Journey around the world with students as they read a Japanese, African, or Welsh folk tale, create a visual depiction of the tale, research the tale's culture, and present findings.
Exploring World Cultures Through Folk Tales
Grades
|
In the Poet's Shoes: Performing Poetry and Building Meaning
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students take poetic license when they interpret William Carlos William's poem "The Red Wheelbarrow" to help create a poem of their own.
Grades
|
Analyzing Character Development in Three Short Stories About Women
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students read three short stories about women; discuss the development of female characters, gender differences, and society's expectations; and write scripts in which the characters discuss their similarities and differences.
Grades
|
Once They're Hooked, Reel Them In: Writing Good Endings
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
It's important to "hook" readers at a story's beginning, but it's equally important to keep them interested. In this lesson, students learn to write effective conclusions to their own stories.
Grades
|
Building a Learning Community: Crafting Rules for the Classroom
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students will learn to mind their ps and qs in this lesson on etiquette and appropriate behavior in the classroom.
Grades
|
A-Z: Learning About the Alphabet Book Genre
K - 2
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students increase their understanding of alphabet books by participating in a variety of reading and writing activities.
Grades
|
Exploring Friendship With Bridge to Terabithia
4 - 6
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students make predictions about Bridge to Terabithia and its characters, complete character studies, and relate the characters' experiences to their own as they identify ways to make and keep friends.
Grades
|
Two Thumbs Up! Get Students Writing and Publishing Book Reviews
K - 3
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students evaluate book reviews written by other children, discussing their components and effectiveness, and write reviews of favorite books to record on video or post online.
Grades
|
Music and Me: Visual Representations of Lyrics to Popular Music
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students will whistle while they work on this lesson, creating a photomontage movie of their interpretation of a favorite song's lyrics that will end everyone's day on a high note.
Grades
|
Sharing Favorite Books Using Interactive Character Trading Cards
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Using selected characters from a text of their choice, students put their literary analysis skills to work by creating fictional character trading cards.
Grades
|
Great American Inventors: Using Nonfiction to Learn About Technology Inventions
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Who are the people behind the world's greatest inventions? Students read biographies of a terrific trio of American inventors and create presentations that highlight how their inventions from the past impacted the future.
Grades
|
Using Picture Books to Explore Identity, Stereotyping, and Discrimination
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students analyze the concepts of identity, stereotyping, and discrimination by reading picture books; identify how these concepts are dealt with in each book; and discuss concrete actions to stop discrimination.
Grades
|
Planning Story Characters Using Interactive Trading Cards
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students use trading cards to examine fictional characters in a story.
Grades
|
A Race With Grace: Sports Poetry in Motion
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
In this lesson, athletics, aesthetics, and poetics intersect in new ways as developing literacy learners experiment together with the forms of language.
Grades
|
Exploring Author's Voice Using Jane Addams Award-Winning Books
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
History has many faces in this lesson in which students read Jane Addams Award-winning books to learn about peace, social justice, world community, and equality.
Grades
|
Multipurpose Poetry: Introducing Science Concepts and Increasing Fluency
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Creepy crawlers, hoppers, and fliers are the focus of this lesson in which students chorally read poems about insects and use the Internet to locate facts about their assigned insects.
Grades
|
Postmodern Picture Books in Middle School
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students analyze the structure of a postmodern picture book, Black and White, to uncover how authors create unexpected plots and connections and form relationships between words and illustrations.
Grades
|
Flying to Freedom: Tar Beach and The People Could Fly
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students look to the past and use historical context to compare and contrast two characters from folktales.
Grades
|
The Big Bad Wolf: Analyzing Point of View in Texts
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Was the Big Bad Wolf really all that bad? This lesson encourages students to analyze multiple viewpoints, view texts from different angles, and recognize gaps in narrative.
Grades
|
Poetry: A Feast to Form Fluent Readers
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students improve their reading fluency by selecting a poem online to perform in class.