Poetry Foundation
Dream in Color — Middle School
Celebrate diversity with a toolkit designed to inspire young poets to develop their own voices. After examining poems by African American poets, individuals craft their own poetic stories. The packet features poems by Gwendolyn Brooks,...
Poetry Foundation
Dream in Color - High School
Whether focusing on African American poets, Black History Month, or the poetic experience, an amazing toolkit that encourages learners to develop unique poetic voices deserves a place in your curriculum.
Curated OER
Vocabulary / Writing Strategies
Young scholars will increase spelling and vocabulary skills. Then they will develop critical thinking skills. Next, they will develop expository writing skills. Finally, students will practice language skills with non-traditional text: a...
Curated OER
Express Yourself
Students practice reading with expression and improved fluency. After discussing how reading with fluency and expression can enhance the text, students listen as their partner reads a story with expression. Individual students read...
Curated OER
Express Yourself
Young scholars practice reading with expression. After discussing how reading with feeling and expression can enhance the text, students listen as their partner reads a story with expression. Individual young scholars complete a reading...
Curated OER
Expression, Expression, Expression
Students read orally with expression in this lesson. They read sentences stressing different emotions with appropriate expression. The teacher models expressive vs. non-expressive reading, and they practice with a partner. Their...
Curated OER
Perfect 10 for Expression
Learners practice reading with expression. After discussing how reading with feeling and expression can enhance the reading experience, students listen as the instructor reads a story with expression. Learners complete a read with the...
Curated OER
Is That Expression in Your Voice Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?
Student increase their reading fluency through the use of various strategies. After reviewing decoding strategies, 3rd graders, working in groups, write sentences that could be read with expression. Each member of the group takes turns...
Curated OER
Notetaking Skills
Fifth graders review notetaking skills and brainstorm a list of times when notetaking is important. They review a given text then take notes on writing paper, using the modeled style.
Curated OER
Initiating a Conversation
Students brainstorm some good conversation openers. In this communication lesson, students explain the benefits of good conversational skills. They practice conversing to each other in class.
Curated OER
How to Express Actions
Students use online resources to practice and master the use of the most commonly used Spanish verbs in the infinitive form. They develop an understanding of how verbs work, and follow a set of patterns to conjugate them.
Curated OER
Language Arts: Digital Commercials
Students create commercials using a digital camera. After brainstorming their ideas, they spend three days writing their commercials. Students practice and edit their commercials and then present them for review.
Curated OER
Language Arts: Plotting Stories
Second graders read the story, "The Foolish, Timid Rabbit," as part of a unit on appearances. After reading with partners, they write their own stories that include elements about some forms of matter from their science studies. Students...
Curated OER
Poetry and Paintings: A Comparative Study
Students find words for different feelings: sad, happy, annoyed, bored, puzzled, etc.
They think of colors which seem to fit each feeling. A painting is introduced and they are asked to verbalize how it makes them feel. What mood does...
Curated OER
Industrialization of the American Landscape - Language Arts
Learners examine poetry , editorials, and other writings during the Industrial Revolution. They perform a "chalk talk" to explain perceptions, ideas and observations of the working world. Students write poetry and essays modeled after...
Curated OER
Literacy Through Photography
Students practice using words to describe photographs they have taken. In this descriptive writing lesson, students utilize a disposable or digital camera to take 5 pictures of their life after school. Students create slides...
Curated OER
Fun With Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Students read the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and listen to the musical tape. Then they make their own coconut trees, adding their own letters. They express and record their favorite parts. All are displayed on a bulletin board.
Curated OER
Reliving History through Slave Narratives
Helpful for an American literature or history unit, this lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine slavery in the United States. They read slave narratives that were part of the Federal Writers' Project and then conduct their own...
Curated OER
Dr. Seuss and Read Across America
What important facts about Dr. Seuss influenced the Read Across America movement...? This is the driving question of a research project that requires scholars to find information about Dr. Seuss' life and work. Class...
Curated OER
Feelings
Students describe how they feel in different situations. In this feelings lesson plan, students respond to questions asked by the teacher while reading the book The Way I Feel. They also use mirrors to show look at their own faces while...
Film Foundation
The Day The Earth Stood Still: The Filmmaking Process
How are films made? As part of their study of film, middle schoolers investigate the pre-production, production, and post-production process and consider the role of the director, the screenwriter, production designer, cinematographer,...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Fluency: Connected Text, Recorded Reading
Scholars listens to a story on headphones while he reads along with a visual text using intonation, correct pacing, and fluency.
Edible Schoolyard
Pan de los Muertos
Accompany instruction and the celebration of El Dia de los Muertos with a loaf of Pan de los Muertos. Here, scholars measure ingredients precisely to create tasty bread, write a remembrance for someone who has...
Curated OER
From Sheep to Rug
Ever wonder where wool comes from? How it is used to make a woven rug? Introduce the Native American craft of rug making to your preschool or kindergarten class with a discussion. Learners examine and discuss images of a Native American...