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I love My Hair
Students explore strategies to help focus on writing a personal narrative. In this personal narrative writing lesson, students read a book and discuss how the author lets readers know how they feel. Students find a moment in their own...
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Using Planning Time Effectively
Effective time management strategies for your planning time.
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Creating a Thunderstorm
First graders contrast sounds and make a thunderstorm rhythm. In this rhythm instructional activity, 1st graders listen to Native American music and make an original rhythm with their hands and feet. Students discuss Native...
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FLY to Success
First graders are asked how they can improve their skills. They are told how they can do better at following directions. Students identify what they need to listen for. They determine the skills needed to get along with others.
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Tricky Nicky
Pupils recognize the short vowel i in written and spoken language. Through listening and matching activities, they discriminate the vowel sound /i/ from other phonemes. Students identify the phoneme and letter in words they decode with a...
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Help the Upset Person Activity
Assess what self-help techniques your students know for dealing with upset emotions with this conversational activity. The teacher begins by role playing as an upset individual, using visual images as prompts, and then asks students...
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Take Me to Your Reader
Students observe and demonstrate a variety of strategies for reading with expression. They listen to the teacher read different sentences with and without expression and discuss the differences. Next, in pairs they take turns reading...
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Do You Know What You Just Read?
Students answer reading comprehension questions using the "story grammar" technique. They listen to a story and then answer questions using the technique: main character, setting, main events, and resolution. Students complete an...
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Arthur's Tooth
Students practice their reading comprehension by reading a story in their class. In this story map lesson, students read the Marc Brown book Arthur's Tooth and discuss the story, characters and setting. Students create a story map based...
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AB Form Through Movement
Students listen to music by Ludwig Van Beethoven and figure out the form of the piece. They create binary forms for additional songs, and then practice the rhythms with eurythmic movement.
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Let's Make Writing Fun
First graders listen to "The Rainbow Fish" and write a story using their own experiences with friends. They use computer programs to publish their story.
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Sound
First graders investigate sound and recognize the importance of hearing. They listen to and identify sounds in the environment, classroom, and on a pre-recorded tape. The students classify each type of sound and participate in a Sound...
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Introduction to Seeds
Students investigate how to plant a seed. In this gardening lesson, students listen to the book I'm a Seed and research the materials needed to plant a seed. Students present the information they found.
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Concrete Poems
First graders listen to several poems containing shapes as well as selected concrete poems. They brainstorm a list of their favorite things and then come up with ten words that relate to the top five things chosen by the students. They...
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Chrysanthemum - Read Aloud
First graders participate in active read aloud of Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. In this read aloud instructional activity set, 1st graders practice the "turn and talk" technique as they listen to Chrysanthemum. They listen to the story...
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Most Valued Possessions
Students listen to the story, The Legend of the Bluebonnet, and discuss their most special possessions. They illustrate and label a picture of who or what is most important to them.
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Hop Scotch
Students practice a variety of techniques and strategies to assess the letter sound of o=/o/. They encounter Elkonin Boxes to assist them with their task as well as the tongue twister "Oliver had an operation in October, and Oscar gave...
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Benjamin and the Way to A Good Life
Young scholars explore American history by reading biographical text in class. In this Benjamin Franklin instructional activity, students research the famous inventor by reading assigned text and answering reading comprehension questions...
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Desert Animals
First graders investigate and identify a variety of animals that live in the desert. They complete a class KWL chart, then listen to the book Way Out in the Desert. Next, 1st graders observe a presentation of live desert animals, and...
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Kid Maps: Reading and Creating Maps with Human Characteristics
Young scholars look at maps. In this map lesson, students listen to the book My Map Book by Sara Fanelli and they see the difference between human characteristics (buildings, etc.) and natural characteristics (rivers, etc.)....
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Thanksgving Poem
First graders read a Thanksgiving poem to build reading comprehension skills. They develop the skill of using context clues while explaining the meaning of each line of the poem. The assessment is done as the teacher listens to poems...
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Thumbs Up For Expert Readers!
Students use the cross check strategy to increase reading comprehension in this instructional activity. They listen as the teacher reads "Where the Wild Things Are." The teacher purposely reads some words wrong so that the story does...
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Reduce and Respect!
Students examine how to reduce trash to help the environment. In this environment lesson, students listen to the story, The Wartville Wizard, before thinking about how they can reduce trash. They decide why it is important to reduce...
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Sheila Rae the Brave
First graders practice summarizing with the book Sheila Rae the Brave by Kevin Henkes. For this summarizing lesson, 1st graders read the story over 3 days and answer comprehension questions. They write a summary about what they book was...