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.
Sequencing: A Strategy to Succeed at Reading Comprehension
Grades
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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
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Phonics In Context
K - 2
Lesson Plan
| Minilesson
Use an engaging, authentic text to build students' knowledge of phonic elements and give them a taste of Japanese culture.
Grades
|
Press Conference for Bud, Not Buddy
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students read Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, demonstrate comprehension of the story by involving themselves in discussions, and analyze the characters in preparation for a class "press conference."
Grades
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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
|
Developing a Living Definition of Reading in the Elementary Classroom
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Using the guiding question, "What is reading?" students interact with a variety of texts as they uncover the skills necessary to interact with texts and develop a definition of reading.
Grades
|
Show What You Know: Read, Write and Solve Math Problems
2 - 3
Lesson Plan
| Minilesson
Informational texts, iPads, and interactive games, oh, my! Help students journey through multimodal texts to identify and solve real-world mathematics problems using writing and apps.
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
|
Blogging in the Primary Grades? Yes, Indeed!
2 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Give students an authentic reason to read and write by researching blogs written by their peers around the world and then writing their own.
Grades
|
Create a Great Future: STEM Career Research Using Close Reading
6 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Minilesson
What if students could see the relevance of their school curriculum to real-world, interesting, STEM-related careers? Let's help them create a great future!
Grades
|
Amelia Bedelia Up Close! Closely Reading a Classic Story
1 - 2
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Through a close reading of Amelia Bedelia, students reread the material to discuss text-dependent questions, promoting deep thinking about the text and its characters.
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
|
Awareness of Alliteration: Enhancing Writing Through Mentor Texts
1
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Through this lesson, primary students strengthen their phonemic awareness while using picture books featuring alliteration as models for their own writing.
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
|
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
|
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
|
Using Story Innovation to Teach Fluency, Vocabulary, and Structure
3 - 6
Lesson Plan
| Recurring Lesson
An instructional strategy called story innovation teaches students fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, and story structure. This unique strategy can be adapted for many purposes.
Grades
|
Digital Word Detectives: Building Vocabulary With e-Book Readers
2 - 6
Lesson Plan
| Minilesson
Students in grades 2-6 use digital dictionaries and other e-book tools to learn new vocabulary as they read e-books on digital reading devices.
Grades
|
Creating a Feast for the Senses With Mentor Texts
3 - 6
Lesson Plan
| Minilesson
This lesson teaches intermediate students to "use the experts" to learn how to revise to create sharp, sensory-rich experiences for their readers.