Curated OER
Self-Monitoring Strategies and Vocabulary Games
Middle and high schoolers identify how to discover a word's meaning by exploring context clues and any pictures, diagrams, photographs, and charts that might be included. They continue this process with other examples and locate one on...
Newspaper Association of America
A Good Read
Teach your readers strategies for breaking down informational texts. Pupils develop and implement the tools they'll need to decode texts for the rest of their lives with an informational resource that focuses on the structure and...
Curated OER
Reading Comprehension
After listening to a story learners engage in a kinesthetic activity to answer comprehension and critical thinking questions. Finally, the students identify three main facts about the story. Extensions include a fact and opinion...
Curated OER
The Catcher in the Rye: Found Poem Activity
After concluding The Catcher in the Rye class members create a found poem using words drawn from J.D. Salinger’s “Both Parties Concerned.” The story, and directions for crafting a found poem, are included with the resource.
Curated OER
Math in Literature and Life
Pupils read poems, read phrases, and create a poster for what math is and relate it back to literature. They also discuss the impact math has had on literature.
Curated OER
Newcomers
Explore emotions associated with moving to a new home with young learners. First they listen to the books Painted Words/Spoken Memories by Aliki and Going Home by Eve Bunting. Then they are invited to share their experiences as well as...
Curated OER
Combining with Participial Phrases
Combine participial phrases and creative writing with this lesson, which is equally helpful for writing skills and conventions. After a mini-lesson on participial phrases and reading the picture book Dancing in the Wings, pupils use a...
Curated OER
Poetry In Song
Investigate poetry and song lyrics with your class. They will identify poetic elements in their favorite modern music. Then they will play their song choice aloud for their classmates.
Curated OER
Poet James Whitcomb Riley: Famous in His Own Day
An engaging biography of "Hoosier" poet James Whitcomb Riley serves as a springboard for study of his unique dialect-based verse. Several activities illuminate differences between spoken vernacular and formal language. Learners record...
Curated OER
The Interactive Read-Aloud
Students listen to a variety of books about immigration themes. They discuss immigration and some of the ideas presented in the books. They complete a variety of immigration-themed art projects.
Curated OER
Picture a Tarantula
Young scholars create an illustration based upon a read-aloud. For this visual arts lesson, students listen to the book The Tarantula Scientist and listen for details. Young scholars create a picture based upon what they imagined during...
Curated OER
Getting to Know You
After going over the five steps of the writing process, pupils fill out "Getting to Know You" worksheets. They trade papers with each other, and have the task of writing a descriptive paragraph about the person whose worksheet they...
Curated OER
The Tell-Tale Hearts of Writers
Knock, knock, knock...Creep out your class with a critical thinking lesson focused on word relationships in Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." They investigate the relationship between word choice, mood, and interpretation of...
Curated OER
Mouse Mess
Scholars practice rhyming and phonemic awareness using trade books and poetry. They will listen to the book Mouse Mess several times throughout the week, identifying rhyming words, and matching words that begin with the same sound. Then...
Creative Competitions, Inc.
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Fantastic Fairy Tale
Learning about literature can be so much fun; it can also be made more accessible through projects and dramatic play. As they explore theme, character, and setting, the class gets creative and makes a dramatic recreation of a classic...
Curated OER
Museums in the Classroom Pumpkin Project
Students identify the 5 stages in the life cycle of a pumpkin. They create a model showing the correct order of pumpkin life stages. They explain a pumpkin's life cycle to a partner, using their model.
Curated OER
Hattie and the Fox
Who is Hattie? Youngsters explore animal characteristics by reading poems and stories in class. They read the book Hattie and the Fox about a fictitious fox and his drama with the other farm animals. Then they reread the story over...
Curated OER
Out of Old England in the 1630s-Flat Me Project
Learners write letters to penpals. In this geography/literacy lesson, students become penpals with a classroom in England to learn about customs and society across the ocean. Flat Stanley by Will Holton is read aloud, and learners...
Curated OER
Bad Case of Stripes Lesson Plan
Students think about why we worry about what others think, bullying, and learning to respect and accept differences in others.In this Bad Case of Stripes lesson plan, students examine cause-and-effect relationships in a story as they...
Curated OER
In Character
Students fill out a character trait graphic organizer about characters in a book that they are reading. In this characters lesson plan, students see how traits relate to character actions.
Curated OER
The Little Red Schoolhouse
Students read about the history of the one room school house and complete language arts activities to go with it. Students answer comprehension questions, role play, group discuss, and more.
Arts Ed Washington
Art Lessons in the Classroom: Our Family
Blend art and family into one lesson with an activity involving oil pastels and watercolors. After viewing a few famous portraits of families, learners create masterpieces that represent their own families.
Curated OER
We Have a Dream
Students work as partners to study Dr. Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech. In this African American history lesson, students work with their cross-grade partner to study, understand, and memorize the speech. Students meet with...
Curated OER
Spring-Aloud Read
Students study the season of spring and create stories about the season. In this spring season instructional activity, students read books about spring and discuss the season. Students then color and create a mini-book about Spring.