Curated OER
Christmas Candy
Here is a tasty topic for a lesson: Christmas candy! Third and fourth graders research classic Christmas candies, then create their very own! They write a descriptive paragraph about their candy, then use KidPix to create an illustration...
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Getting to Know You
After going over the five steps of the writing process, pupils fill out "Getting to Know You" worksheets. They trade papers with each other, and have the task of writing a descriptive paragraph about the person whose worksheet they...
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What's In Your Bag?
Guess what is in the bag! Use this lesson plan at the beginning of the year to discuss appropriate items for 4th grade students to have in school. Each group develops a list of appropriate items as well as inappropriate items, and...
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Thesaurus Power
Give your class the advantage of Thesaurus Power! They will use a thesaurus to understand word meanings and relationships. They focus on how a thesaurus functions and how it gives the entry word, definition, synonyms, antonyms, and part...
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Writing Myths I
Explain a natural phenomenon in an original myth. After researching the phenomenon they have chosen, young readers use factual information to include in their myth. They find synonyms and new phrases to create vivid images as they write...
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Comparing Languages: News Clips
Students analyze newspaper articles. They review their assessment task and rubric and read newspaper articles to compare languages. They answer questions related to their articles using dictionaries as needed. They compare word usage...
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Reference Materials
Pupils discuss reasons to use reference materials, identify correct reference material to use for specific information, find answers to specific questions by locating information in encyclopedia, dictionary, atlas, almanac, glossary,...
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Kinder-Pictionary
Students create their own dictionary. In this spelling lesson, students make a dictionary with just words and pictures. They use these dictionaries when they are writing to remember how to spell words.
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Musher Madness
Students discover facts about Iditarod racing. In this language arts lesson plan, students create a class musher picture dictionary selecting terms from the Musher Term list. Additionally, students create a class picture dictionary...
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Acrostic Poems: What's In a Name?
Young scholars find words that begin with the letters in their own names, using a variety of sources including word banks and online dictionaries. They create an acrostic poem. Pupils revise poems as needed, for meaning and...
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Happy Birthday or Boring Birthday?
Young scholars observe and demonstrate a variety of strategies for reading with more expression. They observe a demonstration of wishing happy birthday with and without expression, and in pairs demonstrate reading with expression using...
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A Heritage Study: Using Information Resources to Research Family History and Traditions
Students research their family history through ethnographical study. They locate information through a variety of sources, interview people, write a report and present an oral presentation to the class.
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How To Use the Internet To Make Student Glossaries
Students use an internet dictionary to produce a glossary of words related to a particular subject area being studied. They choose the correct meaning of the word for their glossary, based on it's relationship to the subject matter being...
Lake Middle School
Cornell Notetaking
The beauty of this colorful presentation about Cornell notes is that it begins with a very powerful statistic: "Those who take organized notes and do something with them remember 90-100% of the material indefinitely!" Zounds! Now there's...
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Math Prefixes
Students use a dictionary to gather appropriate information for writing simple definitions. They recognize prefixes that relate to numbers, such as mono-, bi-, and tri-. Pupils use their creative abilities to extrapolate new words to...
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State Parks: A Spanish Vocabulary Lesson
Ninth graders create a PowerPoint about state parks using Spanish vocabulary. In this Spanish lesson, 9th graders work in groups to research about area recreational facilities. Students use information collected on-line to create and...
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Vocabulary Development
What is a root word? What is a prefix? Suffix? Use these questions to spark a discussion amongst your language art learners. Then, start by writing the word irresistible on the board and have teams of learners attempt to create new words...
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Making Words
Young writers identify and generate words using the strategies of phonics on the Making Words computer program. Words are typed instead of having to use tiles or paper. Extension activities such as playing the memory game, drawing...
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Design Explorations: Frieze Patterns
Young scholars will explore frieze patterns. A frieze pattern is a mathematical concept to classify designs on two-dimensional surfaces, which are repetitive in one direction, based on the symmetries in the pattern. They will explore...
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Vocab-u-lous - Build a Fabulous Vocab
In this vocabulary building worksheet, students enhance their personal vocabulary by learning words with the BL or BR blend. Students are allowed the use of a dictionary.
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Anne Frank and Louisiana - There is a Connection!
How is Louisiana connected to the Holocaust? After reading The Diary of Anne Frank, eighth graders complete a research report about a survivor of the Holocaust who currently resides in Louisiana. Though the idea is a good way to connect...
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Planning A Vacation Online
If you could travel anywhere in the United States, where would you go? Use this question to interest your fourth, fifth, and sixth graders as they experiment with Mapquest or other direction-based resources. They choose where they'd like...
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Paradise Lost: Identifying Vocabulary
“The mind is its own place. . .” and Milton’s Paradise Lost is sure to expand the vocabulary (and the minds) of young readers. Assist that growth with an activity that asks individuals to first select and define five unfamiliar words,...
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Publication
This instructional activity was designed in response to a class struggling with Le Petit Prince. The author starts the day by having the class describe (in French) the little prince and his planet. Then, they discuss the use of a...