English Language Arts — Grade 5

Description as Mind Control: Using Details to Help Readers Visualize Your Story

Good writers help their readers visualize their stories by including vivid details. Students will listen to passages from Gary Paulsen's novel Hatchet, draw one of the images from the passage, and identify which details Paulsen uses to create these images.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

By DPI Writing Strategies.

Lesson plans on the web

Alter egos and more with Avi's "Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway?"

After reading Avi's Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway?, students learn about the history of radio shows, examine scripts, and write their own radio show similar to the scenarios that the characters, Frankie and Mario, perform. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Behind the scenes with Cinderella

Students use literature and the Internet to research and learn about the geography, architecture, and weather that are associated with the setting of Moss Gown. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Blending fiction and nonfiction to improve comprehension and writing skills

Introduces text sets to increase student interest in and understanding of content area material and to develop critical writing skills. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–6 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Book clubs: Reading for fun

In this lesson, small groups of students create, organize, and run book clubs in order to promote reading for fun. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Book report alternative: Examining story elements using story map comic strips

Students use a six-paneled comic strip to create a story map, summarizing a book or story that they've either read as a class or independently. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Bright Morning: Exploring character development in fiction

Students explore characterization by identifying traits and finding textual support. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Buzz! Whiz! Bang! Using comic books to teach onomatopoeia

This lesson uses comic strips to introduce students to onomatopoeia, words that imitate the natural sound associated with an action or an object. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Choosing clear and varied dialogue tags: A mini-lesson

Students explore the use of dialogue tags such as “he said” or “she answered” in picture books and novels, discussing their purpose, form, and style. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Cinderella folk tales: Variations in plot and setting

Students compare and contrast several versions of Cinderella stories told around the world to find differences and similarities in plot and setting. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts)

Provider: National Endowment for the Humanities

Color Poems--Using the Five Senses to Guide Prewriting

Students use their five senses as a prewriting tool to guide their poetry writing. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Developing inferential comprehension through DL-TA and discussion webs

Uses the narrative text Granddaddy's Gift by Margaree King Mitchell to help students improve their inferential comprehension, prediction, and discussion skills. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Elements of folktales

Students explore the common elements of folktales and tall tales while learning how these tales built the spirit of American people. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts)

Provider: The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Engaging students in a collaborative exploration of the “Gettysburg Address”

This lesson invites groups of students to learn more about the historical significance of President Abraham Lincoln's famous speech, the “Gettysburg Address” as well as the time period and people involved. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Examining plot conflict through a comparison/contrast essay

In this lesson, students identify the characteristics of conflict using picture books. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Exploring world cultures through folk tales

This lesson helps foster an atmosphere of inquiry and appreciation for other cultures as students learn about and read various folk tales from around the world. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Figurative language: Teaching idioms

Students explore figurative language with a focus on the literal versus the metaphorical translations of idioms. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Genre study: A collaborative approach

After identifying literary elements, students improve comprehension by interpreting, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating written text in order to categorize various texts into literary genres. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Graphing plot and character in a novel

This lesson uses The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis to introduce plot sequence and the importance of symbolism. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Guided comprehension: Knowing how words work using semantic feature analysis

Students learn semantic feature analysis, a strategy that teaches them to identify characteristics associated with related words or concepts. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE