DeKalb County Schools
Compare/Contrast
A series of reading activities is sure to engage your young readers! Based on comparing and contrasting ideas, the packet provides opportunities to compare characters, themes, texts, and other elements of fiction.
Curated OER
Successful Reading Strategies for ELL Students
Students improve their reading comprehension through predicting, connecting with text and summarizing. Students should have already read the book Seedfolks and made predictions based upon what they had seen from the cover and pictures...
Curated OER
Kindergarten Writing: Narrative Prompt
What is special about summer (fall, winter, or spring)? Using a bag filled with season-related items (for summer items like sunglasses, a swimming suit, etc.) the class take turns taking out one item. A discussion of how each item might...
Curated OER
The Relatives Came: A Family Read-Along
Students read the book, 'The Relatives Came' by Cynthia Rylant to revive memories about their own summer vacations and family customs. They write a friendly letter about a fantasy summer vacation--"What I Wish I Did on My Summer...
Edgate
Learning From the Past: Origin of the Modern Summer Games
Where did our beloved Summer Games originate? Kids look for the origins of the Summer Olympics in our ancient past. They research how the Games came to be and how they have changed. They'll complete Venn diagrams to compare and contrast...
PB Works
The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway
There is more going on under the surface of Ernest Hemingway's work than one can glean in an initial reading. A literature resource compares the themes and structures of several of Hemingway's works before prompting class members to use...
Curated OER
Scaffolding a Reading/Writing Lesson
Students explore pre-reading activities. Through looking at titles, and observing pictures, students predict what will happen in a story. They listen to a part of the story and then write their own conclusion. Students complete the story...
Curated OER
Great Picture Books to Teach Social Studies for Grade K-3
Every class enjoys reading new books at the beginning of a unit. Use this resource to identify a variety of books for kindergarten to third grade that can be used to complement social studies standards. The books can kindle learners'...
Curated OER
Winter and Summer Storms Scenarios
Fourth graders analyze how summer and winter storms are different. In this weather lesson, 4th graders construct a winter storm simulation box and a summer storm bottle and record the temperature and barometer readings. The directions to...
Curated OER
Episodic Writing Using Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
Help your middle-schoolers expand their writing skills with this lesson on episodic writing, which focuses on story details, idea development, and organization. After reading "The Eighth Picture: End of Summer" from Patricia Reilly...
Curated OER
Summer Camp 2050
Students create a camp for the future. In this simulation activity, students will research various energy sources, and create a proposal for the "city council" to recommend what energy sources should be used for a summer camp in the year...
Curated OER
Writing Bug: A Summer Away
In this writing worksheet, students read a story starter which asks them what 3 small items they would take to make themselves feel at home if they were going to a friend's house all summer. Students finish the story.
Curated OER
Seasons
Third graders draw a picture. In this seasons lesson, 3rd graders name the seasons of the year, discuss what happens during each season, read a poem for each season and draw a picture for each season.
Curated OER
Book Club Discussion: Things Fall Apart
Students read and discuss Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart. Students are guided to analyze the text through consideration of the author's use of 6 literary devices. Students also evaluate the text according to their personal...
Curated OER
Summer Activities: Let's Try Bubble Blowing!
Students observe as the teacher blows bubbles from a large bubble pipe in order to take note of the colors and sizes of the bubbles. In this bubble blowing instructional activity, students experiment with a variety of bubble-blowing...
Curated OER
Babushka Baba Yaga
Students read books by the author Patricia Polacco and complete different activities for the 4 books. In this language arts lesson plan, students read the books Babushka Baba Yaga, Boat Ride With Lillian Two Blossom, Pink and Say, and...
Curated OER
Active Reading: Finding a Conversation Voice
Learners practice reading for comprehension and understanding. In groups, students read, out loud, using a conversation voice. They predict and discuss the story as it unfolds.
Urbana School District
Knocking Down Fences
After reading The Other Side and guiding children through a picture walk, third graders investigate evidence of the civil rights movement. In the mini unit, 3rd graders analyze photographs of the past and make connections...
Curated OER
Summer Festivals
Learners read about European holidays and then design their own creative festival. For this cultural awareness lesson, students use primary and secondary resources in order to uncover facts and practices that occur during European...
Curated OER
Leprechaun Dust
Learners make "leprechaun dust" in this short art lesson using Jello instant pistachio pudding, small jars, milk, and spoons. Ideal for celebrating St. Patrick's Day with early-elementary students. Can be combined with the reading of a...
Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Day 1
"Now is the summer of our happiness/Made winter by this sudden, fierce attack!" Luke Skywalker meets Hamlet in a 10-instructional activity unit based on Ian Doescher's William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, a New Hope. Using Star...
Mississippi Whole School Initiative
Dream Big...With Your Eyes Wide Open
For many people, Barack Obama's presidency was the next step in Martin Luther King, Jr's dream of America's future. Explore the dreams of Americans past and present, as well as the young Americans in your class, with a set of activities...
Curated OER
Moral Development in Camus' The Stranger
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” Readers of The Stranger rate Mersault’s moral development (or lack thereof) using Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development scale. Using...
Curated OER
Water, Water Everywhere
Students devise a system for watering classroom plants during school year and summer breaks. In this watering system lesson, students work in teams to investigate water needs of plants and develop systems that will keep the plants...