Give this skills-based assessment halfway through your unit on Esperanza Rising. After a brief review, class members take the test, which asks them to show that they know how to analyze the novel independently. They are asked to...

Explore point of view and more with a Common Core-designed instructional activity. Learners experience different points of view by representing one of two characters from Esperanza Rising during a partner discussion. They must use...

Pupils are introduced to four strategies of context clues. While reading, they use all four strategies in different sections of the reading to determine the meaning of words they are unfamiliar with. To end the lesson, they share new...

A unique writing lesson, this plan begins with learners talking about multiculturalism in small groups. Each learner will choose a picture from a newspaper, describe it to their small group, and think about how it relates to...

The engaging story Rain School is further explored in the third lesson of a larger unit that explicitly teaches close reading skills by answering questions whose answers can only be found inside the text. Through teacher...

Readers analyze an excerpt from Kate DiCamillo's novel Because of Winn-Dixie. They read silently, and then hear it read aloud. Definitions for underlined vocabulary words are in the margin, and other potentially difficult words...

How do you know what a character's personality is like if an author doesn't tell you? With a focus on character development in Esperanza Rising, pupils complete a jigsaw activity to analyze the actions of Mama, Abuelita, and Miguel. Once...

Explicitly explained and delightfully detailed are two ways to describe this tenth lesson plan in a larger unit designed for the first few weeks of third grade. Learners continue to use and develop previously learned close reading...

Third graders answer text-dependent questions of the story Nasreen's Secret School both independently and then collaboratively through using the carousel of questions strategy. This plan is the seventh instructional activity in a...

As the final lesson plan in a larger beginning-of-the-year unit to establish routines and teach close reading skills, this plan is designed as an assessment piece. Using the story, The Librarian of Basra, learners independently...

Third graders access prior knowledge of the monarch butterfly and discuss what they would like to know.  In this Monarch Butterfly lesson,students read Monarch Butterfly and discuss the life cycle of the butterfly. Students gather...

Third graders read and discuss "The Hangman" by Maurice Ogden and answer questions about the poem. They list things they can do to combat prejudice using each of the letters in the word and create a small poster with a slogan against...

Students acquire new vocabulary by reading an assigned text and determining the meanings of  unfamiliar words.  In this vocabulary development lesson, students acquire strategies to use in a small group as they decode meanings...

Students read the story "The Last Seventeen Years". Using the story, they identify cultural clues about the country of Korea. In groups, they complete a Venn diagram comparing Korean and United States culture. They use the internet to...

Students input autobiographical information to apply in a Diamante' poem that utilizes the different parts of speech. Students interact with each other sharing their autobiographical information completed on the database created....

Young animal lovers engage in a lesson that's all about elephants. They access an elephant sanctuary website and read a story about Shirley the elephant. They perform a series of activities based upon that story, and also study about the...

Students explore motion by observing the movement of people and duplicating those movements. They compare and contrast various kinds of movements and identify different types of movements in pictures. They build an object that can be...

Sixth graders explore culture by reading a book with classmates. In this Hispanic history lesson, 6th graders read the story First Day in Grapes, and discuss the tough lives of migrant workers. Students answer study questions after the...

Students explore the parts of the cell. In this cell lesson, students use foods to create cell models that represent the nucleus, cytoplasm, cell membrane, mitochondria, ribosomes, vacuoles, endoplasmic reticulum, and Golgi bodies...

Learners explore U.S. History by researching Kansas. In this immigration lesson, students discuss the benefits of immigrating to a state like Kansas in the 1800's while writing their thoughts and research in a reporter's notebook....

Young scholars analyze the food pyramid. In this food pyramid lesson, students evaluate their nutritional needs. Young scholars record their eating habits and determine if their food choices were healthy.

Young scholars explore ways to prevent skin cancer. Using activities, students explore suggestions on protecting skin. Young scholars report their findings to the class. They discuss events in their personal lives and changes they...

Students explore products of the rainforest. In this environmental stewardship lesson, students discover the resources that the rainforest holds and examine products from the rainforest used around the world.

Fourth graders explore the concept of echolocation during a unit on whales. They listen to the book and watch the Reading Rainbow video for "Humphrey: The Wayward Whale," explore various websites, and conduct experiments to demonstrate...