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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Deciding Theme

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Read aloud to your class the fable "The Lion and the Mouse" as you explore characters' choices and the effects they have on a story. Apply what is discussed to finding a theme of the chapter "Not Giving Up" from The Wizard of Oz. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bucket List Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 10th
What is on your pupils' "Bucket Lists" - the list of things they want to do before they die? Their choices of activities for this list could be very revealing, and is a great source of inspiration for a personal poem. The lesson prompts...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Primary Source Picture Book

For Teachers 4th - 12th Standards
Travel through Europe with ten-year-old Teddy Roosevelt in this writing activity, which uses the picture book My Tour of Europe: by Teddy Roosevelt, by Ellen Jackson. After reading the book, readers compare it to passages from The...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Episodic Writing Using Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Help your middle-schoolers expand their writing skills with this lesson on episodic writing, which focuses on story details, idea development, and organization. After reading "The Eighth Picture: End of Summer" from Patricia Reilly...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Make Up Your Story

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Putting together an interesting story can be hard, but this set of worksheets will guide your writers into the depths of their own creativity as they characterize both their main character and villain. Using humor to keep learners...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating Interesting Characters

For Teachers 7th - 9th
What makes a story interesting? Complex characters! As part of a series of worksheets that prepares middle schoolers to write their own novel, the exercises included explain the role of the protagonist, the antagonist, and the supporting...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introduce: Prediction

For Teachers K - 3rd
What will happen next? Leave readers at a cliffhanger as they practice prediction strategies while listening to a story. Pupils start by making guesses based on the book's cover and title, discussing the techniques they use to make these...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Build Mastery: Sequencing

For Teachers K - 3rd
Writing a summary is much easier once you've laid out the sequence of events. Show readers how these two skills are intertwined using this graphic organizer. Review the meaning of sequencing first, presenting the chart and possibly...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Genre Lesson: Biography/Autobiography

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
Practice distinguishing biography from autobiography through point of view. Tell a brief story of your morning. Have a class member retell the story to you (using second person). And have another retell the story to the class (using...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introduction to Archetypes

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Here is a full lesson with all the needed materials and PowerPoints attached! Introduce your class to archetypes by showing them the included presentation. The presentation gives definitions and examples of archetypal characters,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mythology by Edith Hamilton: Silent Discussion

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Get everyone up and participating! High schoolers reading Mythology, by Edith Hamilton, complete a graphic organizer independently, and then record one of their thoughts on the white board for a silent discussion. Decide how you're going...
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Lesson Plan
Sargent Art

Symmetry: A Design Problem

For Students 6th - 12th
As part of a study of design, young artists examine an example of a formal (symmetrical) design and then, following step-by-step directions, create their own. 
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Lesson Plan
Sargent Art

Warhol­-like Color Study

For Teachers 10th
The lithographs of pop artist Andy Warhol inspire a lesson that asks young artists to try their hand at creating a study that demonstrates the effect color has on design. After drawing a self-portrait, participants paint their image in...
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Lesson Plan
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Academy of American Poets

We Sing America

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Pair the famous poems "I Hear America Singing," by Walt Whitman, and "I, Too, Sing America," by Langston Hughes, with a more recent poem by Elizabeth Alexander called "Praise Song for the Day" to demonstrate a theme and introduce your...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Understanding Themes in Esperanza Rising

For Teachers 5th Standards
Determining a theme or central idea is greatly emphasized in the Common Core standards. Target that skill though big metaphors and central symbols in Pam Muñoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising. Help your class reach the standard through...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Revisiting Big Metaphors and Themes: Revising and Beginning to Perform Two-Voice Poems

For Teachers 5th Standards
Now that your class has read all of Esperanza Rising, take the time to tackle big metaphors and themes. Pupils will participate in an activity called Chalk Talk, in which they circulate around the room in small groups and add comments to...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Edgar Allan Poe Short Story WebQuest

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Introduce your class to Edgar Allan Poe with a series of mostly self-guided tasks and assignments. Class members follow the list of tasks, starting by watching a video with background information and ending with a compare-and-contrast...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Allusion and Illusion: Definitions and Examples

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Illusions and allusions certainly sound similar but there is a world of difference in their meanings. The narrator of this short video distinguishes between these terms, defines them, and offers examples that are sure to engage viewers....
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Lesson Plan
Maine Content Literacy Project

Introduction to The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is a great story to share with your class, and this lesson focuses on just that story! The eighth in a fourteen-lesson series on short stories, the plan has learners study some vocabulary, read the story,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pride and Prejudice: KWHL

For Teachers 7th - 10th Standards
How much does your class know about the setting of Pride and Prejudice? Explore Jane Austen's romantic world with a KWHL chart that helps kids note what they already know about 18th century England, what they want to know, how they will...
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Lesson Plan
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Museum of Disability

Ian’s Walk and Apples for Cheyenne

For Teachers Pre-K - 3rd Standards
Help young learners understand friendship and empathy with two reading comprehension lessons. Each lesson focuses on a story about a child with autism, and encourages readers to compare and contrast the characters to each other and to...
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Lesson Plan
MENSA Education & Research Foundation

Book Review Writing: a Guide for Young Reviewers

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Encourage scholars to share their love of reading with informative and engaging book reviews. Here, you'll find a series of guides that walk learners through the review writing process. Included in the collection is information about...
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Lesson Plan
Explore Sound

Sound and Music

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
What causes sound? Groups of sound detectives use a variety of tools including ping pong balls, pasta noodles, raisins, rubber mallets, and a tuning fork to investigate what causes sound. The young Sherlocks conduct a series of...
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Lesson Plan
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Learning English through Poems and Songs

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Exposing learners to the power of words in poetry is a stimulating way to learn languages. Songs, haikus, rhyming words, and narrative works are all employed in a resource for teaching English as a Second Language.

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