Curated OER
Demonstrating Our Rights
Students view image of Bridgeport Community Protest, discuss event depicted in image, and demonstrate knowledge of protest by organizing and carrying out an actual protest or demonstration.
Curated OER
African Folktales
Students examine the art of storytelling. In groups, they write their own African folktales, design costumes, props and scenery, and videotape folktale presented in dramatic form.
Curated OER
Inspector Readers: The 002 Book Club
This unit introduces book clubs/literature circles to lower elementary classes, but could be adapted to higher grades. It outlines the anticipatory activity that includes a WebQuest, a discussion to clarify questions about the unit,...
Curated OER
Holes Comprehension Companion
Here is a one-stop planning resource for Louis Sachar's Newbery Award-winning book Holes. You'll find 21 links to worksheets and various activities designed to span the entire book. Learners draw to help analyze settings and...
Curated OER
Analyzing Two or More Nonfiction Texts
How does recognizing the author's purpose help you draw conclusions about a topic? Using two articles (both are attached), learners brainstorm why each author wrote each article. Are their purposes similar or different? Learners use a...
Curated OER
Peace Brainstorming Activity
Students study the topic of peace and use brainstorming techniques to create a clustering diagram. In this peace brainstorming activity, students organize brainstorming material to complete a writing assignment. Students create...
Scholastic
I Survived Being Bullied
Listen, or read, to a first-hand account of how 15-year old Adama survived being bullied. Scholars gain insight into Adama's experience while reinforcing reading comprehension and vocabulary skills using context clues.
Harper Collins
The World of Ramona
Bring the fun and whimsy of Beverly Cleary into your classroom with a teaching guide created to accompany the Ramona series. The guide offers several ideas for classroom use, including independent reading, reading aloud, and literature...
Curated OER
Aesop's Fables
Regale your class with renditions of Aesop's fables from the engaging, and beautifully illustrated book by Jerry Pinkney. Guide discussion to practice prediction, compare and contrast various stories, explore the connections between the...
Curated OER
Rewriting a Dialogue (removing quotes)
This is a great activity! Upper elementary learners read a dialogue-driven passage. Then, they rewrite lines of dialogue by removing the quotation marks and shifting the verb tense to past. Grammar and great writing skills all in one. An...
Curated OER
Because of Winn-Dixie
Take an in-depth look at a passage from Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn-Dixie. Included here is the reading passage as well as a step-by-step procedure for reading the text, a set of text-dependent questions, and a final writing...
K12 Reader
Order of Adjectives: Circle the Correct One
Which comes first in an adjective phrase: a word denoting a noun's quality, or a word describing a noun's function? If your elementary grammarians don't know the answer, have them review ten pairs of adjective phrases and circle the one...
Alliance Theater
The Jungle Book Post-Show STEAM Lesson
An ecosystem is really just the flow of energy through many different living organisms. A study of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book leads to an environmental science activity in which learners study how various factors can affect...
Reed Novel Studies
Rules: Novel Study
Have you ever been so focused on others, that a look in the mirror surprises you? It seems that Catherine, a character in Rules, does just that when she focuses so much on her autistic brother's behaviors that she is surprised by her own...
Curated OER
Playground Safety Check
Students study a playground safety checklist, conduct a safety check of the schoolyard and/or local playground and write a report about their findings, # present the report to school or community leaders
Curated OER
My Hero Story Scramble
Use websites to read stories about heroes. The "My Hero" website provides skills and reading materials to help your class analyze sequence and story parts. They put the events in order to show the correct sequence of events.
Curated OER
Teaching About Tolerance Through Music
Explore the importance of tolerance with a music-themed lesson. Learners listen to the music of Peter, Paul, and Mary, and discern the underlying messages before discussing the painful effects of ridicule, disrespect, and...
Curated OER
The Landscape of a Novel
Students, after reading a novel, utilize geographic skills to map out the places described in the novel. They collect data, envision spatial features and then design a map to work off of to complete their assignment. Each student also...
Curated OER
My Spelling Dictionary
Develop study skills and improve spelling at the same time. Every time I teach this mnemonic device, the kids thank me. It makes memorizing more manageable, and fun. To remember how to spell difficult words, make up a sentence using...
Curated OER
Fractured Fairy Tales
Through reading and writing, learners explore common elements found in fairy tales. After discussing traditional fairy tales, class members listen to The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by John Scieszka, a hilarious retelling of the...
Curated OER
Vocabulary Practice with Present Tense Verbs
Learners determine the meaning of vocabulary in each of eight sentences and select from three possible sentences that have the same meaning expressed differently. A rigorous way to practice vocabulary; more thought is needed than if you...
Curated OER
Sly Book Channel
Create a commercial for a favorite book and broadcast this pitch on the Sly Book Channel! Learners practice retelling, summarizing, comparing/contrasting, and evaluation skills as they prepare their scripts. The approved scripts are then...
Curated OER
The Swimming Hole by Laura Ingalls Wilder
This PowerPoint provides a summary, comprehension questions, vocabulary words, and links for independent activities related to the story "The Swimming Hole" by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Age-appropriate definitions of such literacy elements...
Curated OER
Confused and Misused Words and Phases
This grammar lesson will definitely help your students ace the next skills evaluation. Provided are several examples of words that are commonly misused, confused, or misspelled. Five different strategies are given to help students avoid...