Curated OER
Picture Dictionary
Students write and contribute one page for a class picture dictionary. They discuss how to alphabetize words, and examine both regular and picture dictionaries and how they are organized. Next they create a page for the class dictionary...
Owl Teacher
Five Themes of Geography Book Project
Young geographers choose a country to research and design a book explaining how their country applies to the five themes of geography, including three facts or details for each of the themes.
Curated OER
Analyzing Folklore: Redwall
Brian Jacques’ novel Redwall provides the focus for a series of lessons involving the analysis of folklore. Adopting the persona of a character, groups write letters in the voice of their character, assemble a collage using Microsoft...
Curated OER
Writing a Storybook
Students explore language arts by creating their own stories in class. In this book making lesson, students read the story City Pig in class and create storyboard illustrations in order to analyze the story. Students utilize these...
Curated OER
Exploring Owls
What can young scientists discover from dissecting an owl pellet? Explore the owl food chain, beginning with an introduction to these predatory birds. Suggested strategies here include creating a podcast and purchasing a poster, however...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Surprise!: Challenge Activities (Theme 2)
Surprise! is the theme of this series of challenge activities. The surprise comes from the information your scholars will discover when researching topics such as alligators and crocodiles, living in other countries, becoming a...
Curated OER
An Animal Report
Third graders create reports in the fashion of small books. They write brief descriptions for a variety of topics and answering a variety of questions. They create a picture book for their individual animals. They utilize basic computer...
Curated OER
Comic Book Project
Students write a comic. In this writing instructional activity, students discuss comic books and why they continue to be so popular. Students create a comic book using an imaginary character. Students must present a problem and solution...
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
The Backpack Travel Journals
Strap on those backpacks, it's time to travel through history with this literature unit based on the first four books of The Magic Tree House series. While reading through these fun stories, children create story maps, record interesting...
Curated OER
Using Picture Books to Teach the Holocaust
Students compare a photo of a child's room during the Holocaust to their room. In this WWII lesson, students read picture books and evaluate the roles of characters in the book. Students create either a poster about the roles, a movie...
Curated OER
Writing a Book Review
Young scholars examine the different formats book reviews can be presented. As a class, they brainstorm what they already know about writing a book review adding to a concept web. They write their own review using the tips giving to...
Curated OER
Well-behaved Women [and Men] Seldom Make History
Students examine historical context. In this historical perspectives lesson, students read and discuss instructor-selected picture book biographies. Students then complete graphic organizers based on the challenges the main characters...
Curated OER
Doctor DeSoto's Foxy Persuasion
Who is Doctor DeSoto? Start by playing a video clip (included). Discuss different methods of persuasion, and then analyze two different persuasive letter examples. What should your class be looking for? Send them off to work in groups...
Curated OER
Cartoon Stories
All ages love to engage in cartoon writing –- little do they know that they actually learn quite a bit from it! In an instructional session focused on literacy syntax and vocabulary, your pupils work cooperatively to draw six pictures...
Curated OER
Magical Math-ical Dragon
Students read picture books in which mathematics and solutions to math problems play a role in the action. After discussing the books and how the author used math problems to tell a story, they create their own magical, math-ical story...
Curated OER
Descriptive Writing Assessment
First graders explore language arts by undergoing a writing assignment. For this descriptive writing lesson, 1st graders identify the skills necessary to write in depth about a subject which they must do based upon a specific topic....
Curated OER
Straight to the Source
Research famous figures from history through the primary sources they created! Explore how these types of documents can enrich our study of the past with your middle and high school learners. They create picture books to illustrate...
Curated OER
Arctic Writing
Fifth graders analyze photographs in order to write descriptively. In this descriptive writing lesson, 5th graders use the Internet to research and view photographs of the arctic. Students use descriptive language to write sentences...
Curated OER
Picturing History: John Singleton Copley and British Portraiture
Students observe and compare 18th century British portraits with those made by John Singleton Copley. By conducting research they explore the cultural climate of the portraits in order to write a historically accurate story.
Joel Michel Studies
The Tale of Despereaux: Novel Study
What kind of mouse is Despereaux Tilling ... a field mouse? A white-footed mouse? With the novel study for The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo, scholars research the different species of mice and draw pictures of the one that they...
Curated OER
Day four: Writing a Sports Article
Students write a newspaper article related to a sports event. For this article writing lesson, students read sports-related articles, complete a graphic organizer to help them see the format of a newspaper article, then they work in...
Curated OER
Comic Book Project
Students write a fictional story into a comic book format. In this creative writing instructional activity, students analyze example comics and discuss the format. Students create a comic book using imaginary characters that find a...
Curated OER
A Picture is Worth a Million Words
Young scholars practice composing digital photographs by documenting activities in their lives. In this photography lesson, students utilize digital cameras to create beautiful art from things they find around the campus or at their...
Curated OER
Putting It Together in Writer's Workshop
This lesson plan about writing can be taught in small groups or large group settings. They examine basic writing techniques and practice using them to improve their writing.