Whitewater Valley Railroad
Teaching and Learning with The Polar Express
Use a series of extension activities to enhance your class reading of Chris Van Allsburg's holiday classic, The Polar Express. From a biography of the author to filmed book reviews and research about the railroad, kids can take...
Novelinks
The Good Earth: Concept Analysis
Designed for teachers, this resource provides an overview of Pearl S. Buck's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Good Earth. Information about the organizational pattern of the story, issues and themes addressed, historical background on...
ESL Kid Stuff
Parts of the Body
Eyes and ears and mouth and nose! Practice the names of body parts with a activity based on the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes". Kids sing the song and read a story with the same vocabulary words before finishing a worksheet...
EngageNY
Planning for Writing: Revisiting “Key Elements of Mythology” and Determining a Theme in the Myth of Cronus
Refresh my memory please. Scholars quickly read over the Myth of Cronus to refresh their memories of the story. They then get in groups and write parts of the myth on sticky notes that relate to the elements of mythology, sticking their...
EngageNY
Statements of Order in the Real World
Positive and negative numbers are all around us. Groups read short story contexts and identify a rational number that represents the values in the context. They order the rational numbers and interpret statements of inequality.
American Museum of Natural History
One-on-One With The Sun
Follow along as Stella Stardust interviews the sun. A fun and informative interview provides scholars with information about the sun.
Center for Civic Education
To Amend or Not to Amend, That's Been the Question...Many Times
Looking for some ideas for how to celebrate September 17, Constitution Day? Check out a packet that focuses on the factors that are considered in the amendment process. Class members examine the amendment process and the types of...
Library of Congress
Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the Fugitive Slave Act
From the time of its publication, Uncle Tom's Cabin has been controversial. To better understand the debate, class members first examine a broadside decrying the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and then two newspaper reviews of the...
Curated OER
Read it Like You Mean It!
First through third graders observe and demonstrate a variety of reading expression strategies. First start by reviewing some common digraphs and the sounds they make. Then listen to the teacher read different sentences with and without...
Curated OER
Stories
Read, discuss, and write short stories with your primary class. They read a short story and complete worksheets for the story. They also brainstorm ideas for a class story and choose an idea to write 3 ideas and then write the story as a...
Curated OER
Reading Connected Text Fluency (Passage)
Practice makes perfect when it comes to reading fluency! Walk your emerging readers through a familiar passage, slowly pointing to each word to keep every learner with you. While looking at a projected passage, scholars read one word at...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Process of Reading
Assist your pupils with literary analysis by discussing and exploring theme. This plan, the twelfth in a series of fourteen, builds in some time to explore theme as a class. Learners also blog about the main event in their stories and...
E Reading Worksheets
Climax, Structure, and Elements of a Story
Appropriate for any short story, this worksheet asks readers to identify key elements and then analyze the structure of a short story.
Curated OER
Dolch Sight Words in a Story
Learners read a story with 220 basic sight words. They discuss why the words are important to identify and utilize them in their own writing assignments.
Curated OER
Tear Into a Story
Learners retell a story using the correct sequence of events for a story they have listened to five times. They identify the characters and the setting for the story, and sequence the events using a dissembled copy of the book.
Curated OER
Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado"
After reading "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe, use the SMART board file to learn about Poe's background and use of irony. The lesson includes resource links to additional websites, as well as the SMART board file (you...
Curated OER
The Diamond as Big as the Ritz Quiz
Can you imagine an entire mountain consisting of a solid diamond? It is possible, though a bit farfetched in The Diamond as Big as the Ritz by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story is meant to be a satire about wealth and greed; the quiz asks...
Curated OER
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
A viewing of Disney’s 1993 film of The Adventures of Huck Finn launches an examination of the events in and themes of Mark Twain’s story. Viewers respond to prompts on a film story worksheet, engage in full-class discussions, and select...
Curated OER
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Tell the story of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" to your little learners with the help of this animated slide-show. Read along or have the students tell the story of Goldilocks as you forward each slide. Note: This presentation would...
Curated OER
"Playing in the Snow" - Reading Comprehension (Poem)
Have your English language learners puzzle through this activity. Class members read the incomplete poem about playing in the snow and use the given words to complete poem. This is challenging since some of the spaces are ambiguous. Ask...
Curated OER
The Pianist
Do you play any musical instruments? Consider using this question to interest readers in this short passage. Then, have them read the passage and answer the multiple-choice questions that follow.
Curated OER
The Corps: Counterattack Quiz
Chronicling the events following America's involvement in WWII, this quiz centers on the historical fiction novel Counterattack from W.E.B. Griffin's The Corps series. Ten multiple-choice questions focus mainly on characters from the story.
Curated OER
The Pearl by John Steinbeck (Chapter One)
Explore the dark world of Steinbeck's short novel. After your learners read the first chapter of The Pearl, give them this quiz. Ten multiple-choice questions focus on reading comprehension.
Magic Light Pictures
Room on the Broom Word Scramble
Develop young readers' spelling and vocabulary skills with a simple word scramble worksheet. Complementing a reading of the children's book Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson, this resource helps to reinforce students'...