Science 4 Inquiry
Rocks Makin' Rocks: Rock Cycle Simulation
Scholars review prior knowledge before completing a hands-on simulation of the rock cycle. They write stories or songs summarizing their simulations to demonstrate mastery.
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Beanie Friend Vacation Stories
Students write an adventure story about their vacation with a Beanie friend. They select a city, research its vacation possibilities and write about the places that they would like to visit.
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Changing the End of a Story
Second graders re-write a story. In this alternate endings lesson plan, 2nd graders read Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse, by Leo Lionni, stopping to discuss the events and predict what will happen next. Students work in groups to come up...
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Telling A Story
Students discover that every story has a start, middle and end. In this literature lesson, the teacher models using a picture to show the parts of the story. Students each take a picture and tell a story using start, middle and end.
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Improvisational Setting - "Where are You?"
Second graders explore setting through improvisations. For this theatre lesson, 2nd graders perform a variety of improvisations in different settings and chart how they established the setting in the different environments.
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Teaching Story Elements: Jack and the Beanstalk
Students define fictional story elements. In this reading comprehension lesson, students read Jack and the Beanstalk and view an included SMARTboard lesson. Students use the SMARTboard to match the story element terms with the specific...
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Colonial Writing Project
Fourth graders write from the perspective of a child in the colonial period. In this writing lesson, 4th graders create a fictional character living in the colonial period and write about daily life from their perspective.
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Missing Toy Writing Activity
Students listen to Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale, by Mo Willems. In this listening and writing lesson, students listen to the story and create a poster for their favorite toy if it were to go missing. They work independently to...
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Story Creation Magic: Character, Setting, Plot
Students review the terms plot, setting, and characters and examine how all of these elements are needed to make a story. They are given parts of stories and they try to identify all of those parts of the story.
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Egg Carton Stories
Students create stories with better structure when they are able to focus on its characters, setting, and plot. Teacher creates settings, character, and problem cartons with information written on strips of paper.
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Photo Essay
Learners examine the process of writing a photo essay. They examine and select a personal photo or photo from a magazine, and brainstorm a story that can go with the photo. They identify an emotion to go with their picture, then write...
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Goal Setting
Pupils discuss the importance of setting goals, then set goals, and keep a record of their achievements. They read books about goal-setters and listen to a guest speaker.
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Story Books
Students discuss a narrative work of art, then write stories describing the action and publish their stories and illustrations in books.
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Characters in Nathaniel Hawthorne's Stories
Pupils read literature by Nathaniel Hawthorne and write an essay comparing the main characters in the two stories. In this character analysis lesson plan, students read the stories Young Goodman Brown and The Minister's Black Veil....
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Write like David Shannon
Students distinguish various books by David Shannon from other authors, compare three of Shannon's books for similarities, list various possible settings for stories, integrate Shannon's pattern of writing into their own, and formulate...
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Story Map for Bud, Not Buddy
Why should your class complete a story map? After reading Bud, Not Buddy, divide your class into pairs or small groups to complete the included worksheet. They list the main characters, the conflict, main plot events, the resolution, and...
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Original Children's Books
Bring the fun and creativity of children's stories to your language arts class. Middle schoolers write, revise, and publish an original student book which incorporates the elements of a short story. They put their story in the form of a...
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Goldilocks Live!!!
Study story elements with your young learners. Read Goldilocks and the Three Bears and discuss the order of events by making a story panel out of butcher paper. Sentences are given as suggestions for the panel, though you may...
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The Writing Process
Show your young researchers how to find information, brainstorm a topic, map or outline their own stories, and create rough drafts. This instructional activity also shows learners how to peer edit, conference with the teacher, and write...
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Hispanic and English Literature
Eleventh graders listen to a brief history lesson about the 40's and 50's mid-West America and the Migrant workers that worked the fields. Next, learners will read a short story written by Tomas Rivera (both in Spanish and English)....
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Organizing Writing to Convey a Central Idea
Fourth and fifth graders practice the skill of organizing their writing to convey a central idea by sorting 14 facts about the dogwood tree into four categories of facts. The categories, which are written on the board, are; Governmental...
Minnesota Literacy Council
Grapes of Wrath and Pronouns
Many regard John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath as the great American novel. The lesson plan combines a variety of strategies, including partner work, independent practice, creative writing, grammar instruction, and small group...
Missouri Department of Elementary
The Clique
Mean girls and bully packs are favorite topic for films and TV shows that focus on the destructive power of cliques. High school freshmen are asked to reflect on both the positive and negative aspects of cliques by reading a short...
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Quotation Response Speech: Public Speaking Skills
Improve high schoolers' public speaking with an engaging activity. Class members select three personally relevant quotes from a list. They then write a short speech for each quote, explaining how the quotes are personally relevant....