Using different writing/drawing materials (e.g., markers, color pencils, pastels, etc.), students learn how to communicate different moods and/or feelings to support their written ideas and how authors do the same through their work.
Color My World: Expanding Meaning Potential through Media
Grades
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Prompting Revision through Modeling and Written Conversations
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students create a checklist outlining what effective writers do, revise his or her own writing, and engage in a written conversation to help peers with the revision process.
Grades
|
Literature as a Jumping Off Point for Nonfiction Inquiry
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students use text sets to research a topic inspired by a fiction book they have read. A text set is a collection of multiple text genres with a single focus.
Grades
|
Question and Answer Books--From Genre Study to Report Writing
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Unit
After exploring several question and answer books on a variety of topics, students research a topic and create their own class question and answer book.
Grades
|
Bridging Literature and Mathematics by Visualizing Mathematical Concepts
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
During interactive read-aloud sessions, students identify how an author conveys mathematical information about animals' sizes and abilities. They then conduct research projects focusing on the same mathematical concepts.
Grades
|
Weather Detectives: Questioning the Fact and Folklore of Weather Sayings
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students adopt a skeptical stance and become weather detectives who ask "Why?" and "Why not?" as they investigate the history and validity of some common weather sayings.
Grades
|
Using Snowflake Bentley as a Framing Text for Multigenre Writing
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Using Snowflake Bentley as a model, students create a working definition of multigenre text and then use that definition to create their own multigenre piece about winter or another theme.
Grades
|
Looking for the History in Historical Fiction: An Epidemic for Reading
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
This lesson pairs the reading of historical fiction with nonfiction to introduce students to the large themes of history.
Grades
|
A Genre Study of Letters With The Jolly Postman
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students read The Jolly Postman, in which a postman delivers letters to storybook characters. They explore different types of mail and categorize letters from the book and their own mail.
Grades
|
Authoring an Epilogue That Helps Our Characters Live On
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
This lesson uses One Green Apple by Eve Bunting to teach how characters change across a text. It will also guide students through writing an epilogue to accompany their independent book.
Grades
|
A Recipe for Writing: Fairy Tale Feasts
2 - 4
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
After examining recipes written based on students' favorite fairy tales, students research a recipe related to their favorite story, book, or fairy tale and include it in a classroom recipe book.
Grades
|
Boars and Baseball: Making Connections
4 - 7
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
In this lesson, students will make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections after reading In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. After sharing and discussing connections, students choose and plan a project that makes a personal connection to the text.
Grades
|
Using Collaborative Reasoning to Support Critical Thinking
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
Students will participate in Collaborative Reasoning in small groups to discuss and think critically about issues of social justice and diversity by reading current events informational articles.
Grades
|
Research Building Blocks: "Cite Those Sources!"
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students learn the importance of crediting others for their words and ideas, and then learn the paraphrasing and citation skills necessary to avoid plagiarism.
Grades
|
Research Building Blocks: Skim, Scan, and Scroll
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
In this lesson from a research skills unit, students read informational text, looking for supporting details. They practice skimming and scanning print resources, and scrolling through electronic resources.
Grades
|
Research Building Blocks: Examining Electronic Sources
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Minilesson
In this lesson, students evaluate and rate the relevance of electronic resources as they research information about their state.
Grades
|
Research Building Blocks: Notes, Quotes, and Fact Fragments
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Minilesson
Students are guided through the process of taking notes while reading factual information, then turning those notes into new sentences and paragraphs written in their own words.
Grades
|
Research Building Blocks: Hints about Print
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Minilesson
In this lesson from a research skills unit, students examine abstracts on selected books to determine their relevance and helpfulness.
Grades
|
How Big Are Martin's Big Words? Thinking Big about the Future
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Minilesson
Inspired by the book Martin's Big Words, students explore information on Dr. King to think about his "big" words, then they write about their own "big" words and dreams.
Grades
|
Biographies: Creating Timelines of a Life
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
In this lesson students explore a number of sources to create a biographical timeline about a selected person. Students collaboratively research and resolve conflicting information they find during their investigation.