Curated OER
Red and Blue
Young elementary learners listen to the story Red & Blue and participate in a collaborative project where they paint a picture using abstract shapes. Then they interpret classmates' abstract shapes and write or tell a story about...
Orlando Shakes
Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!): Study Guide
What do Ebenezer Scrooge, the Grinch, and Frosty the Snowman have in common? They're all characters from beloved holiday movies that viewers revisit in the play Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!). Scholars conduct research...
Curated OER
Setting Graphic Organizer
In this language arts worksheet, students consider the setting of a book by completing a graphic organizer. Students fill in details pertaining to where and when the story takes place as well as changes in the setting during the story....
Curated OER
Language Practice
The simple instructional techniques described in this plan will help young readers learn and practice basic reading skills and strategies. Before reading, introduce your readers to the meaning of main character, setting, and plot. Then...
Curated OER
Martin Luther King Jr.
After listening to a story about Martin Luther King Jr., first graders answer questions about the text. They discuss the importance of the illustrations, identify the beginning, middle, and end of the story, and complete a writing...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Introduction to the Short Story
How should pupils read short stories? Set them up for this unit with an introductory instructional activity that goes over the main characteristics of a short story and starts learners off reading their first short story of the unit. In...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Silly Stories: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 1)
ESL/ELD learners are provided extra support with the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt thematic units on silly stories by this packet of activities, exercises, and practice sets.
Ohio Resource Center
Clouds
Get your little readers moving with a fun instructional activity about Eric Carle's Little Cloud. After reading the book together, they engage in a series of locomotor and manipulative activities to illustrate how different elements...
Curriculum Corner
Fiction Graphic Organizers
Get an in-depth look into a narrative text with a three-page learning exercise that examines a story's character—actions, sayings, thoughts, and appearance—setting, and challenges scholars to write a brief summary about what they've...
Curated OER
Identifying Themes in Children's Literature
Identifying themes in literature is the focus of the language arts lesson plan presented here. Learners read short pieces of fiction and practice the skill of identifying the themes present in each one. The bulk of the activity consists...
Curated OER
Mini-Lesson Planning for Inferences
Making inferences and drawing conclusions is a key component to successful active reading. Encourage your class to use context clues and prior knowledge to infer different elements of a story, including the setting, plot, and character...
Curated OER
Every Building Tells a Story
Examine images from past that depict buildings and towns from their own communities, and compare images with photographs taken at present locations, interview local architect and compare role of 19th Century architect to 21st Century...
Mathematics Vision Project
Module 5: Features of Functions
The language and features of functions get careful treatment in a complex but doable lesson. Learners get a lot of practice really figuring out what a graph means in context, and also identifying key features of graphs. Key ideas...
American Museum of Natural History
The Amazing Mundo
Rocks and minerals are great on their own, but they also turn into some pretty amazing stuff! An online lesson explains the different types of materials we get from rocks and minerals, including glass, plastic, and coins. An embedded...
Newseum
Anonymous Sources in Our Daily News
Young journalists search for two examples of news stories, either published or online, that use anonymous or unnamed sources. They then consider the possible motives for why the sources remain unidentified, the types of stories that use...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Let’s Count!: Challenge Activities (Theme 5)
Challenge young scholars with a counting-themed series of activities. Your counters will write invitations to a feast, create books about dinner parties and animals, design posters, draw pictures of their favorite peaceful places,...
PBS
The Power of Personal Narrative
Personal narratives are powerful things. Whether told from the first-person or third-person point of view, whether in the form of an essay, a short story, novel, or video, whether fiction or fact, they capture readers and give them...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
We’re a Family: Challenge Activities (Theme 3)
Focus on family during this themed collection of extension activities for more advanced learners. Class members draw, share, retell stories, create posters, and more during these activities.
Charleston School District
Increasing, Decreasing, Max, and Min
Roller coaster cars traveling along a graph create quite a story! The lesson analyzes both linear and non-linear graphs. Learners determine the intervals that a graph is increasing and/or decreasing and to locate maximum and/or...
Prestwick House
A Separate Peace
John Knowles' A Separate Peace is the subject of a literary crossword puzzle that asks readers to identify key events and characters in this coming-of-age story.
Reed Novel Studies
Hello Universe: Novel Study
Every neighborhood has its own unique cast of characters, and the crew in the novel Hello Universe is no exception. The characters in Erin Entrada Kelly's novel take center stage in a study guide based on the text....
Reed Novel Studies
To Kill a Mockingbird: Novel Study
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American fiction writer whose biggest claim to fame was the creation of Tarzan. Using the novel study for Harper Lee's beloved novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, pupils research and list facts about him or another...
Reed Novel Studies
A Taste of Blackberries: Novel Study
Blackberry pie, blackberry cobbler ... what other recipes use blackberries? Scholars hunt for an interesting blackberry recipe to copy and share with friends after using the novel study for A Taste of Blackberries by Doris Buchanan...
Reed Novel Studies
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing: Novel Study
Many turtle species can retreat their heads into their shells when threatened by predators. With the Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing novel study, pupils conduct research to uncover other interesting turtle facts. As they explore Judy...