Study Guide
Reed Novel Studies

Surviving the Applewhites: Novel Study

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
The Bradys, the Flintstones, and the Simpsons are some of pop culture's most memorable families. So how do the Applewhites stack up? Using a novel study for Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan, scholars answer text-based...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Explorers

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Learners research a selected explorer and teach their small group about their explorer during a jigsaw activity. Independently they write a letter as if they were on a voyage with their explorer, and create a world map that includes the...
Unit Plan
Curated OER

Teaching Language Arts in Kindergarten Using Stories, Aesop's Fables, and Tall Tales

For Teachers K
Students search into a variety of story elements in the eight lessons of this unit. The title, author, illustrator, setting, main character, problem, solution, events and the story are the components of the lessons.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Goodness! Gorillas in Our Community!

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students discuss the story Goodness! Gorillas in Our Community! and create character maps from it. They practice qualities of community membership and write about and illustrate these qualities.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A View from Overhead

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students explore the concept of mapping. Using given illustrations, students observe views of a park from above the ground. They compare and contrast the different views. Students discuss uses for maps. Using a resource from the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Because of Winn-Dixie

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Students make connections with the book Because of Winn-Dixie through writing.  In this writing lesson, students pretend to be the main character and write a letter to her mother, using very descriptive language.  Students also...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Buying Clothes

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students create a story about friends going shopping with new vocabulary. For this creating a story lesson plan, students use new language and number words in their story.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Young scholars, after reading the book, "Esperanza Rising," create a virtual display by combining different story elements into a visual representation. They choose the setting and characters of a scene that will act as a springboard of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Story Plot Flow Map

For Teachers 6th - 7th
In this story plot flow map worksheet, students complete the flow chart through short answers writing about the beginning, middle, climax, and conclusion of the story.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning about a Culture from a Story

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students identify environmental influences on a traditional culture, animals and plants important to a traditional culture, and interpret the identity of a traditional culture from objects and a creation story.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A True Story Appalachia

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students engage in a reading activity to learn about the Appalachia Mountains. The use of literature is important to provide context for the geography instructional activity. This instructional activity is strong because it allows the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Stories Reveal Character

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Young scholars research a person who had a role in the Lewis and Clark expedition. They work together to create and perform a skit showing the person they researched role. They write their own journal entries to end the lesson.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Arrays Hooray

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders write and solve story problems which involve whole numbers, using addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. They solve multiplication problems by using strategies other than counting all. They interpret and solve...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mapping the Circulatory System

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students investigate the circulatory system in human beings.  In this human body lesson, students create an outline of a human body using colored markers and butcher paper.  Students use red and blue colors to simulate the...
Lesson Plan

Screen play writing

For Teachers 5th - 10th
Shared ResourceWriting creatively can be hard!  Students with little or no background in creative writing will love this film-making project.  They choose a book or story they like, then in partners go through the process of planning-writing-...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lewis and Clark

For Teachers K - 8th
Learners investigate the historic journey of Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery. They identify six discoveries made on the journey, participate in an online activity that traces their trail, write a journal in the first person...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Discovering Your Heritage

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners interview a family member about their heritage. They listen to and record part of their family's oral history. Students also create and label a family tree going back a minimum of two generations and compare and contrast...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Vocabulary Development

For Teachers K - 2nd
By utilizing a graphic organizer called a bubble map, young readers work toward developing their vocabulary. After reading a story, a word that has something to do with the story is put in the middle circle. Then, other words that have...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Condon National Bank

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Use maps, readings, and photographs to analyze the historic, cultural, and social conditions surrounding the activities of the Dalton brothers and their gang. Learners identify how the residents of Coffeyville defended themselves against...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Rigors of Learning a New Language

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine the experiences of a Peace Corps volunteer learning to speak Chinese. They read and discuss an essay written by the Peace Corps volunteer, analyze a map of China, and discuss the author's difficulties in learning the...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart: Oral and Literary Strategies

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Readers are first introduced to Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart by making a map of Africa. They will better understand the novel's historical and literary contexts, European and African literary traditions, and how...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Literature Circle Role Descriptions

For Teachers 6th - 7th
In this literature circle role descriptions worksheet, students identify the role they play in the literature circle. The different roles include: summarizer, vocabulary finder, questions writer, story mapper. Each role has three to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders read the book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. In this Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs activity, 2nd graders are given a list of words from the story to write with. Students write their own story with the words, then...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

5 W Questions

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders practice asking the 5 W questions by reading a Boxcar Children book.  In this journalism lesson plan, 2nd graders read a single story from the Boxcar Children series and answer the 5 W's about each specific...