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Dr. Seuss Lesson Plan
Students read classic children's books. In this Dr. Seuss instructional activity, students read the Seuss classics The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs & Ham and Horton Hears a Who. Students create models based on story characters and...
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Afraid! Who, Me?
Learners confront fear through literature. In this literary elements lesson plan, students discuss fear and what they know about the horror genre of literature. Learners then examine the painting "The Scream," by Edvard Munch and listen...
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Water, Weather, and the World
Learners in a special education classroom examine the role of weather and water in their lives. Each day, they add a symbol for the weather outside and identify the proper activities for the weather on that day. In groups, they...
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Our Place in Space
Third graders identify the different planets that make up the solar system. In this space science lesson plan, 3rd graders construct a scale model of the major planets. They explore their different unique features and dress up as planets.
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The Unraveling
Students explore the role of tone in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. For this literature lesson, students perform scenes from the play inflecting the tone that they believe Shakespeare intended.
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Text Elements—Vampires
Students explore the tone and style of passages from horror genre literature. In this literary elements lesson, students read The Vampire by John Stagg and the War of the World script by H.G. Wells, Students write about the way the...
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Neighborhoods
Students examine homes around the world. In this multicultural lesson, students read the book A World of Homes and Homes Around the World. Students compare and contrast the homes in the books to their own homes. Students construct a...
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Gullah Activities
Students study the Gullah culture by watching a video about Gullah, Gullah Island. They discuss the customs and crafts of the people such as basket weaving, food preparation, pottery, and quilt making. While working in centers, they make...
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The Polar Express
Students read the story, "The Polar Express." Prior to beginning the story, students predict events of the story and drink hot cocoa. Afterwards, they write a short story about Christmas and create a model train for the classroom....
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Annie and the Wild Animals
Here is a reading comprehension lesson in which learners predict the story plot of Annie and the Wild Animals, by Jan Brett, after viewing the cover. They listen to the story, and answer story structure questions during and after the...
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The Civil War in Historical Fiction and Historical Accounts
Eighth graders examine life during the Civil War through various readings. They compare and contrast a novel they read in class to one they chose on the subject. They work together as a class to produce a newspaper displaying the...
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Where The Wild Things Are
Twelfth graders brainstorm where they think wild things exist. Then using the same strategy they discuss natural surroundings from using prior life experience. This part of the lesson can also be done with using a nature hike. Students...
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Fairy Tales as a Genre of Literature
Students examine the literary elements of fairy tales. After reading the fairy tale "Rapunzel" and discussing the elements of fairy tales that occur as they read, they use a story web to help plan and create an original fairy tale. ...
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Using Text Features
Fourth graders read a nonfiction story that is presented to them with graphic features, and presented to them with only the text. In this text features lesson, 4th graders decide what the benefits of text organizers are and create their...
Penguin Books
An Educator’s Guide to Ruta Sepetys
Historical fiction novels give readers a chance to step into someone else's shoes. An educator's guide from Penguin Common Core Lesson Plans provides resources to accompany three historical fiction novels written by Ruta Sepetys: Between...
Space Awareness
Navigating with the Kamal
Historians have proven that as early as 1497 skilled navigators were using a kamal to sail across oceans. Scholars learn about navigation tools and astronomy before building their own kamals. They then learn how to use it to determine...
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America's Civil Rights Movement, Activity Seven
Students model the writing style of the author of a piece of literature and present them to the class.
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Language Arts: Twinning At-Risk Students
Students at-risk in high school and primary grades pair up to read and write together. They create books modeled after authors and illustrators. They hold a parents' day to display their completed books.
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What is It? Susie Sees!
Students explore the five senses. In this cross curriculum five senses lesson plan, students view an "I Can See Colors" PowerPoint presentation and sort items by color and shape. Students mix primary color paints to create secondary...
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Identifying Setting and Completing a Story Map
Second graders complete a story map for Frog and Toad Are Friends. In this making inferences lesson students find specific details from the book to complete their story map. They map one chapter at a time.
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Analyzing Irony in Nonfiction
Students examine the use of irony in non-fiction works. In this literature lesson, students read non-fiction war texts and explore the use of irony in the piece as they respond to discussion questions.
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Sound Devices
Students examine the impact of sound devices in poetry, prose, and non-fiction. In this figurative language lesson, students read instructor-selected literature and identify uses of alliteration, repetition, consonance, rhythm, rhyme,...
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Chronicling the Journey
Students chart the order of events in literature. In this literature lesson, students read The Odyssey and summarize the epic journey in their own words. Students then write about journeys they have taken in their own lives.
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We All Need Speed Limits
Students consider fluency and speed of reading. In this speed limits lesson, students discuss the importance of speed when reading and how the rate affects comprehension and listening skills. Teacher models think aloud as a strategy.