Monroe City Schools
Clouds! Clouds! Clouds!
Here is a beautiful instructional activity on clouds designed for your 1st graders. Learners study three different types of clouds. They construct drawings of cumulus, cirrus, and stratus clouds. The Cloud Book, by Tommie dePaola is...
Curated OER
Where Do We Begin?
Primary learners grasp sequence of events by discussing morning routines and reviewing the story of Little Red Riding Hood. They explore the necessity of correct order of events. As a class, create a story with a beginning, middle, and...
Curated OER
An Immigrant's Journey
Middle schoolers collect photos of immigrants coming to the United States. They write fictional journal entries for one of the photographs.
Curated OER
Be the Poet
Students work through a Haiku Organizer to determine the characteristics they use to write eight haiku poems on a theme that they choose. They design presentation folders of their completed work.
Curated OER
Immigration Project
Students visit Ellis Island Immigration Museum (as a field trip or a virtual visit) and pretend to be Italian immigrants to the United States. They write a journal entry detailing their first week in the United States. They interview an...
Curated OER
The Whipping Boy: Reading Comprehension an Discussion
This outlines steps for reviewing chapters 9-12 of The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleishman. Small groups read the chapters together and then clarify any confusing parts. The class compares 2 different letters to determine which is better...
Curated OER
Let Us Rhyme With Madeline
Listen to the book Madeline, and identify rhyming words with learners as they hear them in the book. Learners will engage in a class discussion about rhyming words. After listening to Madeline, they will circle pictures of words that...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Montgomery Bus Boycott: We Would Rather Walk!
Have historians use primary sources to learn about the circumstances and implementation of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and think about the issue of boycotts as a means of effecting social change. Wrap it up with a...
Scholastic
Hill of Fire Teaching Plan
Some books are perfect for drawing connections between multiple subjects. The book Hill of Fire becomes the hub for three very different, yet related activity ideas. First the class hones their oral language skills by creating an...
Curated OER
The Mastodon Kill
Using the book Bandits, Bears, and Backaches, learners develop an understanding of the pre-history of Arkansas. They follow the trail ofthe giants mastodons and paleo Indians who lived there long ago. The emphasis on this lesson is on...
Curated OER
No Taxing of the Tea for Thee
Research the history of the Boston Tea Party. Learners read the book The Boston Tea Party and write down important facts. They use the Internet to continue their research and construct an art project of a boat that contains a tea bag.
Curated OER
The Final Analysis: Cause and Effect, Fact and Opinion
Middle schoolers read and review informational texts, analyze cause and effect, and distinguish fact from opinion. They assess a "one-minute mystery" you read aloud for cause and effect relationships. Resource includes complete set of...
Curated OER
Evolution Study Guide
Thirty short-answer questions comprise this detailed review of evolution theory. Many of the questions ask scholars to define vocabulary. Because short answers are required, this worksheet will take some time to complete. You could give...
Curated OER
Excessive Nominalizations
Eliminate unnecessary nominalizations from your middle schoolers' writing! After reviewing a reference page for the -tion ending (and when it can be excessive in writing), students rewrite eight sentences to change nominalizations to a...
Curated OER
What's Missing Here? - Necessary Information
Take your third graders' problem-solving skills to the next level. Six word problems need a solution, but they aren't solvable in their current forms. Learners explain the piece of missing information that they need to solve the word...
Curated OER
What's In a Phrase? Finding Historical Understandings in an Immigrant Guidebook
Using a Chinese-English phrase book from the late 19th century, learners view a glimpse of life on the frontier for a Chinese immigrant. They work in groups and on their own to analyze and summarize the content of various phrases, given...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Airport (Barton)
This vocabulary-in-context strategy can be applied to any book that learners read with you; however the activity here is designed around Byron Byrton's fiction book, Airplane. First, introduce the new words you will learn: attendant,...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Alexander, Who Use to be Rich Last Sunday (Viorst)
Although this vocabulary-in-context activity is focused on Judith Viorst's book Alexander, Who Use to Be Rich Last Sunday, the strategy can be applied to any book budding learners read with you. First, introduce the three...
August House
The Hidden Feast
What is a proverb? This is the leading question of this resource. First, explore proverbs and their meanings. Then, read aloud The Hidden Feast: A Folktale from the American South by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss and partake...
Curated OER
On the Road with Marco Polo: Homecoming
Students role play as Marco Polo to detail his travels. They include the terrains, foods, religions, people and cultures that were encountered. They write a journal entry as if they were Marco Polo detailing one aspect of his travels.
ESL Library
Mardi Gras
Learn about the festivity of Mardi Gras with a series of reading and writing assignments. As class members read a passage about the history of Mardi Gras and the way it's celebrated around the world, they answer comprehension...
Curated OER
9/11: The Flight That Fought Back
Who is the al Qaeda and what happened on September 11? Older learners will explore the political objectives of al Qaeda and possible reasons for the September 11 terrorist attacks by watching a video program and working through evidence...
Scholastic
Pre-Reading Vocabulary Activities Using "The Gift of the Magi"
The rich language of O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi" is only appreciable if you understand the words. A short instructional activity reviews 13 words from the story and prompts class members to apply each word and its definition to...
Curated OER
A Speeding Rocket, a Shooting Star... It's a Racing Reader!
Prepare a gameboard and die-cut race cars to play a fun fluency game. Also create several flash cards to review the long /i/ sound. Then, model reading smoothly and with expression, emphasizing the importance of re-reading...