Curated OER
Arthur Meets the President
Young scholars discuss the role of the President. In this government lesson plan, students read Arthur Meets the President and complete a story map. Young scholars develop new vocabulary related to the story.
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Freckle Juice- Lesson 6
Young scholars read Freckle Juice. In this comprehension lesson, students complete a story map and discuss cause and effect based on readings from Freckle Juice.
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Creating Characters
High schoolers examine the methods of effective characterization. In this writing skills instructional activity, students discuss how emotions, dialogue, actions, and physical descriptions build believable characters. High schoolers then...
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Elements of Myth
Students read and act out myths. In this world mythology instructional activity, students read and analyze myths from various cultures and then recognize their attributes as they prepare presentations of myths that explain natural...
John F. Kennedy Center
Acting Up, A Melodrama: Performing Like Jo March and Her Sisters in Little Women
Lights, Camera, Action! Pupils read Little Women and create, act, and direct a melodrama that Jo March and her sisters would enjoy. The lesson plan comes complete with resources for the educator on melodrama as well as examples...
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A Study of China with Lon Po Po, a Chinese Little Red-riding Hood
Sixth graders study and identify the elements of a story such as. setting, character, plot, and theme, using two versions of the folktale Little Red-Riding Hood. They use the Internet to locate more information on the author Ed Young.
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Outline of a Legend/Folk Tale
Students create outlines of folk tales and legends. They read a folk tale or legend in the target language. They complete an outline of the key events of the story including the main characters, plot, story elements and theme or moral.
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Life's Lessons: Survival of the Fittest
Students analyze Jack London's use of anthropomorphism to identify the importance of adaptability in life. In this literature lesson, students use the novel The Call of the Wild to identify key elements in survival. Students...
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Who Do You Want For Your Friend?
Second graders create a t-chart about the healthy and unhealthy characteristics in relationships. They discuss elements they should look for in a friend. They are read books to identify these elements.
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Folktale Unit Outline
Seventh graders analyze grammatical structures and identify literary elements in a variety of texts. Through the genre of folktales, ancient or indigenous cultures are studied.
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Describing Our Senator
Third graders find the narrator or speaker in a story. In this story elements lesson, 3rd graders listen to the story My Senator and Me and answer comprehension questions. They complete a descriptive writing piece from different...
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Contrasting Cinderellas
Students compare and contrast the traditional Cinderella to the modern-day fairy tale, Cinder Edna. In this fairy tales lesson, students read both stories and construct a Venn diagram to compare the two fairy tales. Students identify how...
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Fables and Trickster Tales Around the World
Students analyze fables and trickster tales from various cultural traditions. In this fable analysis lesson, students identify the elements of fables and trickster stories. Students read Aesop's fables and Ananse spider stories....
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Break the Pentomino Code!
Learners read and analyze the book, Chasing Vermeer. They discuss the main story elements, analyze how pentominoes are important to the story, use a pentomino code to decipher a message, and create a secret code of their own.
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Literature: Rikki-Tikki-Tavi Character Analysis
Seventh graders read the story "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" and analyze one of its characters. After completing a story element worksheet, they identify their favorite character. In several sentences students give reasons for their choices with...
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Little Red Hen
Pupils listen to a teacher reading of The Little Red Hen, identify the story elements and sequence them. They talk about different jobs associated with providing food and act out a play based on the story. Be aware that although several...
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Adapting a Fairy Tale
Learners read and prepare a new oral version of a selected fairy tale. They read and compare/contrast two fairy tales and identify the main story elements. In small groups they create a new oral version of one they fairy tales and...
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Digestion - Part 3
Middle schoolers explore the human body by reviewing the digestive system. For this human anatomy lesson, students identify the elements of human digestion by completing two body system worksheets. Middle schoolers read the story What...
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Interpreting Dramatic Works
Action! Delve into character development in the play Fences by August Wilson, setting the stage for learners to analyze character nuances. Thespians choose a scene from the script, responding with a written account of the...
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The Human Organism
Students identify their feelings and learn ways to handle conflict. In this human emotions and conflict instructional activity, students discuss feelings and ways to handle conflict. Students listen to a story about conflict and...
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This House is Made of Mud: Exploring the Shapes in Our Lives
Students study about our dependence on the earth's resources for materials. They practice their knowledge of geometric shapes by recognizing them in the context of the story.
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Rachel's Life is in a Hole
Explore how lack of access to water impacts peoples' lives in poor countries. Through text reading and discussion, middle schoolers are presented with the story of a young girl who lives and functions with limited water resources. They...
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Big Pumpkin
Learners read a story and retell it through role playing. They will read Big Pumpkin, identify the main ideas and important characters, retell the story through dramatic play, and identify their favorite character.
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Moby Dick Puppetry
Such an ambitious instructional activity! Third graders with special needs listen to an audio recording of the novel, Moby Dick. They stop often to discuss each of the main characters and analyze their actions in the story. They then...