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The Legend of the Blue Bonnet
Students will create their own version/retelling of The Legend of the Blue Bonnet by Tomie dePaola
Format: lesson plan (grade 2 English Language Arts)
By Shari Peacock.
The Wish Giver: Cause and effect
Through a discussion of the characters in the novel The Wish Giver, by Bill Brittain, the teacher will teach the students to identify and analyze the cause/effect relationship and its importance in reading comprehension.
Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 English Language Arts)
By Becky Ellzey.
Bubba: A Cinderella story
This lesson focuses on the whimsical interpretation of the Cinderella story. Students explore the story Bubba, the Cowboy Prince, through rich text and interpretations of the story.
Format: lesson plan (grade 4 English Language Arts and English Language Development)
By Jennifer Fessler and Karen Wright.
Bulletin board of story elements
This lesson will introduce young children to the elements of stories starting with characters. Children will be involved with interactive writing as they respond to shared reading lessons. Students will illustrate a caption of a character to be displayed on a bulletin board.
Format: lesson plan (grade K–1 English Language Arts)
Cause and effect
Students will identify and interpret cause and effect as expressed in poetry.
Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 English Language Arts)
By Rochelle Mullis.
Comparing and contrasting Little Red Riding Hood stories
This lesson will introduce the Venn diagram to students. They will read two versions of the story "Little Red Riding Hood" and list details from each in separate diagrams.
Format: lesson plan (grade 2–4 English Language Arts)
By Amber Miller.
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.
The Frog Prince: Compare and contrast
This lesson can be used with numerous pieces of literature, films, or sound material to develop viewing and listening skills and the students' ability to compare and contrast. One of the richest sources is in the area of fairy tales and folktales. This an especially good source if you can find a modernized version in recorded form to contrast with the more traditional written form. I have used the "Frog Prince" because of this factor and because it was part of the 4th grade language arts reading unit.
Format: lesson plan (grade 4 English Language Arts and Information Skills)
By Barbara Waters.
Fun with division
Students will learn division concepts through the use of The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins and a poem entitled "Dividing up Bugs." Students will be involved in hands on activities in order to gain an understanding of division. This lesson plan integrates communication skills, math, and technology.
Format: lesson plan (grade 3 English Language Arts and Mathematics)
By Grace Blythe.
Inside and outside: Paradox of the box
This lesson serves to introduce students to symbolism (the box), to the literary element paradox, and to the abstract notion of ambiguity (freedom vs. confinement). It is designed for 2nd and 3rd graders, but may be adapted for use with upper elementary or early middle school grades.
Format: lesson plan (grade 2–6 English Language Arts)
By Edie McDowell.
Is Mr. Wolf really a bad guy?
This lesson is intended to show children the importance of evaluating information as they read. The author's point of view is limited in that it only truly shows one side of the story. There is always another perspective. How the author views a subject colors everything that he or she writes about.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)
More vivid word choices: Said is dead
The students will expand their vocabulary and learn synonyms for overused words. By using the story Chicken Little by Stephen Kellogg, students will see how an acclaimed author uses many different words for "said."
Format: lesson plan (grade 2–4 English Language Arts)
By Linda Justice.
Mystery: Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective
This is a three part lesson on mysteries using the novel Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective by Donald Sobol.
Format: lesson plan (grade 4 English Language Arts)
By Christine Weaver.
Observing connections: Art, poetry and the environment (Lesson 1)
Students will explore the poem of Pat Lowery Collins, “I Am An Artist” and create their own poem from what they see and experience. They will then illustrate their poems with a visual design. This is the first lesson in a series of three in which students are creating art based on their observations: Observing Connections —Art, Poetry, and the Environment (Lesson 1); Observing Connections—Changing Landscapes (Lesson 2); Observing Connections—North Carolina Pottery and Face Jugs (Lesson 3)
Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 Visual Arts Education and English Language Arts)
By Lisa Mitchell.
Seven directions: Making connections between literature and American Indian history
This middle school lesson uses picture books to integrate American Indian culture and belief systems with language and visual arts.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts, Guidance, and Social Studies)
By Edie McDowell.
Similes
"The Talking Eggs" by Robert San Souci is used to introduce and illustrate an author's use of language to paint a picture in the reader's mind. Students will draw a picture to show what this author meant, create similes to describe themselves, and finally use a simile in their next story in Writer's Workshop.
Format: lesson plan (grade 1–2 English Language Arts)
By jennifer lettieri.
Storytelling with Cherokee folktales
This is a two day lesson pertaining to telling Cherokee folktales. This lesson can be modified and used with any folktale.
Format: lesson plan (grade 4 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
By Ricky Hamilton.
"Twas the Night Before Christmas": Retelling through thinking maps
After reading and discussing “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” students will work together to create a Flow Map. Each student will then use the map they created individually to retell the story in his/her own words.
Format: lesson plan (grade 2 English Language Arts)
By Amy Rhyne, Paulette Keys, and Sarah Carson.
Using different versions of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"
This lesson allows the teacher to read different versions of this classic in accents indigenous to certain cultures and then provides a writing lesson for students to write their own version of "'Twas the Night" for their school!
Format: lesson plan (grade 1–2 English Language Arts)
By Dirk Robertson.
The wolf in children's books
Students will explore the ways wolves are represented in children's stories. They will decide if the wolf is a protagonist or an antagonist in the story. They will also attempt to determine if these representations are scientifically accurate. The first in a two-part lesson.
Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 English Language Arts and Information Skills)
By Vanessa Olson.