Curated OER
First Graders, Fluency and FUN!
First graders develop their reading fluency during the school year. In this language arts instructional activity, 1st graders discover what skilled readers do when they are reading, such as chunking text or thinking about the...
Curated OER
Wrinkles ESL Lesson
Practice English vocabulary and dialogue. An ELD class completes a true/false worksheet about aging and wrinkles, then read an article entitled "Wrinkles Give Clues to Bone Condition" using context clues to determine vocabulary...
Curated OER
Questioning
Practice making predictions by looking at the cover of a book. You can use The Hungry Thing, as suggested here, or any other book you may be reading in class. Use the predictions to talk about good reading strategies. A chart is...
A to Z Teacher Stuff
Word Search Match
Go beyond a traditional word search with a clue matching, word search combo. Scholars read clues, write the word that matches, then search for the word in a puzzle. Clues and words offer insight into the life of polar bears.
Byrne Bob
Dr. Moku's Hiragana Mnemonics
What do repulsive reptiles and a farting cow have to do with hiragana? Find out as you master the basics of hiragana quickly and easily. Each syllable is paired with an image and a sentence designed to stick in your mind. You won't be...
Macmillan Education
The Tell-Tale Heart
Rather than who done it, the mystery literary detectives have to solve as they examine the evidence found in Edgar Allan Poe's famous "The Tell-Tale Heart" is why did he do it?
August House
How Tiger Got His Stripes
How did the tiger get its stripes? Kindergartners read a Vietnamese folk tale, "How the Tiger Got His Stripes," retold by Rob Cleveland, and work through several reading comprehension and literary analysis activities.
Have Fun Teaching
Making Inferences (8)
Kids examine the clues provided by a prompt to infer what will happen next. They then illustrate the short story.
Prestwick House
Lord of the Flies
Nothing about William Golding's Lord of the Flies is straightforward, but you can map out the characters and key details in a helpful crossword puzzle. Twenty-seven clues review the book in an engaging and fun way.
American Museum of Natural History
Fighting Dinos
A famous fossil of fighting dinosaurs holds as many questions as answers. Scholars first analyze the fossil itself by virtually highlighting the specific bones of the dinosaurs and read about their function and importance. They then test...
Secondary Solutions
Of Mice and Men: A Literature Guide
Whether you are planning on using Of Mice and Men for whole-class reading or as a selection for literature circles; whether you are new to John Steinbeck's novel, or it has long been a part of your curriculum, you...
Big History Project
Human Migration Patterns II
While humans have always been on the move, the period between 1400 and 1800 saw vast migrations of people between the East and the West. These migrations—whether through slavery or a desire to colonize new lands—shaped the modern world....
Novelinks
Walk Two Moons: Story Impressions
Story chains connect literary concepts, reinforce context clues, and even help learners predict what's coming next! Using words from the next chapter of Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons, middle schoolers craft story chains to...
Reed Novel Studies
The Westing Game: Novel Study
A legacy lives on. Even though Samuel Will Westing, a character in the The Westing Game, has passed away, his love for games lives on through the unusual selection in his will. Scholars read of the mystery, learn 10 new vocabulary words,...
K20 LEARN
Slay the Slang! Summarizing Informational Texts
Middle schoolers get hip to the jive with a lesson plan about slang. They closely examine examples of slang and use context clues to infer the meaning of the terms. Groups read and summarize an article about a teacher who created a Gen Z...
Curated OER
Lesson 3: Branches of Government
Young historians climb through the three branches of the US government in the third lesson plan of this five-part series. While reading the first three Articles of the Constitution in small groups, children write facts on paper...
Starfall
A Is For...
Fun from A to Z! Use a collection of alphabet worksheets to help kids practice their letters. Kids can color and trace each letter, and draw items from a word list to indicate each letter.
Curated OER
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: Concept Analysis
Make sure you are well-informed before embarking on a study of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. This resource includes an analysis of the text that a teacher can use to prepare a unit of study. It covers plot elements, themes,...
National Park Service
A Tale of Two Men
Theodore Roosevelt and the Marquis de Mores were both born in 1858, and both came to the Dakota territory in 1883, but they influenced the developing country of America in different ways. Elementary and middle schoolers apply written and...
University of California
Impact of the California Missions on Native Americans
While the Spanish claimed to bring civilization to California indigenous peoples, in reality, they also brought violence and forced assimilation to European values. Primary sources, such as the reports of Catholic priests and Europeans...
Grammar Net
Prepositions
Add a instructional activity about prepositions and context clues to your grammar unit. As kids read 20 sentences, they fill in the blanks based on what they read and the prepositions that fit the best.
PBS
Think Like a Historian: A Viewing Guide
Calling all junior detectives! Scholars use the tools of investigation to determine the causes and impacts of the American Civil War. Using viewing guides, videos, group research, and written resources, they discover what it takes to...
EngageNY
Research Tasks: New Words, Relevant Information, Revision
Word builders. Scholars participate in a mini lesson plan about affixes. They then complete a research vocabulary organizer and share their definitions of the words with the class. They gather more evidence for their research from the...
Curated OER
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Magic Square Vocabulary
Before getting too far into The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, support your learners by introducing and practicing some vocabulary that might be unfamiliar to them. The vocabulary exercise here includes 16 words from the third and fourth...