Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Surprise!: Challenge Activities (Theme 2)
Surprise! is the theme of this series of challenge activities. The surprise comes from the information your scholars will discover when researching topics such as alligators and crocodiles, living in other countries, becoming a...
Crafting Freedom
Thomas Day's Letter to His Daughter, Mary Ann
Why is a letter a better way to learn about a person than a different primary source? Explore Thomas Day's ideas and advice to his daughter in a letter from 1851, which details the struggles of the American South before the Civil War....
Curated OER
About Life: The Photographs of Dorothea Lange Going to the Promised Land
To better understand the migrant experience during the Great Depression, pupils analyze two primary resources: photographs by Dorothea Lange and a U.S. Map that shows the Dust Bowl. They compare and contrast Lange's images to Steinbeck's...
Scholastic
My Favorite Activity (Grades K-2)
Scholars discuss the many ways they use persuasion in their everyday lives and brainstorm specific ideas for encouraging someone to do something. With the list of persuasive techniques they made, young writers complete a graphic...
Teaching American History
Interpretation of the Declaration of Independence
Ready to interpret the Declaration of Independence and understand its meaning? The resource divides scholars into pairs, where they work as a team to match translations with excerpts from the declaration. The class then engages in...
Bantam Books
The Tempest: Four Corners
Forgiveness can be a difficult step to take in any circumstance, but is it more difficult if the offense is more egregious? High schoolers consider the concept of forgiveness before reading William Shakespeare's The Tempest. As...
Lakeshore Learning
Equivalent Fraction Activities
Spin the wheel of the fraction contraption and learn about equivalent fractions! After constructing their own spinners, kids use printable pizzas to represent fractions that are equal in value.
Curated OER
Language and Runaway Slave Ads
Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary resources. In this fugitive slave lesson, students research and analyze fugitive slave advertisements from Virginia newspapers.
Curated OER
The Tale of Despereauz
Fourth graders read text and draw inferences or conclusions about the text. In this reading lesson, 4th graders discuss their opinions on what was read and state why they think that way to a partner.
Curated OER
When Sophie Gets Angry-Really, Really Angry
Students explore feelings. In this language arts lesson, students realize that books help in talking about feelings. Students discuss how they feel during the reading of a story and listen to each other in answering various comprehension...
Curated OER
Inferences/Opinions
Fourth graders practice making inferences and forming opinions. In this reading strategy lesson, 4th graders listen to the book Woodsong by Gary Pauisen. They make predictions about the story before beginning and discuss the story...
Curated OER
Jason's Gold: Chapter 9
Students collect details from chapter 9 of the book Jason's Gold and connect them back to the author's purpose of the book. In this details lesson plan, students listen to a read aloud where they discuss the details with the teacher as...
Curated OER
A-Scripting We Will Go
Students write script for a puppet show. In this writing lesson, students write a puppet show script using facts from a previous lesson. They listen to DyAnne DiSalvo Ryan's, City Green before discussing the characters and which ones...
Curated OER
The Witch of Goingsnake
Students identify figurative language in a proverb and write an interpretation of the proverb prior to reading The Witch of Goingsnake. In this The Witch of Goingsnake instructional activity, students read a native American proverb and...
Curated OER
Borrowed Poem Performance: Practice for Slam
Students practice for a poetry slam. In this poetry lesson, students select borrowed poems to perform in a poetry slam in order to participate in their own poetry slam competition.
Curated OER
Organizing One’s Thoughts
Students take a closer look at the organization of written pieces. In this writing skills lesson, students examine transitions, repetition, parallelism, and other organizational patterns in writing.
Curated OER
Is this the right book for me?
Sixth graders recognize strategies for selecting nonfiction texts. In this book selection lesson, 6th graders practice procedures for knowing if the book is just right for them. Students select from a variety of texts and share their...
Curated OER
Frog and Toad
Second graders learn vocabulary and use of words, set, attribute Venn diagram. They learn to describe attributes.
Curated OER
Making Careful Observations
Second graders view pictures of items they recognize, items they don't recognize, and write observations they see. In this observations lesson plan, 2nd graders discuss how they use their observations.
Curated OER
Figurative Language and Symbolism
Young scholars identify figurative language and symbolism in poetry as well as prose. In this literary elements lesson, students read and discuss the role of symbolism in Yellow Man by Moonlight, A Christmas Carl, The House of Wings, and...
Curated OER
What Do Seals Eat?
Learners recognize the ea=/E/ correspondence in spoken and written words. They participate in a group letterbox instructional activity. In groups of two, they practice reading with each other, taking turns reading one page at a time,...
Curated OER
Citizenship
First graders come up with ideas that make other students good or bad citizens in the classroom. In this citizenship lesson plan, 1st graders write their ideas in a chart.
Curated OER
Comparing and Contrasting Fiction and Nonfiction Using Graphic Organizers
Students compare and contrast fiction and non-fiction selections. In this writing skills lesson, students use different forms of graphic organizers to compare "The Three Little Pigs," to Wiesel's Night.
Curated OER
Class Book Awards
Learners study the criteria used to select notable book awards, including the Caldecott Medal and the Newbery Medal. Then they develop their own Class Book Awards to bestow upon favorite books in the classroom library. They decide on...