Curated OER
Snowflakes
Students read "The Snowy Day," by Ezra Jack Keats and construct snowflakes to decorate the classroom walls. They examine how snowflakes are formed and study new vocabulary words.
Curated OER
Types of Literature
Explore a short piece of French literature with intermediate French scholars. Either assign readers to each character, or divide the class into groups to give the story some life. There's a student task sheet included as well, although...
Curated OER
Great Expectations: DRTA Strategy
A Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) strategy for Great Expectations scaffolds and guides readers as they begin Dicken's novel. Step-by-step directions are provided, as are chapter one pair-share questions, a prediction worksheet,...
Curated OER
A Year of Reading
Utilize literature books for youth as a means to engage new readers and celebrate reading accomplishments.
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
Mummies in the Morning Egyptian pyramids, hieroglyphics
Visit the Magic Treehouse and take your class on a trip through time with a reading of the children's book Mummies in the Morning. Using the story to spark an investigation into Egyptian culture, this literature unit engages...
Curriculum Corner
“I Can” Common Core! 3rd Grade Reading
Third grade readers are given clear learning goals with this Common Core checklist. By turning each reading standard into an I can statement, children can focus on mastering the required grade level skills.
Curated OER
Write a Round-Robin Story
Students discover the elements of a story (introduction, plot, climax, resolution, denouement). In groups of five, one student writes an introduction and passes it to the next person, who writes the plot and passes it to the next person,...
Curriculum Corner
8th Grade ELA Common Core Checklists
How close are your eighth graders to mastering the ELA Common Core standards? Keep an eye on progress with these charts, which include every eighth grade identifier and full standard text. As you move through the year and teach,...
Curated OER
The Things They Carried: KWHL
Before beginning The Things They Carried, class members are asked to use a KWHL chart to record what they know about war, what they want to know, and where they might find answers to their questions. Groups then research...
Fairfax Public Schools
Walter Dean Myers
If you are reading works by Walter Dean Myers in your class, this resource might be worth a look. Included here are activities and discussion questions for Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary, Somewhere in the Darkness, Scorpions, Fallen...
Preswick House
Teaching Unit: Invisible Man
Invisible Man is a core text in high school literature classes and one of the most cited works on the AP Literature and Composition exam. Instructors new to using Ralph Ellison's novel and those who have long included it as part of...
Curated OER
Scripting The Great Train Robbery
Take writing prompts to another level in this activity, which allows pupils to create scenes of dialogue based on the 1903 silent film, The Great Train Robbery. Useful for a language arts/history cross-curricular activity, the lesson...
Novelinks
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Writing Assignment
Ask learners to focus on one scene in Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in order to write an analytical essay about Twain's ideas surrounding childhood. The final assignment in a unit, this writing prompt requires learners...
Curated OER
Author's Purpose Lesson Plans
Why do we practice identifying the author's purpose? Read this article to gain a better understanding of this reading strategy, and then peruse the attached lesson plans!
Curated OER
What's the Problem? Exploring Conflict in "On the Sidewalk Bleeding"
Students use the story 'On the Sidewalk Bleeding' to analyze the various conflict types found in literature. In this conflict lesson, students view a PowerPoint about the story and identify the four types of conflict. Students identify...
Alabama Learning Exchange
The History of Space Exploration
Young scholars research and identify important events in the history of space exploration. They work in groups of three to four in order to research an important astronaut and record their finding on a poster board and present to the class.
Curated OER
It's A Challenge!
Students write a book review stating challenges the character faced and if they enjoyed the book. In this language arts lesson plan, students fill out a worksheet provided.
Curated OER
I Can Comprehend What I Read
Students practice asking themselves questions as they read to help increase comprehension. In a large group, they discuss the typical format of a story and create a list of possible questions to ask themselves. They individually read...
Curated OER
Humorous Story Featuring Clowns
Middle schoolers write stories that feature funny clowns. In this creative writing instructional activity, students follow the outline for a story in order to write their own humorous story set at a circus.
Curated OER
Writing A Thanksgiving Day Story
Students write a Thanksgiving Day Story using some or all of the words included in the worksheet. These stories can be fiction or non-fiction (Personal Essays). They are graded on sentence structure, paragraph structure, grammar,...
Curated OER
Independent Reading Responses
Students participate in independent reading activities by reading a book at their independent reading level and selecting activities to complete after reading. Activities are broken up into C Level, B Level, and A Level activities.
Curated OER
While Reading, Think About These Questions
In this reading worksheet, students are given a list of questions to think about as they read the story or book. Students reflect upon 16 questions.
Curated OER
Scriptwriting Skill Module
Students identify and analyze conflicts in plots. For this conflict lesson students recall stories, novels and movies they've read or seen and discuss the conflicts contained therein. They then complete some written exercises to...
Curated OER
Stone Fox Plot Frame
Fifth graders recall the major plot points of a chapter book. After reading the chapter book "Stone Fox," they students describe the plot framework through use of a worksheet. Students are then divided into group to act out selected...