Reed Novel Studies
Surviving the Applewhites: Novel Study
The Bradys, the Flintstones, and the Simpsons are some of pop culture's most memorable families. So how do the Applewhites stack up? Using a novel study for Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan, scholars answer text-based...
EngageNY
Talking with My Peers: Carousel of Reading Superheroes Around the World
In many places in the world, people go to great lengths to get books to read. This beginning-of-the-year activity uses pictures of people reading in extraordinary situations to stimulate effective listening and speaking using the...
Curated OER
2nd grade Reading
Read the story Alexander's Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day to your second grade class. They will either draw a picture of the part of the story that they liked the best or write one sentence about the part that made them laugh....
Odyssey of the Mind
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Sentence Structure
Statements can be taken out of context and interpreted or used to support a very different view than the one originally intended. Young journalists start thinking about leading questions, sentence structure, context, and how they all...
Curated OER
Guided Reading: Main Idea
Readers are presented with a list of three questions and asked to actively listen to a story or article to answer them. They verbally answer the questions to learn the strategy. Next, read a story to them or have them silently read a...
Curated OER
Reading the Play
Do figures of speech enhance a play or story? In small groups, learners locate and describe figures of speech they find while reading a reader's theater play. After making predictions, they describe how the figures of speech make the...
Penguin Books
An Educator’s Guide to Chraisma by Jeanne Ryan
Often, science fiction makes a lot of connections to real life. An educator's guide for the novel Charisma by Jeanne Ryan, has readers discuss many of the real-life issues that come in the text. A brief summary helps garner interest in...
Curated OER
Reading and Writing about the Solar System
A superb interdisciplinary approach highlights this lesson which incorporates space science knowledge and narrative skills. After reading The Magic School Bus, two excellent poems, and watching a video, all about our solar system, young...
Missouri Department of Elementary
The Clique
Mean girls and bully packs are favorite topic for films and TV shows that focus on the destructive power of cliques. High school freshmen are asked to reflect on both the positive and negative aspects of cliques by reading a short...
Curated OER
During Reading Strategy: Literary Newspaper
Add some writing to your class's reading of Cold Sassy Tree! With this plan, readers assume the role of journalist and create a segment of a paper with their peers. Suggested segments are included, and a worksheet dividing the text into...
Curated OER
Dandelion Wine: Problematic Situation
If forced to move and give away almost everything you own, what five non-essential things would you take with you? Prior to reading about Mrs. Bentley in chapter 15 of Dandelion Wine, individuals are asked to respond to this problematic...
Curated OER
Patterning Lesson Plan
Open the eyes of young mathematicians to the patterns that are found everywhere in the world around them. After a shared reading of I See Patterns by Linda Benton, children complete a series of hands-on activities that teach them how to...
Curated OER
Understanding a Story
Reading comprehension is the name of the game! After listening to the teacher model and share personal prior knowledge about small children and what they do with food, the class discusses how they too can use prior knowledge to...
Curated OER
Pride and Prejudice: ABC book (Vocabulary Activity)
Master Jane Austen's language from A to Z with an activity based on Pride and Prejudice. As kids read the novel, they find (or are assigned) words that begin with each letter of the alphabet, and create one-page documents that show the...
National Security Agency
Classifying Triangles
Building on young mathematicians' prior knowledge of three-sided shapes, this lesson series explores the defining characteristics of different types of triangles. Starting with a shared reading of the children's book The Greedy Triangle,...
Curated OER
Chrysanthemum
Our uniqueness should be celebrated, not teased. The story Chrysanthemum addresses having a distinct name and dealing with different perceptions. Pre- and post-reading questions are listed to help your learners understand and make...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Courage “In the Time of the Butterflies”: A Common Core Exemplar
The courage of Las Mariposas, the Mirabal sisters, is the focus of a series of activities designed to accompany a reading of In the Time of the Butterflies that ask readers to consider what it means to be courageous. Beautifully crafted...
Curated OER
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves Storia Teaching Guide
There was an old lady who swallowed some leaves? Little learners read a new version of the old swallow story with a fall twist as they try to answer the big question; Why is that lady swallowing all that weird stuff? The teacher's guide...
Annenberg Foundation
Exploring Borderlands
What motivated Europeans to explore the New World, and what effects did their exploration have on Native American populations? The second installment of a 16-part American Passages series prompts pupils to watch a video and read several...
Curated OER
Plan a Read-All-Day Day
Students celebrate Read Across America Day by holding a Read-All-Day Day. they spend an entire day involved in fun reading-related activities.
Curated OER
The Doorbell Rang Activity Card
In this language arts instructional activity, students read a story called The Doorbell Rang. Students cut out 12 cookies and paste them under each character's picture so that each character gets an equal share.
Curated OER
Word Wall Activity List
Second graders perform a variety of activities with a dynamic, ever-changing classroom word wall as outlined in these lessons. They become less dependent on the word wall as the school year progresses.
Curated OER
Summer Nature Activity: Carrots! Carrots!
Students investigate reading, cooking, and planting activities that teach that a carrot is the root of a plant. In this early childhood science lesson, students explore the world around them as they read The Carrot Seed and complete the...
Curated OER
A Reading Graph
Students construct and interpret a "favorite classroom books" graph. In this literacy and math graphing lesson, students choose a reduced size copy of the book cover that corresponds with the book(s) they chose to read during their...