Curated OER
Summarization Time
Students write summaries in this lesson. They read "Stellaluna" by Jaell Cannon independently and answer story map questions: who, what, when, where, and why. They then take the answers to these questions and write an individual summary.
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Spookley the Square Pumpkin
Students complete activities with the story Spookley the Square Pumpkin. In this holiday lesson, students listen to the story and create their own Spookley pumpkin with Popsicle sticks and paints. They use their character counts traits...
Curated OER
Searching For The American Dream
Ninth graders explore the meaning of the American dream and how it has been explained in various forms. After reading various immigrant accounts, 9th graders use poetry and writing to explain how different cultures view the American...
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Pablo Neruda
Eighth graders explore the life and works of Pablo Neruda. They complete an author map concerning his personal and professional life. Students identify the key components of an ode. They write an ode to a common object around their...
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Rap as a Modern Poetic Form
Students write and listen to rap songs. They discover how common themes in rap are indicative of the problems, as well as the empowerments, that can be seen in our urban cultures today. They discover how rap is actually an evolution of...
Scholastic
A House for Hermit Crab
Engage young marine biologists in a reading of Eric Carle's A House for Hermit Crab with a fun hands-on activity. Given a set of clipart images of the different aquatic animals that appear in the book, children identify each one during a...
Curated OER
Pigging Out on Reading Comprehension
Young scholars summarize a piece of fiction text. After reviewing the correct way to read in order to summarize, students independently read the story "Pig in a Bag." They write a summary paragraph using the process outlined by the...
Curated OER
Using Word Parts to Infer Meaning
Students examine the importance of physical activities and use word parts to infer meaning to a story. They discuss agility, baseball, and ballet dancing, read an article, and observe a demonstration on breaking down words and examining...
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Finding Yourself Through Autobiography
Young scholars read the writings of individuals whom they know and admire. They see that writing about themselves is worthwhile and important and helps them become better writers. They share their own life experiences, write about...
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Twitter Tweet Chapter Summary
Students use Twitter to complete a literature analysis. In this literature and technology instructional activity, students read chapters from a piece of literature and write summaries. Students use Twitter to communicate about the...
Curated OER
Shifting Gears
In this activity, students will write a personal narrative that is designed to help them reflect on the nature and meaning of change in their lives.
Curated OER
Children's Books
Middle schoolers use their personal experiences to create students's books for younger middle schoolers on topics to which they can relate. Students observe a guest speaker who talks about different formats of middle schoolers's books...
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Dear Abby: A Direct and Indirect Characterization Lesson Plan
Students practice identifying and creating examples of characterization based on comprehension. They assess direct and indirect characterization and use conflict in a plot to generate a piece of writing. Each student selects accurate...
Curated OER
Big Cats Sounds
Students explore the sounds of big cats. In this animal science instructional activity, students listen to the sounds of the big cats, such as lions and tiger, on a suggested website. Students research how the big cats use their sounds...
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New Year Word Jumble
In this spelling words about New Year correctly activity, students read the words in the word bank, unscramble the words on the activity, and write them correctly. Students write 20 answers.
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Adventures in Exploration
Fifth graders research major explorers in history using their textbook and then create a timeline using Timeline Software. Students participate in class discussions and write an essay about the explorer they researched.
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Have You Heard About the Clinton, New Jersey Story?
Middle schoolers role play one of the three given situations. They discover how to deal with a conflict in a positive way. They discuss the role of radon in their community and complete another role-play scenerio.
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Being in the Noh: An Introduction to Japanese Noh Plays
Students analyze the conventions used in Noh plays and write an introduction to a Noh play of their own. In this Noh play instructional activity, students identify the conventions of the Noh form and analyze the realizations the main...
Curated OER
"The Good Samaritan" Activity
In this The Good Samaritan worksheet, students match beginnings and endings of sentences to complete the story, answer short answer questions and complete a word search.
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Let the Games Begin
Students analyze how the New York Times uses small feature stories to cover aspects of a major international event, such as the Olympics, before it actually occurs. They brainstorm their own ideas for short feature stories on the Olympics
Curated OER
Art Mystery
Students explore famous artists in order to write mystery stories incorporating their life and works. They write their own based on their research of a particular artist.
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Painting with Words
Fifth graders discuss words that are over used in their writing such as good, nice, happy, glad sad, etc. they complete a survey about word choice then hear a story and discuss descriptive phrases used in the story and how they help to...
Curated OER
An Encyclo-ME-dia for Every Child
Students create a digital scrapbook that shows information-text and pictures that are specific to each child. They make charts and graphs. They use digital cameras, scanners, software, to write captions, stories, poems, letters, and...
Curated OER
Successful Summarizers
Students review the concept of silent reading. Through modeling and guided practice, they explore six steps/rules of summarizing. In groups, they read a short book and then, using the summarization rules and skills, write an effective...