Curated OER
Guided Reading: Asking Questions
Here is a reading strategies lesson in which learners use post it notes to create a bulletin board. They post their new questions on the bulletin board and look back at questions they have already learned the answer to. A great idea,...
All for KIDZ
Building Relationships: The Orphan of Ellis Island
Family and friendship are two very important themes of the historical fiction novel The Orphan of Ellis Island by Elvira Woodruff. From video clips and writing prompts to reader's theater and family interviews, this resource...
Curated OER
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: Pre-Reading Strategy
Get your class ready to read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard with an anticipation guide. This document describes exactly how to create and implement an anticipation guide.
Curated OER
Meaty Words
Headlines from newspapers launch a discussion of image-rich, meaty words. Just as headline writers choose vivid vocabulary to attract readers, young writers develop headlines that capture the essence of a passage from a book they are...
Curated OER
Running Out Of Time: Bloom’s Taxonomy Mixed with QAR
Dig into chapter 19 of Running Out of Time with questions covering each level of Bloom's Taxonomy. Learners read the text, respond to the questions in paragraph form, and then discuss the answers as a class.
Listening Library
The Sign of the Beaver
Extend a class reading of the novel The Sign of the Beaver across all subject areas with this literature unit guide. From basic discussion questions and writing prompts, to a research project about tracking animals, this...
Curated OER
Grab a Winning Book to Read on March 3
Students identify periods of history and read a news article about a librarian who wrote an award winning book. In this current events lesson plan, the teacher introduces the article with a class challenge and a vocabulary activity, then...
Curated OER
Jet Delivers Books to Kids Overseas
Students identify the function of organizations, then read a news article about an organization called Room to Read that is sending books to poor countries. In this current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a...
Small Planet Communications
Planet Book Club: Number the Stars
Planning a novel study of Lois Lowry's Number the Stars? Then look no further. A 16-lesson unit guides students through a reading of this awarding-winning novel. Complete with a synopsis of the novel, analysis of its literary themes,...
Curated OER
The Bus Ride Teacher's Guide
Students examine and respond to the text, The Bus Ride. In this African-American literature instructional activity, students explore pre-reading questions that focus on fairness of laws. Students read the text based on Rosa Parks and...
Curated OER
Dear Mrs. Parks Teacher's Guide
Students read and respond to the book, Dear Mrs. Parks. In this African-American literature lesson, students read the text and examine several vocabulary words from the text. Students answer 11 discussion questions and participate in...
Curated OER
Mississippi Trial, 1955: Pre-reading Strategy
Pink and Say, a picture book by Patricia Polacco, and an anticipation guide, set the stage for a reading of Mississippi Trial, 1955, Chris Crowe's novel based on the true story of the murder of Emmett Till. Instructional routines, the...
Curated OER
The Cat in the Hat is 50!
Have your class react to a number of statements about The Cat in the Hat, then read a news article about a special event honoring the birthday of the popular book. The teacher introduces an article with a discussion and vocabulary...
Baylor College
How Can We Find Out What Is in Water?
Using paper chromatography, water watchers discover that several substances might be dissolved even though they aren't visible. In this case, you will prepare a mixture of three different food colorings for them to experiment with. A...
Curated OER
Martin Luther King Jr. and Nonviolence
Using the book, Martin's Big Words, learners will discover the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Vocabulary is identified throughout the story by using several his famous protest speeches as examples. Class discussions on racism, during...
Baylor College
Rainbow in the Room
Uncover the science behind the beautiful phenomena of rainbows with a simple demonstration. Shine light through different-sized containers of water as young scientists learn that rainbows occur when visible light is split up into its...
Baylor College
Crossing the Synaptic Gap
As part of a unit on the chemistry of the brain, thinkers learn how chemicals work to transmit messages between individual neurons and how controlled substances impact the synaptic cleft. They do so by playing a dice-and-card game in...
Newspaper Association of America
Power Pack: Lessons in Civics, Math, and Fine Arts
Newspaper in Education (NIE) Week honors the contributions of the newspaper and is celebrated in the resource within a civics, mathematics, and fine arts setting. The resource represents every grade from 3rd to 12th with questions...
Curated OER
Beethoven Manuscript Sold at Auction
Students react to a series of statements about Beethoven, then read a news article about the sale of a 179-year-old manuscript by the musical genius. In this current events instructional activity, the teacher introduces the article with...
Curated OER
Bog Child
You are destined for an engaged and happy class as they read Siobhan Dowd’s Bog Child because there is nothing missing from this study guide, seriously. This might be the easiest novel to teach because you don’t have to do a thing in...
Curated OER
Fast Food and Daily Nutrition Choices
Students explore food. In this nutrition activity, students investigate multiple facets of healthy eating and how the fast food industry impacts our society. They will participate in class discussions, read from their text-book, and...
Curated OER
The Science of Microbes
Looking for an interesting text to share the world of microbes with your middle school classroom? The edition contains explanations, worksheets, experiments, discussions, and links to outside sources for a true and complete...
Curated OER
Julie Chen: Thinking Outside the Book
Students create an original art book after studying nontraditional boomaking. For this visual arts lesson, students watch a video on the work of Julie Chen and discuss the concept of books as three-dimensional art. Then students are...
Curated OER
"STARGIRL" BY JERRY SPINELLI
Students explore websites are about the book "Stargirl" and author Jerry Spinelli. Explore the author's official website to research him. There are also worksheets, excerpts, book reviews, and discussion questions for the book.