Gwinnett County Public Schools
Analysis of the Tuck Everlasting and The Birchbark House Text Exemplars
Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...
Curated OER
Bring Literature Circles Into Your Classroom
Tips and strategies for adding literature circles to your language arts curriculum.
IPDAE
Themes in Short Stories
"What is the theme of this story?" The very question can spark fear in the minds of readers and incinerate confidence. Here you will discover an exercise that shows how writers use the tools of setting, plot, conflict, and...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Songwriting Skill - Choosing a Tone: Jordan Pruitt - “One Love”
"Tone means attitude." Or so says this resource that uses Jordan Pruitt's "One Love" to model for songwriters how to develop an attitude in their lyrics. Class members engage in a number of exercises designed to give them direct and...
Curated OER
Unsent Letter: Characterization in Briar Rose
After completing Jane Yolen’s Briar Rose, class members assume the voice of Gemma and craft a personal letter to her granddaughter telling Becca how she feels about Becca’s actions and the discoveries at Chelmno. Complete directions for...
Austin Independent School District
Visual Discovery Note Taking Sheets
Step into history and step out with a new understanding of events. These strategies bring a new level of understanding of key events by asking viewers to engage in and respond to projected images. Complete directions for the activity, a...
Curated OER
"Old 300"
Fourth graders combine art and history to assess the importance of the "Old 300." They explore a group of colonists that Stephen F. Austin brought to Texas as the first settlers and then create a time line of major events leading to the...
Reed Novel Studies
Beezus and Ramona Novel Study
What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of having siblings? Pupils explore this topic with the Beezus and Ramona novel study. Additionally, scholars answer questions about chapter one of the time-honored book by Beverly Cleary...
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
Piecing Me Together: Novel Study
Jade from Renée Watson's Piecing Me Together wants to improve the world—and herself. Worksheets introduce new vocabulary, asks comprehension questions, and review personification and alliterations.
Curated OER
Weather Proverbs
Define and write proverbs! Learners define proverbs, use the Internet to find weather-related proverbs, and talk with their parents to learn other proverbs. There's a well-structured worksheet included here.
ELA Common Core Lesson Plans
American Romanticism
Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter" provides the text for an activity that asks readers to select specific passages from the story, identify the aspect of American Romanticism the passage exemplifies, and then provide an...
Reed Novel Studies
Fever 1793: Novel Study
There is no escaping fever in 1793. Mattie, a main character, soon learns that a disease outbreak has taken over much more than her hometown. Scholars discover how Mattie responds to her circumstances by learning new vocabulary and...
Reed Novel Studies
Fuzzy Mud: Novel Study
Trouble always finds trouble. While avoiding a bully, Tamaya and Marshally from Fuzzy Mud take a trip through the off-limit woods and find themselves lost. To complete the worksheet study, scholars analyze several literary devices, learn...
Reed Novel Studies
The Homework Machine: Novel Study
Do opposites really attract? The D Squad in The Homework Machine includes of a quad of opposites. The group, made up of a teacher's pet, a geek, a class clown, and a slacker, make use of a machine to do their homework. In response...
Reed Novel Studies
Homeless Bird: Novel Study
Many people face the struggle between tradition and desire to forget their own paths. A study guide for the novel Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan discusses the issue of adhering to tradition from the perspective of a protagonist who...
Reed Novel Studies
Hello Universe: Novel Study
Every neighborhood has its own unique cast of characters, and the crew in the novel Hello Universe is no exception. The characters in Erin Entrada Kelly's novel take center stage in a study guide based on the text....
Reed Novel Studies
The Library Card: Novel Study
Books open up the world. Four main characters in The Library Card discover the amazing things that happen at a library. Scholars complete sentences with 10 new vocabulary words, create similes and alliterations, and give a prediction for...
Reed Novel Studies
Lily's Crossing: Novel Study
War affects much more than just soldiers. Lily and Albert in Lily's Crossing know that better than anyone as World War II affects both of them in different ways. Scholars use vocabulary words, answer questions, and work with literary...
Reed Novel Studies
Little House On The Prairie: Novel Study
Laura Ingalls Wilder memorialized life in the American West with her Little House on the Prairie series. Readers explore the first book in the series using a novel study guide. Along with standard text-based questions, scholars...
Reed Novel Studies
Lion: A Long Way Home: Novel Study
Home is where the heart is. Saroo, a main character in Lion: A Long Way Home, desperately wants to be home. However, he is lost in a train station and has no way to contact family or get back to his home. Scholars learn new vocabulary,...
Reed Novel Studies
The Doll People Novel Study
Make believe becomes a reality in The Doll People by Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin. Readers answer worksheet comprehension questions about the seven dolls living in the house and examine the advantages and disadvantages of living...
Reed Novel Studies
The Mouse With The Question Mark Tail: Novel Study
Discover Buckingham Palace during the reign of Queen Victoria, all from the perspective of a mouse seeking his identity. With the novel study for The Mouse With the Question Mark Tail, scholars answer questions about the text and write...
Reed Novel Studies
No Talking: Novel Study
Many of the world's most inspirational sayings are attributed to Mahatma Gandhi. Using the No Talking novel study, pupils research and write about one of his sayings. Additionally, they practice alliteration and write a quintet that...