Curated OER
The Journey of the Magi
Students create storyboards. In this pre-Christmas special lesson, students produce a storyboard for a TV version of the poem, "The Journey of the Magi". Options to complete with or without technology are included.
Curated OER
Writing a Biography - Mark Twain
Students write a biography. In this biography lesson, students discuss what a biography is and how to write one. They research Mark Twain, answer questions, and write a biography about his life.
Curated OER
Ample Apples
First graders read stories and make observations about the life cycle of an apple tree. They write and illustrate expository text about apple trees and make applesauce.
Curated OER
Crazy Critters Creative Writing
Students brainstorm animals with unusual characteristics such as a giraffe with a short neck or a zebra without stripes. They write paragraphs about their animals and work in peer editing groups to refine their stories.
Curated OER
Hats Off to You!
Students research why people wear hats, caps or bonnets. They investigate various occupations, world costumes, sports, or idioms around hats. Students become more aware of cultures different from their own within this lesson.
Curated OER
Run! Run! You Can't Catch Me!
First graders listen to the story, The Gingerbread Boy, then make and decorate a gingerbread cookie. The teacher hides the cookies after they're baked and students follow clues to find them.
Curated OER
Understanding Immigration Through the Use of Triante Poetry
Third graders read a book about emigrating to America. They create and illustrate a triante poem using sensory words, depicting something they liked about the story.
Curated OER
Mythical Mayhem
Students explore Greek and Roman mythology in this five lessons unit. Common gods, their roles in the myth and stories of the era are surveyed as students take on the personality of a mythical character.
Curated OER
Sight Word Journal writing
Students write an original journal of words they can read. In this sight words lesson, students draw pictures and write words they recognize in their personal journal.
Curated OER
Balanced Literacy: Presidents
Students participate in a unit (all lessons on the same page) to explore the Presidents of the United States. They choose one President to write a mini-book about, create a puppet and an original puppet show to perform about their chosen...
Curated OER
Adopt a Manatee
First graders engage in a writing activity about manatees and use e-mail to contact representatives about important issues. This would be a very exciting, and meaningful lesson for a first grade writer!
Curated OER
The Journey to Civil Rights
Students investigate the concepts that surround the Civil Rights Movement. They conduct research with the help of the teacher and use chart paper to create posters about major people involved. Students also complete a timeline graphic...
Curated OER
Have I Been Hacked?
Young scholars investigate how effective SNEAK strategies are in detecting hackers. In this technology lesson, students explain the ethical issues about hacking. They graph and analyze their experimental results.
Curated OER
The Star of My Show
Students recognize how they are stars in their own rights. For this language arts lesson, students consider their personal achievements as they make a star mobile that includes written life event highlights.
Curated OER
Summary Scramble
Learners write summaries that contain the main ideas
and the most significant details of a reading selection. In this language arts lesson plan, students first play a game in which groups compete against each other to put the summary of...
Curriculum Corner
“I Can” Common Core! 3rd Grade Reading
Third grade readers are given clear learning goals with this Common Core checklist. By turning each reading standard into an I can statement, children can focus on mastering the required grade level skills.
Curated OER
The Common Core Literacy Standards - Grade 3 Posters
Brighten your third grade classroom with this series of colorful Common Core displays. Including all of the English Language Arts standards and substandards, each with supporting illustrations and examples, this resource provides clear...
Museum of Tolerance
Cultural Research Activity
Class members explore cultural diversity through a variety of texts that showcase the importance of traditions. Then, they interview their family members to research their own cultural background and write their findings on quilt...
Voice of America
Henry Ford, 1863-1947: He Revolutionized the Auto Industry
How did Henry Ford change the world? One word: automobile. After reading a two-page passage about Henry Ford's contributions to society with the invention of the automobile, readers respond to a series of 10 reading comprehension...
Curated OER
Making Magical Creatures Talk
Invite your young writers to take the reins with writing dialogue. Using two characters of their own creation, kids work with partners and then individually to write short conversations.
EduGAINs
Consumerism, Me and the Natural Environment— Canadian and World Studies
Just as no man is an island, no country is totally independent of other countries. To understand the impact of individual consumer decisions on the global natural environment, class groups consider how the stuff they...
Curated OER
Paradise Lost: Problem Situation
Let your class voice their opinions with a group debate activity. Before reading John Milton's Paradise Lost, they work in small groups in assigned roles to form a position about authority and rebellion, comparing a...
National Humanities Center
Teaching Emily Dickinson: A Common Core Close Reading Seminar
Three of Emily Dickinson's poems, "I like to see it," "Because I could not stop for Death," and "We grow accustomed to the Dark," provide instructors with an opportunity to model for class members how to use close reading strategies to...
Curated OER
?Que ser de nosotros? (What Will Become of Us?)
Students discuss uses of a pumpkin. They fill out graphic organizers. Students listen as the teacher reads a story, and participate by repeating sounds the objects make as the story progresses. One student narrates the story while others...