Curated OER
The Baby Elephant Walk
Students use the song Baby Elephant Walk to practice following a steady beat. In this coordinated movement lesson, students discuss baby elephants and their movements. Students listen to the song 'Baby Elephant Walk' and follow the...
Curated OER
Champions of /Ch/
Students identify the digraph /ch/ in written and spoken language. Students practice identifying initial and final placement of the digraph /ch/ in words by identifying pictures containing the sound. They decode and spell words in with...
Curated OER
Details, Details, Details
Students add details to their writing. In this language arts lesson, students use details to enhance their writing. Students view a picture and write a paragraph about what they see. Students conference with another student to edit their...
Polk Bros Foundation
Governor Deval Patrick's Inaugural Speech
“America herself is an improbable journey.” So is Deval Patrick’s journey from the South Side of Chicago to the governorship of Massachusetts. The complete text of Patrick’s inaugural speech, delivered outdoors facing Boston Common,...
Curated OER
Read with Speed and Be in the Lead!
Students observe and demonstrate various strategies for improving their reading fluency. They observe the teacher demonstrating how to read words they are having trouble with, then in pairs take turns timing each other reading the book...
Curated OER
Making a Movie in our Mind
Learners participate in visualization exercises to create mental pictures as they read. They discuss silent reading techniques, and observe the teacher modeling how to visualize the beginning of the book Pippi Longstocking. In pairs they...
Curated OER
J the Jump Rope and G the Jungle Gym
First graders observe that the key to reading words is memorizing the symbols that make them up. They observe a picture of children jumping rope and watch as the teacher models the /j/ sound. They then all pretend to jump rope and make...
Curated OER
Fantastic Fluency!
Students participate in repeated readings of an assigned passage to increase their reading fluency. They are assisted in their reading by seeing the words and hearing them read while working with a partner. After practicing, they read...
Curated OER
Drop Everything And Read
Students observe and demonstrate a variety of decoding strategies to read silently. Each student selects a book for silent reading, and observe the teacher modeling silent reading strategies. Students then demonstrate their silent...
Curated OER
To Be Or Not To Be: Reading With Expression
Students observe and demonstrate a variety of strategies for reading with expression. They listen to the teacher read "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carrol with and without expression, and discuss the differences. In small groups they...
Curated OER
Summarize and Celebrate Earth Day!
Students observe and demonstrate the process of summarizing text. As a class they read and discuss a poster of the rules for summarization, then silently a page from the book "Let's Celebrate Earth Day." Students then summarize the...
Curated OER
Sweet Potato Pie Goes Fast
Students practice their reading fluency by covering up parts of words in order to identify word they do not know, and by completing repeated readings. They read "Sweet Potato Pie" with a reading partner who times them and records the...
Curated OER
Map Out the Important Stuff!
Students practice summarization by creating a story map. Students listen to a read aloud by the teacher, after which the class creates a storymap of the major events in the story. They read a passage from the Indian in the Cupboard...
Curated OER
Beginning Reading Design: Blending Boats
Students study how to blend the sounds together in words with the CVC form. They use letter cards and the books, "Tin Man Fix-It," and Dr. Seuss', Green Eggs and Ham. They work with /m/ words to blend the sounds together to read words....
Curated OER
Comprehension is Key!
Young scholars observe and demonstrate how to use a story map to identify the main idea of text. They observe the teacher read an article about birds out loud, and create a story map for the article. Students then independently read...
Curated OER
READ 180 Routine Assessment
Pupils complete assessments to determine strengths and weaknesses in their reading and writing skills. They use an educational software package to complete a computerized assessment. Afterward, they write a narrative about a memory in...
Curated OER
The Letter Aa
Students explore letter Aa. In this letter recognition lesson, students participate in country, state, food, literature, physical education, colors, careers, music, and game activities that are linked to the main lesson page....
Curated OER
Reading Like Wild Animals!
Students read orally a number of times to increase oral reading speed and fluency. The teacher models fluent oral reading, and the students practice on sample sentences. They then read with a partner working to increase their oral...
Curated OER
Swish, Swish, Swish
Students identify the digraph /sh/ in written and spoken language. After a brief discussion of the independent and combined sounds of the phonemes /s/ and /h/ students practice identifying initial and final placement of the new digraph...
Curated OER
The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly in the Plains
Students review the concept of vowel digraphs. They identify the digraph /ai/ in spoken language. After a brief discussion, students apply the rule for reading and spelling words containing the /ai/ digraph by creating a word chart.
Curated OER
Not Just Words
Young scholars work to improve their oral expression while reading aloud. They read and record an entire story with a partner and listen to the playback of the readings. They evaluate their expressive language using a given checklist.
Curated OER
Screening Coleridge’s Fantasies: Using Popular Music as a Bridge to Literacy
Twelfth graders use music to aid them in interpreting poetry. In this poetry lesson, 12th graders analyze the lyrics, figurative language, and literary devices of selected music. Students compare the music to the poetry of Samuel...
Curated OER
Patterns in Poetry: Part 2 -- Sound
Students understand a variety of poems listening for sound letter correspondence, rhyme scheme, assonance, and alliteration. In this language arts lesson, students practice listening and reading skills to complete patterns in poetry. ...
Curated OER
Famous Kansans
Fourth graders research famous Kansans. For this language arts lesson, 4th graders select a famous Kansan and write a persuasive nomination for inclusion in a Hall of Fame.