." After discussing the story, going over new vocabulary, and repeating the rhymes in the story, they study the parts of a fly. They finish by creating a fly on...
Curated OER
The Giving Tree
Little literature analysts listen as you read The Giving Tree to them and discuss other ways the tree could have helped the little boy.A three-column chart is given to each individual showing what the tree and boy gave to each...
Curated OER
Call It a Hunch
Give young scholars a chance to practice making inferences after reading the book Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges. They confirm whether or not their conclusions are true, have a class discussion, and then independently complete an...
Curated OER
Build Mastery: Sequencing
Writing a summary is much easier once you've laid out the sequence of events. Show readers how these two skills are intertwined using this graphic organizer. Review the meaning of sequencing first, presenting the chart and possibly...
Curated OER
The Final Word
Although this instructional activity is based on “Final Word,” Craig Wilson’s USA Today column, the strategies could be adapted to any local columnist. After reading three articles independently, groups share observations about content...
Curated OER
All the World's a Stage
Is the circus a form of theater? Read "A City of Clowns? What Else Is New?" to sway your class that a circus, is indeed, a theatrical performance. Critical thinkers compare/contrast various forms of theater and identify what makes the...
Curated OER
The Flat WSD Students
Students engage in creative writing and performance using Flat Stanley. After reading Flat Stanley your class summarize their understanding and then create a flat image of themselves. Students then brainstorm ideas of how they would...
Curated OER
Breaking up a Poem
Complete with a SMART board presentation and all necessary materials, this lesson plan guides seventh graders through the process of writing poems and utilizing line breaks. After reading through the presentation and different examples,...
Curated OER
The Ultimate Survivor Using Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
What items would you need to survive if you were stranded in a remote place? Using chapter 10 of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, middle-schoolers work through a Six Trait writing activity to create a story about their own survival in a similar...
Curated OER
Build Mastery: Prediction
What do you think will happen? Use a graphic organizer to help learners predict what will happen in a text. Consider modeling the chart using a familiar story, pretending you don't know what happens. Show scholars the book, explaining...
Curated OER
Transition Words in Writing
Transition words in writing are the focus of the language arts lesson presented here. In it, learners cut out the word-sort cards (embedded in the plan), and put them into four categories: time, examples, space, and summary. They find a...
Curated OER
I Spy Poetry
Explore the components of rhythm and form through a reading of Jean Marzollo's I Spy books. After discussing Marzollo’s format, the class agrees upon a theme for a class book and topics that fit with that theme. Pupils write a poem,...
Curated OER
Sexual Exploitation, Day 4: Assault Strategies
A delicate topic is the focus of this lesson. Discuss what people can do to reduce the risk of sexual assault, as well as what a person should do if he or she is sexually assaulted. This is not any easy topic to discuss in a classroom,...
Curated OER
Jellybeans Up Your Nose
Jellybeans Up Your Nose, by Jeff Moss, prompts a discussion of responsible and irresponsible behaviors. After reading and discussing the poem, groups of fifth graders examine a Dr. Seuss-ism, from Geisel’s Seuss-isms, and report back to...
Curated OER
Ten Red Apples; The Five Senses
A clever lesson designed around an apple awaits your learners. Descriptive words are used to explain what they believe is inside a bag while using their five senses. Students read the story The Apple Pie Tree and are introduced to the...
EngageNY
Writing a First Draft: Accessing Books Around the World Informative Paragraph
Supervise the final drafting of a well-organized paragraph by following the steps outlined in this plan. Using the included sample paragraph as a model, class members brainstorm criteria for quality work and then compose their paragraphs...
Curated OER
Moo-Velous Butter!
Third graders investigate how temperature and motion (energy) create a chemical change that turns cream ( a liquid) into butter (a solid). They create a class pictograph of their favorite mils choices (white, chocolate, or strawberry)...
Independence Public Library
Unmasking the Truth Behind the Red Death
"The Masque of the Red Death" provides readers with an opportunity to research and plan a presentation about a topic related to Edgar Allen Poe's classic short story.
Curated OER
Giving with Imagination
Demonstrate gift giving as an act of caring about someone versus gifts for show (or gifts from the purse). Elementary learners practice giving gifts from the heart by creating a poem for someone special to them.
Curated OER
"Ing" Words as Descriptors
This clever lesson has your students listen to story about bugs, work together to brainstorm list of "ing" words that describe bugs, create t-chart of words, choose words to place in poem template to create class poem about bugs, and use...
Curated OER
Gingerbread Man Retell
Explore the concept of retelling a story with the Gingerbread Man. Read various gingerbread man stories with your class. They will create character puppets and retell the story to one another and in small groups. Additionally, they will...
My Career Space
Just Joking
After reading a workplace ethics scenario regarding an employee who makes racially insensitive comments, your learners will discuss how language that stereotypes others is discriminatory and never "just joking."
Curated OER
Feelings and Emotions
Students discuss and write about different feelings they or someone else may have. In this feelings lesson plan, students discuss different ways they express their feelings. Then they get a picture with someone who is demonstrating a...