Curated OER
Lesson Plan 4: Creating Main Characters
Creating a good main character is a must when writing a creative narrative or novel. Elementary aged writers create main characters for the novel they are writing. They first use themselves as a models, then create a character as a...
Curated OER
Fortune Cookies Motivate Writing
Fortune cookies are used as motivation for a story. In this creative writing lesson, young writers review the six traits process. They discuss interesting characters, setting, problem and solution in a story. Original stories based on...
Curated OER
Character Motivation-Duke
Students explore a character's motivation in a text. For this characterization lesson, students view a video about Duke Ellington. Students discuss motivations for Duke Ellington and write sentences explaining Ellington's changes.
Curated OER
Descriptive Writing Using the Book Rumpelstiltskin
Use the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin to teach your third grade class about descriptive writing. Following a teacher read-aloud of the story, the class brainstorms a list of adjectives describing the main character. Students use this list...
Curated OER
Gettin' Through Thursday
Have your class explore active reading strategies! In this guided reading lesson, learners make personal connections to characters having a bad day as a prior knowledge activation discussion. After reading Gettin' Through Thursday, class...
Curriculum Corner
Friendship Tweet
A tweet can only be 140 characters long, including spaces. Challenge class members to write a positive note to one or more of their peers in 140 characters or less. It is a great activity to give on Valentine's Day to upper elementary...
Curated OER
Guest Readers
Young readers explore reading comprehension by creating a class presentation. For this storytelling lesson, puils read an assigned text in class and analyze the characters, settings and story. They create an illustrated presentation in...
Curated OER
Comprehending the Comics
Students discuss and examine the comic strip section in newspapers. They compare and contrast themselves and others with the comic strip characters. With partners, they select a comic strip and complete a student activity sheet.
Curated OER
Fairy Tale Book Report Form
Motivate you class with this resource. Learners read a fairy tale and then fill out this book report. They identify the name of the fairy tale, the author, the illustrator, and the setting on each of the blank lines. Then, they fill in a...
2012 Teaching Resources
Analyzing Character Traits
Character analysis becomes easy with a 24-page packet packed with mini-lessons, graphic organizers, and activities. A must-have for your curriculum library.
Curated OER
Lesson Plan 5: Creating a Supporting Character
As a class, young writers learn how to develop a strong supporting character. They think and discuss a good friend they know, they use that friend as a basis for a potential supporting character. They create a supporting character as a...
Curated OER
The Common Core Literacy Standards - Grade 3 Posters
Brighten your third grade classroom with this series of colorful Common Core displays. Including all of the English Language Arts standards and substandards, each with supporting illustrations and examples, this resource provides clear...
EngageNY
Close Reading of Nasreen's Secret School: How Do People Access Books in Afghanistan?
Third graders continue to practice the close reading skills of capturing the gist and reading again for important details in the sixth lesson in a larger unit. This is a great beginning-of-the-year unit for establishing visible thinking...
EngageNY
Close Reading of Waiting for the Biblioburro: Finding the Main Message and Taking Notes
Expose your class to Waiting for the Biblioburro, narrative nonfiction that will act as the bridge between ficiton and informational texts to come. Class members do a close reading of the text, looking at excerpts instead of the whole...
Curated OER
Amos and Boris: Text Study
Twenty insightful questions follow a read aloud of the story, Amos and Boris by William Steig. Scholars then show what they know through completion of a cause and effect chart, reading fluency assessment, and a written explanatory or...
Curated OER
Comic Books in the Classroom
You can use comic book projects to teach a variety of curriculum topics.
Curated OER
How Can We Write A Story Using Dr. Seuss' Writing and Illustration Style?
Students write a story. In this writing style and illustration instructional activity, students review elements of Dr. Seuss' writing and illustration style and read a few more books written by him, examining the writing style. ...
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Slavery and the Underground Railroad
Third graders discover racism in our country by investigating the Internet. In this abolitionist movement lesson, 3rd graders define the Underground Railroad and participate in an activity by logging on to an on-line History website. ...