Curated OER
Reading Partners
Students participate in several activities using a reading partner. They plan and organize reading meetings with their partner, and then review story elements by retelling the stories orally. The partners question each other and make...
Curated OER
Word Wonders
Pupils read passages and use phonics and context clues to self correct themselves while reading. In this reading lesson, students complete a worksheet which is embedded in the plan which has them choose the correct word to complete...
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Early American Novel: Exploring the Emergence of a Genre
Need an extra challenge for your best readers? Check out a unit that uses Hannah Webster Foster’s epistolary novel, The Coquette, published in 1797, as the anchor text. The resource is packed with project ideas; each with its...
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...
Maryland Department of Education
Our Children Can Soar
Amazing efforts of African American leaders are celebrated in a instructional activity on civil participation. The engaging resource focuses on primary and secondary sources to analyze the impact of African American leaders such as Ella...
Curated OER
Langston Hughes Was a Dreamer Too
Encourage your pupils to imagine their own dreams for the future. After studying three poems by Langston Hughes and listening to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech, young poets craft their own dream stanza.
Poetry Class
Free Writing
It will cost you little to ask class members to engage in a free writing exercise that helps even reluctant writers craft a poem.
Reed Novel Studies
Gone Crazy in Alabama: Novel Study
Life isn't always sweet in Alabama. A study guide for the novel Gone Crazy in Alabama introduces readers to life in the rural South and explores one character's experiences there. In addition to answering basic reading comprehension...
Reed Novel Studies
Mr. Popper's Penguins: Novel Study
Antarctica is actually a desert. Using the novel study that explores Mr. Popper's Penguins, pupils find four of their own interesting facts about the amazing continent. They also practice putting words in alphabetical order and answer...
Freeology
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream"
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech "I Have A Dream" is hailed as one of the most eloquent and moving speeches of the 20th century. But what makes his words hit his listeners' ears in just the right ways? Young orators study Dr. King's...
Curated OER
Michelle Kwan: Heart of a Champion
Who is a champion to your class? Elementary and middle schoolers think of a role-model from their lives. Then, in their journals, they write evidence of that person's perseverance. They identify the character trait of perseverance with...
Curated OER
The Narrative Structure of Ethan Frome
This reading guide poses questions at the beginning, middle, and end of the reading of Ethan Frome. Readers focus on the setting, conflict, and resolution presented in the novel.
Curated OER
Book: The Original United States of America
Students, after reading Chapter One in the book, "The American Colonies' Sense of Who They Were," analyze the actions of the colonists as well as compare the similarities between the protests of the colonists and protests of today. They...
Curated OER
A Tall Ship and a Star to Steer Her By
Students create a water transportation device powered by wind. In this wind power lesson, students research transportation concepts after reading the poem "Sea Fever" by John Masefield. Students design the fastest sailboat they can...
Curated OER
Story Think Tic Tac Toe
In this reading learning exercise, students look at the cover of a book and make a prediction about its contents. Students write about whether or not they were correct after reading the book. Students choose one activity to complete in...
Curated OER
Owls
Students read books, learn about the letter o, and sing nursery rhymes all to learn about owls. In this owls lesson plan, students also make owls out of their hand prints.
Curated OER
Alice Computer Programming
Students explore multimedia components. In this science inquiry lesson plan, students read "Invitation to the Game" by Monica Hughes and they use the Alice Computer Programming System to better understand population dynamics.
Curated OER
A Different View
Readers need to understand how their personal view point may differ or change how they see the view point found in a written text. Third graders read two informational pieces and fill out a graphic organizer to help them differentiate...
Curated OER
I Like Me
First graders read the book "I Like Me" and then design a collage showcasing different things they like about themselves. They write in journals to reflect on this lesson.
Curated OER
Tough Boris Lesson Plan
Learners practice their expressive voices. In this Tough Boris lesson plan, students read the story by Mem Fox, discuss feeling, and use their own voice to express emotions.
Curated OER
High Frequency Word Work
First graders make an "All About Me" book. In this high fluency words lesson students use a computer program to create a book about themselves. Students write their own text.
Curated OER
Text as Texture Collage
Pupils explore the concepts of rhythm, movement, contrast and texture. They practice using new vocabulary and work on creating a college after designing the arrangement. They self-evaluate their collage and critique their classmates...
Curated OER
Holey Story
Sixth graders create a cloze activity based on an article of a current event. They switch worksheets and the next group chooses the words they feel are missing and justify their word choices.
Curated OER
Descriptive Prompt
Young scholars create a detailed self portrait, and then write about their appearance.