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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

End of Unit 1 Assessment: Analyzing an Interview with a Rainforest Scientist Part 2 and Comparing and Contrasting Texts About Rainforest Biodiversity

For Teachers 5th Standards
The end is in sight. Pupils complete an end of unit assessment, analyzing an interview with a rainforest scientist and then comparing and contrasting two informational texts. Next, they complete a self-assessment to reflect on their...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Analyzing Documentary Videos: “Great Bear Rainforest Remote Camera Project” British Columbia, Canada

For Teachers 5th Standards
Lights, camera, action! Viewers discuss a video about the Great Bear Rainforest Remote Camera Project. As they watch, they find the gist, determine the meaning of unknown words, and analyze the features of a documentary as an...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Mid-Unit 1 Assessment: Analyzing an Interview with a Rainforest Scientist Part 1

For Teachers 5th Standards
What's it like to study snakes, reptiles, and turtles in their natural habitats? Serving as the mid-unit assessment, pupils read an interview with a rainforest scientist. Next, they analyze the text and answer text-dependent questions.
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Summarizing Informational Text: “Hawaii’s Endangered Happy Face Spider”

For Teachers 5th Standards
Put on a happy face. Using an interesting resource, pupils read an informational text about Hawaii's endangered Happy Face Spider. Next, they participate in a jigsaw discussion to find the gist of the article. 
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Continued Close Read of “Sloth Canopy Researcher: Bryson Voirin”

For Teachers 5th Standards
Let's explore the rainforest by studying its inhabitants. Pupils continue reading an interview with a sloth scientist and answer text-dependent questions. Next, they engage in a class discussion to share the new facts they learned about...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Reading an Interview: “Sloth Canopy Researcher: Bryson Voirin”

For Teachers 5th Standards
It's time to slow down and learn about sloths! Scholars read the first few questions of an interview with a sloth canopy researcher, looking for the gist. Next, they create a glossary in the back of their journals to add new scientific...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Building Background Knowledge: Examining the Unique Living Things of the Rainforests and the Scientists Who Study Them

For Teachers 5th Standards
Gorillas, tigers, and tree frogs ... welcome to the rainforest! Scholars complete a KWL chart to determine what they already know—and what they want to find out—about the rainforest. Next, they participate in a gallery walk, viewing...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Performance Task: Readers Theater Second Rehearsal and Performance

For Teachers 5th Standards
Prepare, practice, perform. Using the resource, actors first revise their conclusions for their readers theater scripts. Then, groups perform their scripts in front of the class, while peers evaluate each performance using a rubric. 
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Our Group Readers Theater: Revision, Conclusion, and First Rehearsal

For Teachers 5th Standards
Revision is the key to great writing. Individuals revise their readers theater scripts and write a group conclusion. Scholars then perform their scripts for another group and receive feedback.
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Our Group Readers Theater: Managing the Sequence of Events in Our Group Script

For Teachers 5th Standards
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Working in small groups, class members combine their independent readers theater scripts into part of a larger group script. They complete a storyboard to determine the best sequence for...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

End of Unit Assessment: Individual Sections of Readers Theater Script

For Teachers 5th Standards
Let's play! Pupils create titles for their readers theater scripts and act them out in a fun game of charades. Next, as part of their end of unit assessment, they write final copies of their individual scripts.
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Drafting Individual Readers Theater Scripts for a Specific Scene: Rephrasing, Narrator Introduction, and Identifying Characters

For Teachers 5th Standards
Read, revise, refine! Scholars refine their readers theater scripts by rephrasing some of the lines. Next, they write drafts of their narrator introductions and share their work with peers to give and receive feedback. 
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Drafting Individual Readers Theater Scripts for a Specific Scene: Narrowing Text for our Readers Theater Scripts

For Teachers 5th Standards
Let's focus. In small groups, writers narrow text selections to produce a narrative script based on the novel Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan. Next, pupils plan their reader's theater scripts based on the text.
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Identifying Theme: Connecting Passages from Esperanza Rising to Human Rights

For Teachers 5th Standards
Even fictional characters have rights. Scholars read selected passages from Pam Muñoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising and consider which of the five categories from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the text relates to. They glue each...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Mid-Unit Assessment: Evaluating a Novel Versus a Script

For Teachers 5th Standards
How are novels and scripts alike and different? As part of the mid-unit assessment, scholars complete a Venn diagram to compare two types of writing: a novel and a script. Next, they respond to short-answer questions, evaluating passages...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Readers Theater and the UDHR

For Teachers 5th Standards
Let's make connections! Using the resource, class members make connections between the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and their readers theater scripts. To finish, they complete a worksheet to evaluate the role of narration in...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Narratives as Theater: Esperanza Rising, from Novel to Script

For Teachers 5th Standards
Calling all thespians! Working in small groups, pupils practice reading and performing a readers theater script for the novel Esperanza Rising. Next, they read aloud passages from the novel and use an anchor chart to compare the script...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Narratives as Theater, Part I: What is Readers Theater?

For Teachers 5th Standards
Discover the exciting world of readers theater! Scholars learn all about the reading strategy, reading a script about American heroes and completing an I Notice/I Wonder chart. Next, pupils participate in readers theater using the script. 
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Reading and Writing About How to Perform a Process: How Meg Lowman Studies the Rainforest (Pages 4–8)

For Teachers 5th Standards
It's a process. Scholars read to understand the process Meg Lowman uses for pressing specimens. Learners work in groups to define vocabulary and create a list of the steps used. They then carry out the steps using provided materials. 
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Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Captioning the Civil Rights Movement: Reading the Images, Writing the Words

For Teachers 2nd - 8th Standards
Scholars boost their knowledge of the Civil Rights Movement with a instructional activity that challenges writers, readers, and historians to analyze primary sources and caption their observations. By way of reading, writing, discussion,...
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Lesson Plan
John F. Kennedy Center

Harriet Tubman: Secret Messages Through Song

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
A lesson all about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad introduces scholars to African American spirituals. By way of reading, speaking, and listening, learners discover, analyze, and decode African American spirituals. They...
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Lesson Plan
John F. Kennedy Center

Harriet Tubman: An Informative and Impressionistic Look

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Informational text and impressionistic art lead a lesson about Harriet Tubman. Working in teams, scholars examine a variety of resources. They analyze, compare, and contrast the work.  Using their research findings, pupils create an...
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Unit Plan
Crabtree Publishing

Remarkable Lives Revealed

For Teachers 2nd - 5th Standards
Six lessons make up a unit all about biographies. Scholars read about a remarkable life while taking notes and identifying characteristics of the biographical genre. Readers examine the tale's obstacles, accomplishments, and sequence of...
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Activity
Prindle Institute for Ethics

My Dream of Martin Luther King

For Teachers Pre-K - 5th Standards
Conduct a book study of the story, My Dream of Martin Luther King by Faith Ringgold. Followng a read-aloud, scholars take part in philosophical discussions covering the topics of freedom, equality, race, and heroes.