Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Create a Book with Student Treasures

For Teachers 1st - 6th
You can't publish a story until after it has been revised and edited! Budding authors investigate the writing process while drafting an original story. They select a topic, complete a rough draft, edit it, revise it, and finally publish...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Episodic Writing Using Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Help your middle-schoolers expand their writing skills with this lesson plan on episodic writing, which focuses on story details, idea development, and organization. After reading "The Eighth Picture: End of Summer" from Patricia Reilly...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tortoise and Hare Races

For Teachers K
Practice basic map skills with the story of The Tortoise and the Hare. After listening to the story, class members create a map that indicates the starting line, the path the animals took, where they stopped to rest, and the finish line....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The "Write" Stuff: Strategies and Conventions for Imaginative Writing

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders develop and practice the steps involved in imaginative writing. They follow the steps/worksheets included and write imaginative stories of their own.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Digital Storytelling

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Scholars of all ages can use the various tools of technology to construct and illustrate a story. Utilizing this resource, learners work with a partner to brainstorm and draft a story based on personal experience. They use computer...
Organizer
Curated OER

Mirrors & Windows: Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”

For Students 8th - 10th
“Mirrors” or aspects from a story that reflect a personal text-to-self connection, and “windows,” an aspect that gives insight into a different way of being, are the focus of an activity designed for Alice Walker’s story. Readers select...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

My First Book

For Teachers K - 2nd
Introduce young writers to the process of writing a book. Start by reading a book of your choice and discussing the essential elements of any book such as the cover, story, and illustrations as well as who is responsible for each...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bridge to Terabithia

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Learners explore scenes from Katherine Paterson's book, Bridge to Terabithia. In this visualization lesson, students listen to the story read aloud. The learners then choose words and phrases that paint a picture in their heads. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Beginning, The Middle, & The End

For Teachers K - 2nd
Cut magazine pictures into three sections, having your youngsters piece the pictures back together. With this fun activity, they discover the importance of sequencing a story. Then they use a fun template (shaped like a burger) to write...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Rikki-tikki-tavi"

For Teachers 7th - 8th
“Rikki-tikki-tavi” provides an opportunity to model for readers how to use background information to enrich understanding of a story. Class members observe animal behavior, listen to biographical background on Rudyard Kipling, study...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Palace Adventure

For Teachers K - 2nd
Young language arts learners write and illustrate a short fantasy story based on the book Corduroy. First, learners need to develop a character. Then, through their writing and illustrations, they take their characters on adventures...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What is a Philanthropist?

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
What does a philanthropist do? Help your class explore philanthropy using character development and literacy ideas. Learners will define and give examples of philanthropy, listen to The Lion and the Mouse, discuss how the characters help...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Visualization: Cricket in Times Square

For Teachers 4th
After reading The Cricket in Times Square chapter titled "Caught in the Kitchen," learners list three describing details about the characters and setting. Groups collaborate to find sensory details to support their character assertions....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pablita Indian Legends

For Teachers K - 3rd
Scholars are introduced to the characteristics of a legend. They read and discuss Old Father Story Teller by Pablita Velarde. Then, in groups, they write and illustrate a poem based on one of the legends from the book. This lesson plan...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Academic Achievement

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Academic goals can lead high schoolers toward bright futures. Get your class to think about where they want to be in 20 years and what they'll need to do to get there with this lesson plan. Learners fill out a brief questionnaire about...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Time Machine

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Challenge your class with this instructional activity! Learners read The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, discuss context clues, identify main ideas and details, and analyze story elements. Discussion questions and activities are broken down...
Lesson Plan
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Three Skeleton Key

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Encourage your students to interact with the text as they read. While reading "Three Skeleton Key," class members note predictions, define words and study their meanings, take notes on how the suspense builds, and jot down ideas...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Experiencing "Romeo and Juliet"

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders read and analyze the William Shakespeare play "Romeo and Juliet" and compare it to the 1996 modern version of the play and the movie "West Side Story." They write an essay comparing and contrasting the three versions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Irony in "The Gift of the Magi"

For Teachers 8th - 11th Standards
Use O. Henry's ubiquitous tale of love and poverty to explore irony. After reading the story, middle schoolers identify examples of all three kinds of irony in the story. With partners, they brainstorm original examples of irony. Then...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creative Writing Lesson

For Teachers 6th - 8th
It's hard to find inspiration; have your learners bring in a slew of magazines and search for inspiring pictures! They look for characters, setting, and possibly even conflict clues. They analyze the pictures they select, turn their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Data Squares

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Middle and high schoolers examine how data squares organize and sort information and data sets. They discuss examples of data squares, complete a data square about themselves, organize the data squares for the class together, and compile...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow"

For Teachers 11th
Do you want to live forever? After reading Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” class groups adopt the roles of an ethics committee, product manufacturers, concerned scientists, and potential users of an...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Perfecting My Pal's Poe Paragraph

For Teachers 9th - 12th
After analyzing the compelling first paragraph of Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Masque of the Red Death," high schoolers draft original opening paragraphs using techniques identified Poe's writing. The relationship between suspense...
PPT
Curated OER

Out of the Dust: Background notes about the novel, The Great Depression, and The Dust Bowl

For Teachers 5th - 7th
If your class is reading the historical fiction novel, Out of the Dust, then you are in luck. Here are a few slides that will help you provide historical context for the book, as well as define main characters, setting, symbolism, and...

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