Curated OER
Self-Monitoring Strategies and Vocabulary Games
Middle and high schoolers identify how to discover a word's meaning by exploring context clues and any pictures, diagrams, photographs, and charts that might be included. They continue this process with other examples and locate one on...
Guam Community College
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat
Spruce up a class reading of the children's book Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback with this fun series of activities. Starting with a list of reading comprehension questions and key vocabulary to address during a teacher...
Curated OER
Act it Out: Dramatizing Asian American Stories
Read and act out folktales, fairy tales, or myths from various Asian American cultures with your class. Each group reads a story aloud and then works together to create a short play or skit about the story. Suggestions for stories are...
PJ Library
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat
Teach children that just because something is old, doesn't mean you have to throw it away with a reading of Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback. Engaging children with an arts and crafts activity in which they patch the...
Curated OER
Poetry In Song
Investigate poetry and song lyrics with your class. They will identify poetic elements in their favorite modern music. Then they will play their song choice aloud for their classmates.
Shakespeare in American Life
"We Few, We Happy Few": Motivational Speech in Henry V
Class members may "think themselves accurs'd" when they first hear of an assignment that asks them to create a motivational speech. After studying the Saint Crispin's Day speech from Shakespeare's Henry V; however, they will count...
Curated OER
Poet James Whitcomb Riley: Famous in His Own Day
An engaging biography of "Hoosier" poet James Whitcomb Riley serves as a springboard for study of his unique dialect-based verse. Several activities illuminate differences between spoken vernacular and formal language. Learners record...
Curated OER
Art About Me- The Skin You Live In
Students read the text The Skin You Live In by Michael Tyler. In this literacy lesson, students discuss the characters in the text and the various shades of skin they observed on each page. Students read the beautiful descriptions of the...
Curated OER
Poetry in Song
Have your music lovers examine song lyrics and identify the poetry elements or tools used by a lyricist. They review the song individually before working in groups to discuss what they discovered about the song's narrator or character...
Curated OER
Applying Character and Setting to Play Readings
Read Ira Sleeps Over, then identify elements of plays that are also common to books. Learners analyze character and setting, consider how these elements relate to a play, then write a one-paragraph skit using the characters from Ira...
Curated OER
Picture a Tarantula
Young scholars create an illustration based upon a read-aloud. For this visual arts lesson, students listen to the book The Tarantula Scientist and listen for details. Young scholars create a picture based upon what they imagined during...
Curated OER
The Tell-Tale Hearts of Writers
Knock, knock, knock...Creep out your class with a critical thinking lesson focused on word relationships in Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." They investigate the relationship between word choice, mood, and interpretation of...
Creative Competitions, Inc.
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Fantastic Fairy Tale
Learning about literature can be so much fun; it can also be made more accessible through projects and dramatic play. As they explore theme, character, and setting, the class gets creative and makes a dramatic recreation of a classic...
Curated OER
What's in the Sock?
Second graders use their sense of touch to identify a variety of objects. In this sense of touch lesson, 2nd graders listen to a read aloud of Sandra Boynyon's, Fuzzy Fuzzy, Fuzzy. They talk about different textures and about the...
Curated OER
Walk a day in my moccasins
Students create videos about students in their classroom. In this self-expression lesson, students use videos to give voice to students who are reluctant or can't participate. Students listen to several books and generate questions about...
Curated OER
Out of Old England in the 1630s-Flat Me Project
Learners write letters to penpals. In this geography/literacy lesson, students become penpals with a classroom in England to learn about customs and society across the ocean. Flat Stanley by Will Holton is read aloud, and learners...
Channel Islands Film
Dark Water: Lesson Plan 2 - Grade 3
A discussion of bioluminescence launches an investigation of animal adaptations. After re-watching the opening minutes of Dark Water, class members listen to a reading of What Do You Do with a Tail Like This, and then create a new...
Arts Ed Washington
Art Lessons in the Classroom: Our Family
Blend art and family into one lesson with an activity involving oil pastels and watercolors. After viewing a few famous portraits of families, learners create masterpieces that represent their own families.
Curated OER
We Have a Dream
Students work as partners to study Dr. Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech. In this African American history lesson, students work with their cross-grade partner to study, understand, and memorize the speech. Students meet with...
Curated OER
I Think I Forgot Something!
Students examine human health by reading a children's book in class. In this breakfast lesson, students identify the importance of starting the day with a good, nutritious meal. Students read the book I Think I Forgot Something and...
Curated OER
Spring-Aloud Read
Students study the season of spring and create stories about the season. In this spring season instructional activity, students read books about spring and discuss the season. Students then color and create a mini-book about Spring.
Curated OER
Chrysanthemum
Our uniqueness should be celebrated, not teased. The story Chrysanthemum addresses having a distinct name and dealing with different perceptions. Pre- and post-reading questions are listed to help your learners understand...
Curated OER
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
Learners explore expressive reading. In this literature lesson, students read the book The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and interpret key themes. Learners perform a different version of the text.
Curated OER
Recreate the Race
Young scholars research and find the route of the Alaskan dog sled race.In this Iditarod race lesson students find the checkpoints for the Iditarod on a map. Young scholars research information in pairs about each one of the checkpoints....