Curated OER
Writing and Sharing Community Stories
Learners use interviewing skills to explore and express the culture of their community. In this literacy/writing lesson plan, students interview a community member as a basis for a biographical writing project. Each class member...
Curated OER
Chameleons Are Cool!
Have your learners review what they know about camouflage using this lesson. Learners fill out a graphic organizer listing what they know or have questions about. This could be enhanced with the addition of a writing assignment in which...
Curated OER
Language Arts Exploration
While an interesting lesson plan idea involving the exploration of a story about an Asian American boy named Imduk, a teacher would need to have assess to the Scott Foresman reading program to make this work. If not, a teacher could use...
Curated OER
Exploring Life in Jamestown Settlement
Third graders examine life in early colonial settlements. Students investigate what settlers ate and create a menu for a fictitious restaurant in a settlement.
Curated OER
The Titanic
Young scholars use various sources to compare and contrast information about the Titanic. In groups, they create a list of questions and use the internet to find the answers. They write a report with the new information and use their...
Curated OER
Kinder-Pictionary
Students create their own dictionary. In this spelling lesson, students make a dictionary with just words and pictures. They use these dictionaries when they are writing to remember how to spell words.
Curated OER
History and Geography: Making a New Nation
Fifth graders examine the contributions of the different groups that built the American Nation. They identify the successive waves of new immigration, explain their attraction to America, and study the importance of Ellis Island.
Curated OER
Nature vs. Nurture
Eighth graders investigate the concept of nature versus nurture in human development through this series of lessons.
Curated OER
Forms of Poetry
Pupils identify distinguishing features of poetry. They identify and use literary terminology including symbol, theme, simile, and alliteration. They recognize the effects of language.
Curated OER
There Was an Old Lady. . .
Students alter a familiar short poem or song with synonyms and antonyms. In this synonym and antonym lesson plan, students replace the synonyms or antonyms in the text and discuss the changes in meaning. Students share their words.
Curated OER
Let's Make Stew!
Students investigate how to create a vegetable garden and complete related activities. In this vegetable garden lesson, students receive agriculture notebooks to complete vocabulary for the gardening lesson. Students read 'Still-Life...
Curated OER
Men and Women of the Revolution Interview Sheet- Magic Tree House Series
In this men and women of the American Revolution interview worksheet, students work with a partner to prepare five questions that will be used for mock interviews. They write the questions, and discuss possible answers before recording...
Curated OER
Journal of Children of the World
Students explore the lives of other children. In this comparing and contrasting lesson plan, students complete a KWL chart on children around the world and use the Internet to compare and contrast these children using different...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Question and Answer Books From Genre Study to Report Writing
Contains plans for eight lessons that explore Question and Answer Books and ask students to do research in order to write their own. In addition to objectives and standards, these instructional plans contain links to sites used in the...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Weather: A Journey in Nonfiction
Questions about weather clear up when students use what they learned from their books to create a presentation to share with the rest of the class.
Florida Center for Reading Research
Florida Center for Reading Research: Fiction and Nonfiction Sort [Pdf]
A lesson plan in which learners look at different books, write their titles, and sort them according to whether they are fiction or nonfiction. Materials are included.
Florida Center for Reading Research
Florida Center for Reading Research: Exp. Text Structure: Text Feature Find
A lesson plan in which students look through a book to find various text features including: a table of contents, sequence and format, charts/graphs/maps, diagrams/graphics/illustrations, print variations, an index, and a glossary....
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Introduction to the Dewey Decimal System
This lesson plan introduces the Dewey Decimal System of numbering used for arranging nonfiction books on the shelves of an elementary school library.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Pets: Stuffed Animal Day
This instructional activity requires students to bring a stuffed animal to school. During the instructional activity, students will create a class graph and individually author their own nonfiction pet books after conducting research.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Exploring Owls
During this instructional activity, students will visit Internet sites to research facts about owls and food chains. They will use this information to complete a picture of an owl food chain, dissect owl pellets, and write a class book...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Stem Literacy
Learn about how to strengthen literacy, inquiry, and problem-solving skills, and how to connect kids with high-quality nonfiction and informational books. Provides videos, articles for parents and for teachers, webcasts for teachers, and...
EL Education
El Education: E Is for Egypt
This book was written and illustrated by sixth grade students at High Tech High Middle School in San Diego, California. As part of a three-month study of Ancient Egypt, students researched topics to feature in this children's alphabet...
EL Education
El Education: Give Bees a Chance
This book was created by 6th grade students at the Genesee Community Charter School as part of a learning expedition on bees and beekeeping. They investigated the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) - a local and national threat to bees,...
EL Education
El Education: Field Guide to Insects in Western Massachusetts
This field guide was created by 2nd graders in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was part of a two-month Learning Expedition that included field observation and collection, classroom experimentation and research, reading from books and...