Curriculum Corner
Inferencing
Inferencing is a necessary reading skill to uncover non-explicit messages in text. Use the set of resources as a way to guide learners toward becoming expert inferrers through reading prompts and literature with text and without text.
PBS
Reading Adventure Pack: Sleep
A reading adventure pack features two stories—Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming and Animals Don’t Wear Pajamas by Eve Feldman. In response to reading the fiction and nonfiction texts, scholars create a dreamcatcher, discuss hibernation,...
Perkins School for the Blind
3-D Task List
Staying organized is a part of growing up, and it can be as easy as making a list. Here is a set of instructions for making a three-dimensional task list especially for learners with visual impairments or blindness. After making the task...
Facing History and Ourselves
Choosing to Participate Posters
"A poster exhibit to encourage dialogue, engagement, respect, and participation in our communities..." This is a set of attractive posters that reference influential historical figures, such as George Washington and Albert Einstein, and...
Indian Land Tenure Foundation
A Leadership Chart
It's important for children to understand how they fit into their local or social community. They discuss leadership and who exemplifies a leader in their family, community, and school. Each child will create a quilt square by...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Journeys: Challenge Activities (Theme 1)
This nine-page packet, the first in the series of support materials for the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt thematic units on journeys, contains enrichment activities for learners who have mastered the basic concepts of the lessons....
Institute for the Professional Development of Adult Educators
Using Context Clues with Signal Words
When you come across an unfamiliar word in a text, do you skip it and move on? Practice using context clues to identify words you don't know with a thorough set of language arts lessons. The resource reinforces close reading and critical...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Alexander Graham Bell
Study the features of nonfiction text with a set of comprehension and analysis materials. Readers learn about Alexander Graham Bell with questions about the text, writing prompts, and proofreading activities.
Brigham Young University
Out of the Dust: Guided Imagery
A guided imagery exercise is a great way to get readers thinking about writing. As part of their study of Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse’s 1998 Newbery Medal winning verse novel, class members listen to a reading of one of the poems...
Louisiana Department of Education
Gulliver’s Travels
Gulliver's Travels tells the story of a man who goes on voyages and encounters strange people. A unit plan introduces readers to the classic text, as well as excerpts from other examples of sarcasm and satire, such as "A Modest...
Penguin Books
Core Curriculum Lesson Plans for The Lions of Little Rock
Schools in the 1950s and 60s looked very different from the schools we know today. An educator's guide explores the civil rights movement and, specifically, the process of integrating schools. Questions cover key themes in the novel and...
Sharp School
Causes of WWII Book Project
To conclude their study of World War II, world history students are charged with creating a children's book, comic book, or graphic novel that depicts the causes of the war. Using images from the Internet or their own illustrations,...
Novelinks
The House of the Scorpion: Problematic Situations
What should Matt do? Readers of The House of the Scorpion are offered several possible actions Matt could take when he first sees the children outside the house. They rate the options and then meet in groups to discuss the reasons for...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Identity Lesson 5: Motivation - Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs provides the lens class members use to analyze and evaluate the motivations of the characters in Sylvia Plath's "Initiation" and scenes from Mean Girls. Readers then select a character from A...
Bowland
Pointzero: Confined
Groups plan their escape carefully. Three three-tiered puzzles help a story character escape their situation, each involving integer sequences, transformations, and geometric constructions. The teacher resource includes...
Curriculum Corner
February Bell Ringers
Use a set of 30 writing bell ringers to get through the month of February. Writers tap into and write about how February makes them feel, what it smells like, and all types of celebrations that occur during the month.
Scholastic
Marijuana: Breaking Down the Buzz
Teenagers get the real information about marijuana use based on the history of tobacco legislation and research. As they read an educational passage about marijuana laws, science, and changing attitudes, they address their preconceptions...
Reed Novel Studies
Mr. Stink: Novel Study
Some literary characters are interesting, some are helpful, and some are ... well, stinky. Using the novel study in conjunction with reading Mr. Stink, scholars meet a smelly but kind person named Mr. Stink. Pupils illustrate the plot,...
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...
Reed Novel Studies
One-Eyed Cat: Novel Study
The Great Depression was a devastating period in American history that lasted for an entire decade. Using an enlightening novel study, scholars uncover additional facts about the era. They also write quatrain poems focusing on themes...
Reed Novel Studies
The Sisters Grimm: Novel Study
Author Michael Buckley's novel The Sisters Grimm features two fairy-tale sleuths who are tasked with stopping a giant from destroying their town. Using the novel study, individuals acquire new vocabulary and answer...
Reed Novel Studies
The Tiger Rising: Novel Study
Tiger, puma, lynx, jackal: which does not belong? Using the novel study for The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo, scholars complete a similar vocabulary exercise. Next, they write sentences explaining why their chosen words don't fit. They...
Personal Genetics Education Project
Claims of CRISPR Being Used to Edit Genomes of Twin Girls Born in 2018
Here is an activity that blends genetic technology, literacy skills, and critical thinking. Pupils review background information about cell lines and CRISPR by video and teacher-led discussion. Scholars collaborate to analyze two...
Curated OER
Making a Magical Story
Fourth and fifth graders use their knowledge of developing character, dialogue, and setting to produce an original story. An excerpt from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is used as inspiration to get everyone's...