Imagination and application are key to this tall tale lesson in which students take what they know about tall tales to spin a yarn of their own.
Thundering Tall Tales: Using Read-Aloud as a Springboard to Writing
Grades
|
Developing Students' Critical Thinking Skills Through Whole-Class Dialogue
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
"That's my position and I'm sticking to it!" After reading about the Korean War, students will take a position in response to an open-ended question, support their position, and evaluate that support.
Grades
|
Timelines and Texts: Motivating Students to Read Nonfiction
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
In an effort to help motivate students to read nonfiction, students are challenged to use a timeline to help them name the year when certain products were invented.
Grades
|
Sequencing: A Strategy to Succeed at Reading Comprehension
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Did Paul Bunyan gouge out the Grand Canyon before or after he dug the Great Lakes? Students create a life-sized timeline showing the sequence of events in this tall tale.
Grades
|
Exploring the Subtext Strategy: Thinking Beyond the Text
2 - 4
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
What is it like to have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day? Students find out in this lesson in which they "become" the characters in Judith Viorst's book.
Grades
|
Choosing, Chatting, and Collecting: Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Recurring Lesson
Students identify interesting words from Shakespeare's plays and add them to a classroom vocabulary collection.
Grades
|
Name Talk: Exploring Letter-Sound Knowledge in the Primary Classroom
K - 1
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students demonstrate their letter/sound knowledge by working with name cards and sharing observations about their classmates' names, giving teachers an opportunity to assess knowledge in a meaningful context.
Grades
|
Poetry Plus! Creating 21st Century Poems with Web Tools
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Minilesson
This lesson encourages students to immerse themselves in poetry as they share their original poems orally and digitally with published poets and peers nationwide.
Grades
|
Reading Movies and TV: Learning the "Language" of Moving-Image Texts
5 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Minilesson
Introduce students to the idea that movies and TV have their own language and grammar, which gives them special ways of telling their stories.
Grades
|
Bringing Economic Vocabulary to Life Through Video Posters
2 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Minilesson
Imagine if vocabulary could come alive with the click of a button! Students create video posters to demonstrate knowledge of new economics vocabulary.
Grades
|
Tell Me Your Story: Video-Inspired Vocabulary Writing
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Recurring Lesson
Students watch a sample of artistic video clips online and respond through creative writing while using the vocabulary words they are currently studying.
Grades
|
Inspire Healthful Reading Using Unconventional Texts
K - 2
Lesson Plan
| Minilesson
This minilesson encourages children to seek out and appropriately react to nutrition labels and to make healthy food choices, integrating science, math, health, and literacy.
Grades
|
Picture Understanding! Building Comprehension in the Primary Grades With Picture Books
1 - 3
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students move from modeled to independent comprehension of fiction stories by using texts by Jan Brett and interactive tools that demonstrate their comprehension.
Grades
|
Resumes and Cover Letters for High School Students
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Unit
High school students are taught how to use resumes and cover letters to highlight their skills and make them stand out, whether applying to college or for a job.
Grades
|
Playlist for Holden: Character Analysis With Music and Lyrics
7 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Minilesson
Students compile a playlist of 10 songs representing a literary character and explain their choices based on the book's dialogue, plot, conflict, and resolution.
Grades
|
Going Digital: Using e-Book Readers to Enhance the Reading Experience
2 - 4
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students use various tools and features of digital readers to develop vocabulary, support comprehension, respond to text, improve fluency, and enhance the reading experience.
Grades
|
Reading Idol! Bringing Readers Theatre Center Stage in Your Classroom
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students produce a Readers Theatre performance to compete to be named the Reading Idol. Students vote on the final performances and record them as podcasts.
Grades
|
Using American Sign Language to Improve Comprehension and Vocabulary
1 - 3
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
American Sign Language is combined with the hilarious poetry and pictures of Sam's Sandwich, a lift-the-flap book, to engage all types of learners in acquiring key vocabulary.
Grades
|
Talking About Books to Improve Comprehension
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Recurring Lesson
This lesson is a conversation-starter! In this lesson, students learn about striking up deep-thought conversations and staying on topic in the form of a book talk.
Grades
|
When I Was Young In...A Literature to Language Experience
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Past meets present in this lesson in which students practice verb tense when they write personal short stories that they then publish in a flip book.