There are three spinners to use in this phonic activity. Spinner one contains digraphs, spinner two contains vowels, and spinner three contains consonants. Learners spin each spinner, write down the letters they get, blend them to make a...

Emergent readers use a letter cube to identify, blend, and make words. They roll each of the three-letter cubes, mark down the letters they rolled, then blend the letter sounds together to make a word. They record each word on a...

Scholars use the provided pack of alphabet cards to construct basic CVC words, then write down each word they make in one of two columns. Column one is for real words and column two is for nonsense words.

Learners view a series of images, then choose digraphs, consonants, and vowels to spell out the object's name on each card.

Paint with the colors of reading! Learners in special education classes or mainstream classes practice decoding basic and advanced code with a series of sentences on paint blobs. Once they read the sentence, learners cover one spot on...

Second graders practice skills, including spelling, grammar, and reading. Pupils examine vowel sounds and tricky words, nouns, and verbs. They begin the writing process by drafting a persuasive letter and decoding texts.

What advantages do political cartoons have over written editorials? Scholars discuss the topic by exploring editorial cartoons. Working in small groups, pupils analyze an Uncle Sam cartoon and complete a worksheet. As a fun extension,...

Known as one of the most iconic advertisements of the 20th century, Macintosh's "1984" commercial has become more of a social statement. Present the ad to a new audience of viewers with a lesson focused on identifying dystopian...

First graders identify letters and sounds associated with -ew and -oo sounds. Each learner receives a stack of cards containing these sounds, and they must determine whether the word uses the -ew or the -oo sound. This could easily...

This is a really good lesson. Learners explore US Foreign Policy, the Reagan Administration, and the Iran-Contra Affair through various documents and readers theater. Worksheets, script, and web links are all included. Teaching can't get...

Kindergarteners and first graders develop phonemic awareness for words that contain -ick. Each learner gets a stack of cards with different -ick words, highlighting the target sound as they review each one. 

Ollie the octopus is occupied! Use this tongue twister to help youngsters learn the /o/ sound. After practicing the target sound, learners should print the letter. When they are familiar with the letter and its sound, the group will...

Reading snail mail is a great way to go back into history and to understand others' points of view. The resource, the second in a five-part unit, covers the Dreyfus Affair. Scholars, working in two different groups, read one letter and...

Use a poster picture of a slide to illustrate the blending of phonemes in words. First show your youngsters basic examples like cat and cap. Then have learners work in pairs to create some blends of their own! Provide words for them to...

Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack! Inspire some competition between your learners with a baseball-themed reading game. Players take turns reading as many words as they can, and once they reach a card they can't read, they tally...

Are you looking for a terrific lesson plan on map activities for your second graders? Then, this resource is for you! The activities range from decoding, to fill-in-the-blank, to read-and-search. There is a website activity related to...

Here's a richly detailed unit, designed for second graders, that focuses on decoding figurative language, including similes, metaphors, personification and idioms.

Here are three guided reading lesson plan templates; each designed to meet the needs of a specific level of readers. Levels in focus are emergent, early, and transitional readers. Additionally, prompts to support your small group...

Learners read as many high-frequency words as possible in a given amount of time. Peer one reads a word from a list, and peer two points to the corresponding word as they are seen on the table. This activity is timed and peer evaluated.

Just like climbing a mountain, little learners read to reach the top. They take turns picking high-frequency word cards, reading them, then matching them to the words on their mountain worksheet. They race to reach the top of the...

Learners time each other as they read as many high-frequency words as possible in one minute. Peers record progress.

Chances are good that young scholars have heard of the Tuskegee Airmen but few would predict that these pilots had their own support in the form of the Tuskegee Weathermen. These Black meteorologists were recruited and trained to provide...

Scholars play high-frequency word baseball, pretending to be a pitcher and a batter. Players take turns choosing baseballs with high-frequency words printed on them. If they read the word correctly, they move to the next base until they...

Play this fun adaptation of the game Memory. Young scholars flip over high-frequency word cards, read them aloud, and keep them if they match.