Curated OER
Descriptive Writing Lessons
Descriptive writing lessons can lead students on an exploration of how adjectives enhance any written work.
Curated OER
People Behind the Parks
Explore U.S. geography with your class by viewing a documentary. Show a portion of the Ken Burns documentary "The National Parks," and identify the individuals responsible for keeping the parks in order. Elementary and middle schoolers...
Reed Novel Studies
The Doll People Novel Study
Make believe becomes a reality in The Doll People by Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin. Readers answer worksheet comprehension questions about the seven dolls living in the house and examine the advantages and disadvantages of living life...
Curated OER
Word Pairs
Students compare similar words that are often confused. In this Language arts lesson, students review meanings of words that are often confused. Students complete a worksheet and sentences to practice correct usage of these words.
Curated OER
"Knot" the Whole Truth: Writing a Modern-Day Story with a Tall Tale's Voice
Beyond Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, tall tales can be a great way to teach young writers about word choice and voice in their writing. Using Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee and the Six-Trait Writing process, they begin to write their own...
EngageNY
Summarizing Notes: Planning a Graphic Novelette Part 1: The Invention of Television
What's the story? Learners create the first of four storyboards about the invention of the television, incorporating narrative techniques and descriptive details. Next, they offer and receive feedback by participating in a peer critique...
EngageNY
Analyzing Point of View: Inferring about the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on People Living in New Orlean
What, where, how? Readers hone their analysis skills as they determine the narrator's point of view in Eight Days. They complete a literary analysis chart and essay to describe what and where events take place. Individuals then discuss...
Reed Novel Studies
Paperboy: Novel Study
Little Man, in Vince Vawter's Paperboy, is a great baseball player, but due to stuttering he'd rather not speak to a soul. Scholars read how Little Man deals with his fears as they use vocabulary words to complete sentences, answer seven...
Curated OER
Word Hunt
In this word hunt worksheet, students supply as many words as possible to name things that are described. In this short answer worksheet, students write nouns for thirty descriptions.
Curated OER
Antonyms, synonyms and homophones
Shed light on what antonyms, synonyms, and homophones are. In this lesson, upper elementary schoolers create pairs using an antonym, a homophone, and/or a synonym. Then they play an antonym matching game.
Nosapo
Shopping for Clothing
Let's go shopping! A series of activities focus on vocabulary words related to articles of clothing and shopping for clothes. Additionally, learners complete sentences using how much and how many.
Curated OER
Stories Behind Pacific Northwest First Nations' Images
Students investigate Canadian culture by examining mascots of the 2010 Olympics. In this Canadian history instructional activity, students read a Vancouver Olympics guide to identify three Canadian mascots and their importance to the...
Curated OER
Using Plural Nouns in Descriptions
In this plural nouns learning exercise, students complete three exercises that help them understand and use plural nouns in descriptive writing.
Curated OER
ESL: Practice Using Present Progressive Tense
Small, cartoonish pictures of people expressing emotions and actions (blowing his nose, holding her head and frowning, dancing, smiling) provide the basis for writers to describe the feelings and experiences taking place. Help your ESL...
Curated OER
Mapping Your Identity: A Back-To-School Ice Breaker
Identify the unique personal attributes of your class members. Begin by viewing the Visual Thesaurus and discussing displayed attributes associated with famous American leaders. Using these identity maps as models, pupils generate nouns...
Reed Novel Studies
Homeless Bird: Novel Study
Many people face the struggle between tradition and desire to forget their own paths. A study guide for the novel Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan discusses the issue of adhering to tradition from the perspective of a protagonist who faces...
Reed Novel Studies
The Whipping Boy: Novel Study
Sometimes people find friendships in the most unlikely places, and The Whipping Boy is no different. Few would think that Jeremy and the Prince for whom he takes whippings could ever become friends. However, after a hostage situation...
Reed Novel Studies
I Am David: Novel Study
Many people dream of getting a fresh start or starting over again. David, a main character in I am David, gets that chance and must learn to live life outside of the concentration camp. Scholars read about David's adventures as they...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan 18: Art Project! Design Your Own Book Cover
Finished your novel? What’s next? Designing the book cover, of course. But how to begin? After examining the covers of published books and noting the common elements of these jackets, young novelists design a front and back cover for...
Curated OER
ASL: Lesson 20
Teach it, learn it, communicate with it. ASL is at your fingertips with this sign language series. Lesson 20 focuses on classifiers, descriptive vocabulary, and asking questions. Each blue link on the page takes you to an image or video...
Reed Novel Studies
The Westing Game: Novel Study
A legacy lives on. Even though Samuel Will Westing, a character in the The Westing Game, has passed away, his love for games lives on through the unusual selection in his will. Scholars read of the mystery, learn 10 new vocabulary words,...
Curated OER
A Call for Change
"Come gather round people, wherever you roam..." Bring the voice of Bob Dylan to your class with this lesson plan, which takes Dylan's song "The Times They Are A-Changing" and analyzes both the message and voice in the lyrics. Your class...
Curated OER
Geography of Mesopotamia
Students write a letter. In this irrigation lesson, students review how humans and the environment can interact with each other, learn new vocabulary words having to do with Mesopotamia, learn about irrigation and view maps of...
Novelinks
The Giver: Biopoem
The characters in Lois Lowry's The Giver are rich and complex as they weave their way through the plot. Examine the character traits of one chosen person with a biopoem, which enables learners to follow a poetic format in writing a...