Orange County Department of Education
Trapped by the Ice
Third graders read the story "Trapped by the Ice" which is about the Antarctic adventures of Sir Ernest Shackleton. They identify, write and share examples of respect and responsibility demonstrated by the stories' characters. Students...
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Pilkey Author Study
Third graders read and hear stories by the author, Dav Pilkey and research the list of books written by this author. They become illustrators to the novel "Captain Underpants: An Epic Novel," then they create a timeline of their lives...
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Hurricane
Students use children's literature in order to investigate the concept of hurricanes and how they occur. The metaphor is used to describe a play area that is magical. They use their imaginations and write about their favorite places to...
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Message in a Bottle
Sixth graders write a short story about being stranded on a deserted island. After a brief geography review of locations at various latitudes and longitudes, 6th graders draft their story about being stranded. They use sensory and...
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A View from Overhead
Students explore the concept of mapping. Using given illustrations, students observe views of a park from above the ground. They compare and contrast the different views. Students discuss uses for maps. Using a resource from the...
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Digital Storytelling
Students write a personal narrative and convert the story into digital format. In this digital storytelling lesson, students write a personal narrative, record the story, create images for the story, add animations or transitions, and...
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Volcanoes
Second graders review the characteristics and aspects of volcanoes. Using this information, they write a creative story and draw illustrations to accompany the words. They use geographical terms to describe a location and the physical...
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Prepare for a Field Trip
Students write a journal exercise that relates to preparing for a trip. They make a visual map to generate ideas about things to see, do and learn during the field trip. They assign roles for different tasks that need to be performed...
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Ask the Oracle
Students invent an imaginary character that has the ability to time travel to China and create stories in the tradition of a traveler's tale, whereas their characters visit China's capital city, Beijing, and go to the Great Wall of China...
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Who am I?
Students develop their writing skills by creating a character sketch about themselves. Students read character sketches, view portraits by famous artists, select one personality traits, and affix a mug shot of themselves into a famous...
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Oregon Trail Diary
Students write a diary. In this writing and creativity lesson, students pretend they are moving west and keep a diary about their adventures. Students study real-life scenarios about families who made the trip out west before writing...
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Symmetry in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Students examine knightly virtues and will measure Gawain's strength in the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In this poetry analysis lesson, students identify the bob-and-wheel poetic form and analyze symmetry in the poem. Students...
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Spain and Bullfighting
Middle schoolers research Spain and bullfighting. They use the Internet and other reference materials. Spain's bullfighting festivals and activities will be used as a springboard for inspiring students to write creatively.
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Pupils read "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." After observing the illustrations and previewing chapter titles, students predict what will happen in the story. They research and contact chocolate companies to gather information on...
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Multicultural Fairy Tales -- The Stuff of Magic
Third graders are introduced to the characteristics of fairy tales. After being read some examples, they write their own fairy tale based on their adventures on a magic carpet ride after making a chart to organize their thoughts. To...
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The Land and the Water
Third graders read "The Land and the Water," a fictional short story and an article about John F. Kennedy, Jr. and compare and contrast fictional tragedy to a non-fiction tragedy. They fill out a Venn diagram and write an essay using...
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Analogies-Valentine's Day
In this Valentine's Day analogy worksheet, students respond to 7 questions by writing the most appropriate word in the blank to complete the analogy.
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Identifying Genre and Subgenre #2
In this identifying genre and subgenre #2 activity, 9th graders read 17 short summaries, then select the genre and subgenre from the choices given and explain their choice in writing.
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Frog and Toad
Second graders use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast buttons after listening to the story, A Lost Button.
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Then What Happened?
Students complete activities about the story "Diary of a Worm", by Doreen Cronin. In this reading comprehension lesson, students make predictions and apply prior knowledge about the topic of the story. They actively listen as the book is...
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The Odyssey: A Deeper Appreciation
Students read "The Odyssey" and identify the ways it relates to their own lives. As a class, they also examine the history of the story and identify the various Greek gods and goddesses. In groups, they focus on the geography of the...
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The Bear Facts About Summarization
Students practice summarizing techniques in this lesson. They listen as the teacher reads from a non-fiction article, and the class creates a story map to highlight the most important facts from the article. They use the map to write a...
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Primary History: Ancient Greeks Sea and Ships
In this Ancient Greeks learning exercise, students complete 4 extension activities to learn about Ancient Greece. students make a model of a Greek ship, read the story of Jason and the Argonauts, write a diary of a sea voyage, and then...
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Who am I?
Students practice their writing skills by creating a character sketch of themselves. After viewing portraits, they select one personality trait and put their own picture into the painting of their choice. They include a conversation with...