Paper and pixels get compared in this lesson in which students compare both printed and online versions of a magazine.
Magazine Redux: An Exercise in Critical Literacy
Grades
|
Diagram It! Identifying, Comparing, and Writing About Nonfiction Texts
K - 2
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students compare the traits fact and fiction by using a Venn diagram to compare fiction and nonfiction books about Native Americans.
Grades
|
Thundering Tall Tales: Using Read-Aloud as a Springboard to Writing
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
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.
Grades
|
Beyond History Books: Researching With Twin Texts and Technology
4 - 8
Lesson Plan
Students in grades 4–8 activate prior knowledge and research information about a historic event through fiction and nonfiction literature and exploration of relevant websites.
Grades
|
The Houdini Box: What Did Houdini Hide? Writing Creative Endings
3 - 6
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students are encouraged to understand a book that the teacher reads aloud to create a new ending for it using the writing process.
Grades
|
Collaborating, Writing, Linking: Using Wikis to Tell Stories Online
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students become online authors in this lesson in which they write and post a short story using wiki technology.
Grades
|
This is My Story: Encouraging Students to Use a Unique Voice
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
What did the wolf think of Red Riding Hood? Once Upon a Fairy Tale offers his side of the story and more, providing vivid examples of how voice enlivens narrative. After comparing versions of the story, students apply the concept of voice to Fractured Fairy Tales and other writing activities.
Grades
|
Zines for Kids: Multigenre Texts About Media Icons
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Special edition! Students use ReadWriteThink tools to create magazines about prominent figures using a variety of writing genres and styles.
Grades
|
Lights, Camera, Action: Interviewing a Book Character
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students get the inside scoop on a story when they create interview questions and answers for characters in the books they read.
Grades
|
Multimedia Responses to Content Area Topics Using Fact-"Faction"-Fiction
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students climb into the mind of a spider in this lesson that asks them to compose a spider diary using spider facts, fiction, and "faction"fiction that sounds like fact.
Grades
|
From Fact to Fiction: Drawing and Writing Stories
K - 2
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students gather factual information about frogs and toads to create nonfiction and fiction stories. Drawing is used for prewriting.
Grades
|
The Big, Bad Wolf...Is This a Fact?
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Reading is revamped in this lesson in which students use a multimedia approach to study the books by Seymour Simon.
Grades
|
Exploring World Cultures Through Folk Tales
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
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.
Grades
|
Pairing Fiction With Poetry and Performance
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Make connections across genres and across cultures to engage students in the study of literary voice and themes. Comprehension skills and vocabulary also come into play, especially for English language learners, as students read a novel and related poems, then write and perform original poems related to the novel.
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
|
Using a Word Journal to Create a Personal Dictionary
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Recurring Lesson
Students will be the definition of vocabulary experts as they use the skills they learn in this lesson to track, define, and ultimately master unfamiliar words.
Grades
|
Flip Book
3 - 12
Student Interactive
| Writing & Publishing Prose
The Flip Book is designed to allow users to type and illustrate tabbed flip books up to ten pages long. Students and teachers can use the flip book for taking notes while reading, making picture books, collecting facts, or creating question and answer booklets.
Grades
|
Author E.B. White was born on this day in 1899.
K - 5
Calendar Activity
| Author & Text
Author E.B. White, most well-known for his famous children's book, Charlotte's Web, received high acclaim and awards for many of his works of fiction.
Grades
|
Jonathan Swift was born on this day in 1667.
9 - 12
Calendar Activity
| Author & Text
Students explore satire and parody in television and film, advertising, and journalism and create a display that highlights their findings.
Grades
|
Black Beauty author Anna Sewell was born in 1820.
3 - 12
Calendar Activity
| Author & Text
Through Sewell's novel, students explore the cruelty to animals and extend the discussion to current events, eventually presenting the information.