Curated OER
Literary Circles
Fifth graders read a common book and meet to discuss the reading. In this literary circles instructional activity, 5th graders understand their roles and responsibilities in participating in a literary circles. Students design an...
EngageNY
Close Reading of Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle: Main Ideas about the Bullfrog
As your class reaches the end of the book Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, the seventh lesson in this literary unit helps third graders transition from reading narrative to expository writing. Scholars develop their note-taking skills as...
Curated OER
Role-Playing and Discovery: Literary Analysis
Introduce your class to the personal essay with this worksheet. Learners identify the subject of an essay and then record examples from the essay that represent the author's thoughts and feelings regarding the subject. While this...
Curated OER
Introducing Literature Circle Roles to Students
Learners read a narrative selection and select a literature circle role. In this reading comprehension lesson, students work in groups to identify vocabulary, make text connections, or other reading comprehension strategies. Learners...
Facing History and Ourselves
Transcending Single Stories
The focus of the second lesson in the Standing Up for Democracy unit is on the power of assumptions based on a single experience or point of view. Class members begin by journaling about assumptions others make about their identity based...
Novelinks
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Picture Book Strategy
Picture books aren't just for primary learners. Your scholars compare and contrast literary themes between the novel, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, and the children's book, The Dream Tree by Winfried Wolf through...
Novelinks
Walk Two Moons: Anticipation Guide
Before you begin a unit on Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons, introduce class members to the literary themes of the book with an anticipation guide. As they read through ten sentences that address different aspects of the plot, learners...
Curated OER
The Tell-Tale Heart
Bring Edgar Allan Poe's spooky story to life! After reading the short story "The Tell-Tale Heart," middle and high schoolers identify the theme, character traits, irony, and other story concepts. During pre-reading, they take notes,...
Curated OER
Inspector Readers: The 002 Book Club
This unit introduces book clubs/literature circles to lower elementary classes, but could be adapted to higher grades. It outlines the anticipatory activity that includes a WebQuest, a discussion to clarify questions about the unit,...
Curated OER
Butterflies Fly!
Chopin was a lovely composer who played the piano masterfully. Third graders are introduced to Chopin, his piano sounds, triple meter, music patterns, movement, and the waltz. They listen to his music while hearing the story Butterflies...
ReadWriteThink
Literature Circles: Getting Started
Make reading more enjoyable and interactive with literature circles! Here you'll find detailed lessons to begin the literature circle process. Ten lessons introduce each role learners take on. Literature circle roles include...
Curated OER
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: "Teach Each Other" Discussion
Challenge your class to hold a discussion about the theme of death in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead without direct teacher guidance. After going over the discussion protocols and quotes from the text, learners move in a circle...
Curated OER
Alphabet Letter V Volcano Theme
Students are introduced to the letter v. In this letter v lesson plan, students discuss volcanoes, practice writing the letter v, color a v poster, and create a book. This lesson plan comes with many attached worksheets.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Look at Us!: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 1)
Start off your young English language learners with this packet of materials, which covers three weeks of instructions. After completing the unit, kids will have practiced the letters K through Z, read several story books, talked with...
Penguin Books
Wonder in the Classroom
Would you rather be right, or would you rather be kind? A novel unit based on R.J. Palacio's Wonder focuses on the need to be kind to others and to accept their differences. As learners read the book, they discuss the themes of family...
August House
The Drum
Take a journey to India with a read aloud of The Drum: A Folktale from India by Rob Cleveland. Make connections to the story's theme by building and practicing drums, role playing story characters, and practicing skills in phonics, math,...
Curated OER
Jump if you feel like it
Students incorporate historical references into the modern circle dances.
Maine Content Literacy Project
Introduction to Literacy Criticism
As learners continue to examine a short story of their choice, they take some time to look at analysis completed by others on the same story. In the eleventh lesson in a series of fourteen, pupils explore various sites for literary...
Curated OER
Tales of the Supernatural
Students explore the origins and development of a literary genre. They investigate how shared imaginative concerns link the members of a literary period and compare works of literature from different eras.
Novelinks
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter: Concept Analysis
Considering Carson McCullers' The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter for whole-class reading or as a selection for book circles? Check out this resource that overviews the organizational patterns, themes, plot structure, tone, and setting.
Curated OER
Getting to Know You
Learners complete a survey of interests to allow the teacher to become quickly acquainted with each student and introduce themselves using an alliterative adjective that best describes their personality.
Curated OER
Boccia
Boccia is very similar to the game of bocce. There is a jack, a small ball that is tossed within a 12' x 6' area which becomes the target. Each team has six hand-sized leather balls which they try to get as close as possible to the jack...
Wildwood Trust
Habitats
The circle of life is all around us, from the black bears in the nearby mountains to the pile of dead leaves in the backyard. Encourage young scientists to take a critical look at the world around them with a set of lessons about natural...
Curated OER
Plants: Report Planner
Introduce your young learners to the basic research project. They explore plants using a three-page note-taking guide. On the first page, they write down things they would like to know about the topic and where they might look to find...