Scholastic
Identifying Types of Irony Using "The Gift of the Magi"
O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi" is the classic example of irony in literature. Teach young writers about the ways irony can engage their readers with an activity in which they write scripts using dramatic irony, situational irony, and...
Curated OER
The American Revolution: A Play
No instructional activity accompanies this drama about the American Revolution. With 13 speaking roles, the short script could be used for a class production, a instructional activity on the parts of a play, or to supplement your social...
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Folktales and Ecology: Animals and Humans in Cooperation and Conflict
Story elements such as conflict, character analysis, resolution, and moral are discussed and charted as elementary children read folktales involving animals. An element of science is also introduced as learners discover what a keystone...
Curated OER
Using Facebook with Literature
Students use online social networking to learn about characters in literature. For this literature and technology lesson, students visit Facebook website and set up character profiles for a piece of literature they've read.
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Rediscovering Children's Literature
Learners, while analyzing children's literature works as a vehicle for a multitude of insights, practice analytical reading and writing scenarios about older adults. In retrospect, they read books aloud to young children as well as write...
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Michelle Kwan: Heart of a Champion
Who is a champion to your class? Elementary and middle schoolers think of a role-model from their lives. Then, in their journals, they write evidence of that person's perseverance. They identify the character trait of perseverance with...
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Summarizing with James and the Giant Peach
Elementary readers in literature groups practice summarizing chapter-by-chapter with Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach. Focus on main idea, supporting details, and the 5 Ws. Unfortunately, a clever "peach" graphic organizer to which...
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A Creative Presentation
Bring writing to life with this instructional activity in which elementary and middle schoolers create a display of the imagery they identify in a series of Gary Paulsen books. They read the suggested materials, identify imagery and...
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Race into Fluency!
Elementary learners practice reading short passages to increase their fluency. They work in pairs to do repeated readings of Jane and Babe, recording their times. They switch roles and time one another in an effort to decrease the amount...
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Point of View
Students explore point of view. In this acceptance lesson, students listen to a story in which six people didn't listen to the other's point of view and lost out in the end. The students discuss why we all think and feel differently and...
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Personification Lesson Plans and Resources
This resource on personification provides three different approaches aimed at different levels. The first, appropriate for upper elementary, provides examples of personification, followed by an exercise that requires replacing a word in...
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American Women Who Shaped the Civil Rights Movement Explored Through the Literature of Eloise Greenfield
Examine the women who contributed to the Civil Rights movement. In groups, children read excerpts of writings from Eloise Greenfield and research the women she mentions using the internet. To end the lesson, they create a timeline of...
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Heartsongs Poetry by Mattie Stepanek
Use Mattie Stepanek’s Heartsongs book of poetry to inspire young poets to write about their own lives, experiences, and feelings. After reading the introduction to Mattie’s book, in which he talks about himself and his reasons for...
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Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Students explore the 5 themes of geography. In this cross curriculum literacy and geography lesson plan, students listen to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett, and make a list of the needs of the people in Chewandswallow....
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Real World Connections
Explore universal themes in literature with a literacy and multicultural awareness lesson. Elementary and middle schoolers make real world connections between themes in books from several cultures. They make inferences and locate text...
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Starting an Elementary Book Club
Discover the benefits of starting a book club in this two-part article.
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You Are What You Eat
Youngsters listen to the story of Gregory the Terrible Eater and write a similar story using the same pattern. In the new book, Herman is requested to eat things that are nouns. They must supply the correct part of speech for the class...
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Class Book Ideas
Suggested literature and classic books are part of this literature idea book. Ideas about how to interact with books and activities are given along with instructions for art and more. Note: This is not a typical lesson plan, but more of...
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It's About the Author
Students develop print awareness. In this literature lesson plan, students memorize and recite nursery rhymes and listen to stories of Maurice Sendak and Ezra Jack Keats. Students draw pictures to illustrate read aloud books and dictate...
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Celebrate Read Across America Day With Dr. Seuss Lesson Plans
Celebrate Read Across America Day with Dr. Seuss lesson plans, and dish up the "Green Eggs and Ham."
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Answering Literal Comprehension Questions
Practice using the Turn the Question Around (TQA) method to answer reading comprehension questions based on short narrative paragraphs. Instructions and materials are included for direct, guided, and independent instruction. Responses...
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Chinese Folktales: An Illustrating Activity
In need of a really good lesson that incorporates literature, art, and cultural themes? After hearing a traditional Chinese folktale and discussing cultural themes and symbolism, learners create original illustrations for the story. This...
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Dr. Seuss - Make Time for Rhymes
Read the story Green Eggs and Ham to practice phonemic awareness, rhyming, and writing skills with emerging readers. They will match oral words to printed words, create a graphic organizer, and the use rhyming words in an original...
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Snowy Evening Poetry for ESL (Elementary, Literature)
Students read Robert Frost's Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening, illustrated by Susan Jeffers (2001). This is a wonderful book with beautiful illustrations that go with each line of the poem.