Curated OER
To March or Not to March?
Students read historical artifacts about the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and analyze the choices made during the time. In this March on Washington lesson, students read Martin's Big Words and the 'Step Back in Time' sheets....
Curated OER
Literature Circles
Pupils respond aesthetically to a piece of text. They give book talks about a picture book their small group read and rate it. Each student has a different job in the literature cirlce during the discussions. Finally, the students...
Curated OER
Catherine, Called Birdy: December and January
Students work in literary circles to discuss Catherine, Called Birdy. In this Catherine, Called Birdy instructional activity, students brainstorm ideas for discussion and observe as the teacher models a good discussion group. Students...
Curated OER
Whodunit? Creating Mysterious Plays
Students examine mystery plays by reading a number of five-minute mysteries. They write and perform their own plays.
Curated OER
Exploring American Tall Tales
Students explore elements of American folktales and tall tales. In this literature lesson, students read examples of American folktales and tall tales and prepare a monologue or news report to present to the class based on their readings.
Curated OER
Legacies of the Middle Passage
Students research the Atlantic slave trade during the 18th century. In this slave trade instructional activity, students read a narrative about colonial expansion in the Americas and the rise of slavery in the United States. Students...
Curated OER
The Bard, the Globe, the Midsummer Night's Dream
Students complete a unit of lessons to learn about William Shakespeare and the Globe Theatre. In this William Shakespeare lesson, students complete 7 lessons of activities to study William Shakespeare, the Globe Theatre, and the play 'A...
Curated OER
Signing a Poem
Students interpret poetry though movement. In this poetry lesson students take a poem they've previously read and discussed in class and work in pairs to develop gestures for each line.
Curated OER
Roman Gods and Goddesses
Students discuss Roman gods and goddess and give reasons the religion would be difficult to follow. In this Roman gods and goddesses lesson, students read the Legend of Romulus and Remus and complete a chart on all of the gods and...
Curated OER
Out of the Dust
Learners choose an individual project or a group project to culminate the reading of Out of the Dust. In this Out of the Dust instructional activity, students have a choice of creative projects to complete after they have finished the...
Novelinks
The Devil’s Arithmetic: Semantic Feature Analysis
Organize the characters in Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic according to their shared character traits. After listing character traits as a class, kids note which characters exhibit particular characteristics with a discussion and...
Curated OER
Peter and the Starcatchers: Magic Squares
Engage your class in vocabulary from Peter and the Starcatchers with this exercise. Learners match words to their definitions to determine the magic number.
Curated OER
The Correct Use of the Articles "A" and "An"
Students discover the grammatical rules regarding articles. For this grammar lesson, students study the rule regarding the use of "a" and "an" in writing. Students are encouraged to discover the rule on their own and apply the rule while...
Curated OER
A Biography of Amir Khan
In this literature learning exercise, students read a biography about Amir Khan, a middleweight boxer who won an Olympic bronze in Athens. They identify whether each statement is true or false. Then, students look at his career and...
KIPP 3D Academy
Epic Poetry Unit
The Odyssey is the core text in this unit study of the hero's journey motif. Along the way, kids research Greek and Roman history, mythology, art, and epic poetry. The 104-page packet is perfect for homeschool or classroom situations and...
Gwinnett County Public Schools
Analysis of the Tuck Everlasting and The Birchbark House Text Exemplars
Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...
Curated OER
Maniac Magee: Found Poem
Instruct your readers to scrounge through the pages of Maniac Magee in search for descriptive passages or words they may use to write poetry. As they look for meaningful, sensory descriptors in Jerry Spinelli's novel, readers connect to...
Gourmet Curriculum Press
Author's Purpose
Who knew determining author's purpose could be turned into a game? Four teams compete to correctly identify the author's purpose for writing a series of passages.
Curated OER
Cinderella Stories
Students listen to the Scottish tale, The Princess and the Golden Shoes, creating a character chart. They develop a newspaper containing news stories, personality profiles, and editorials regarding The Princess and the Golden Shoes.
Curated OER
Tuck Everlasting Unit
Natalie Babbitt's award winning fantasy, Tuck Everlasting, is the anchor text in a unit plan that focuses on identifying similes, metaphors, imagery, and personification in the text and analyzing how these elements effect the development...
Curated OER
Narrative Pantomime: The Great Kapok Tree
Students pantomime the story of The Great Kapok Tree for younger students. In this The Great Kapok Tree lesson, students warm up with a game before volunteering for parts in the story. Students practice acting out the story in...
Curated OER
Diversity
Students access prior knowledge of the five senses and relate to students with disabilities. In this people with disabilities lesson, students research and use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast famous people and their...
Curated OER
Digital Poetry Books
Students, after reviewing the writing process and assessing how to use a digital camera to take creative photos, create a Digital Poetry Book. They incorporate the use of Microsoft Photo Draw and Publisher for the creation of their...
Facing History and Ourselves
Literature Circles: Preparing for Literature Circles through a Fishbowl Discussion
Students examine the attributes of productive conversations. In this fishbowl discussion lesson, students observe a modeled discussion of a literature circle. Students watch a discussion of "The Bear That Wasn't" and note how individuals...