Curated OER
Flower Vases
Which vase holds more water: a cylinder, sphere, or cone? Figure out which should be used for your sister's birthday bouquet with this practical word problem.
Curated OER
Vocabulary Building - Declaration of Independence
Young scholars read the first part of the Declaration of Independence and mark the words they don't know. First, they try to guess what the words mean by looking at the them in context, and then they look up the words in a dictionary.
Curated OER
Words/Music/Images: Interpretation and Meaning A Motivational Activity
Students explore popular music in its historical context. In this music instructional activity, students examine the lyrics, musicical arrangement, and video imagery of selected songs to interpret the messages and themes of the...
Curated OER
Dandelion Wine: Vocabulary Strategy
Prior to reading chapter 17 of Dandelion Wine, partners look up and illustrate level three words found in Colonel Freeleigh’s many allusions. Pairs then share with the whole class. Detailed instructions for the activity are included.
Curated OER
AN INTERNATIONAL MENU
Middle schoolersl expand vocabulary through word study, literature and class discussion (e.g. word origins, roots and affixes, meaning in context, levels of usage, etc.). They recognize food-related words that have entered the English...
Curated OER
Macbeth
Students explore and analyze how to approach Shakespeare and create more meaning in a variety of contexts. In groups, they imagine three witches on the heath and trying to play it straight. They study various script extracts to evaluate.
Curated OER
Conflict Between Democratic and Authoritarian Rule in Haiti
Twelfth graders examine the background of democratic and authoritative rule in Haiti. In pairs they conduct a simulated interview, reporting for a news station about the political, personal, and economical life in Haiti. They conduct...
Curated OER
Context Clues Lesson Plan
Students are introduced to four strategies of context clues. While reading, they use all four strategies in different sections of the reading to determine the meaning of words they are unfamiliar with. To end the lesson, they share new...
Curated OER
Minibeasts and Reading Strategies
Fourth graders explore reading strategies through roleplaying. In this reading lesson, 4th graders read Wings, Stings, and Wiggly Things by Martin Jenkins. Student groups pretend to be a law firm and identify words as their evidence to...
Curated OER
Guided Reading: Desert Life
First graders read a book with the teacher while encountering unfamiliar words and learning how to use context clues and visual clues to understand the material. In this reading comprehension lesson, 1st graders...
Curated OER
The Diary of Anne Frank
Eighth graders read the Diary of Anne Frank. In this novel reading lesson, 8th graders read and analyze the story. Students do online activities and create a newspaper giving a summary of three major events in the story. Students answer...
Curated OER
Worth a Thousand Words
First graders examine the significance of the American bison to the American Indians of the Great Plains. They create a story in pictographs in the style of American Indians of the Plains.
Curated OER
Identifying the Theme in a Story
Students recognize Theme through the use of simple, short stories. Using Pro Quest, students begin by researching the literary element, theme, and how it can be identified. They then identify the themes in Aesop's Fables and...
Curated OER
History In Pictures
Sixth graders explore Lewis and Clark's expeditions. For this Lewis and Clark lesson, 6th graders view the routes they took and discuss how the territory has changed. Students make a timeline of their journey. Students research online...
Curated OER
George Washington in Song
Students establish similarities to George Washington's time in office with the song "Yankee Doodle." In this U.S. History activity, students learn the song "Yankee Doodle" then create a timeline of the song and a timeline of George...
Curated OER
In Remembrance of George Washington
Students explore the contributions of George Washington. In this early American history lesson plan, students analyze the provided eulogy for George Washington written by Henry Lee and then write their eulogies for the first president.
Curated OER
Unwind: Vocabulary Strategy, Creating an Unwind Glossary
Prior to reading Unwind, Neal Shusterman's 2007 young adult science fiction novel, class members research the common definition of words drawn from the novel that will come to have a very different meaning to them as they are...
Curated OER
Vocabulary/Reading Lesson for Students with Severe Intellectual Disabilities
Here is a great little reading and vocabulary development lesson created just for learners with special needs. The lesson is constructed with both core content and necessary adaptations in mind. The group will use PECS, pointing/gesture,...
Novelinks
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle: Magic Square Vocabulary
After reading chapter one of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi, take part in a magic square vocabulary activity in which scholars match the term with its definition and insert its corresponding number in to...
EngageNY
Video and Close Reading: “Developing a Vital Resource for Canadians and the World”
Scholars watch Developing a Vital Resource for Canadians and the World to learn about the supplement potash that helps plants grow. They watch the video several times, completing a note catcher to record key ideas along the way....
American Statistical Association
Colors Challenge!
Does writing the name of a color in a different colored ink affect one's ability to read it? Scholars design an experiment to answer this question. They collect the data, analyze the statistics, and draw a conclusion based on...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Introduction to John Updike
Expand your pupils' understanding of the short story genre with a study of John Updike and his story "A&P." This lesson, the fourth in a series of fourteen, invites learners to examine literary terms and read and discuss the story....
Curated OER
Mini-Lesson Planning for Inferences
Making inferences and drawing conclusions is a key component to successful active reading. Encourage your class to use context clues and prior knowledge to infer different elements of a story, including the setting, plot, and character...
EngageNY
End of Unit 1 Assessment: Close Reading and Powerful Note-Taking on My Own
As the final lesson plan in a larger beginning-of-the-year unit to establish routines and teach close reading skills, this plan is designed as an assessment piece. Using the story, The Librarian of Basra, learners independently...