Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning

These lesson plans and activities are organized under topics. Click the found next to the topic to see the related knowledge and skill statements from Content Knowledge, 4th edition.

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Reading

Critical reading | Decoding/word identification | Grammar usage | Literary genres | Literary style and techniques | Personal response to written/spoken text | Reading fundamentals | Story/literary elements | Style, diction, and voice

Writing

Informative writing | Literary/narrative writing | Paragraph development | Argument/Persuasive writing | Writing conventions/mechanics | Writing for audience and purpose | Writing process | Interactive activities for kids

Viewing

Critical viewing | Media production | Style and techniques in visual media

Speaking

Oral presentation and collaboration

Research and Reference

Locating sources/gathering information | Organizing information and ideas

ESL/ELL

General Language Arts Resources

Reading

Critical reading

• Analyzing Famous Speeches as Arguments (9–12)—Melissa Weeks Noel; ReadWriteThink, NCTE
• Briefly Noted: Practicing useful annotation strategies (secondary)—Dinah Mack, Holly Epstein Ojalvo; The learning Network, The New York Times
• Building a Case for Clues (Grades 3–5)—McREL
• Cause and Effect (Grade 2)—ReadWorks.org
• Compare-Contrast, Cause-Effect, Problem-Solution: Common ‘text types’ in The Times (Secondary)— Katherine Schulten; The Learning Network, The New York Times
• Drawing Conclusions (Grade 3)—RadWorks.org
• Declaration of Independence (Grades 9–12)—Shelly Leuthrold; teachers.net
• Is It Fact or Opinion? (Grades 6–8)—McREL
• Main Idea (Grade 3)—ReadWorks.org
• Once Upon a Time... (Kindergarten–Grade 2)—McREL
• The Times and the Common Core Standards: Reading strategies for “Informational Text’ (Grades 3–12)—Katherine Schulten; The Learning Network, The New York Times
• Two Sides, Same Coin (Grades 9–12)—McREL*

Decoding/word identification

• There Was an Old Lady... (Grades 3–5)—McREL
• Compound Words (Grades 1–2)—Spelllingcity.com; Vocabulary.co.il
• I Am a Word: Words as Names (Grades 1–2)—Paul Many; K12 Academics
• Activities to Reinforce and Teach Sight Words (Elementary)—Sharon Hall; Teachers.net

Grammar and usage

• Jabberwocky (Gradfes 6–8)—McREL*
• MadLibs: Interactive Web (Elementary)—It’s a Mad Libs World
• Pronoun Reference (Grades K–2)—ReadWorks.org
• Review your Students’ Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation (Grades 9–12)—Bright Hub Education
• Sentences (Grades 1–2)—Busy Teachers’ Cafe
• Scrutinizing Stand-Ins: Working with nouns and pronouns (Secondary)—Susan Behrens, Holly Epstein Ojalvo; The Learning Network, The New York Times

Literary genres

• Coyote and Anansi (Grades 3–5)—McREL
• Screenwriting 101 (Grades 9–12)—McREL*
• A Storytelling Festival (Grades 5–8)—Education Place®; Houghton Mifflin*
  

Literary style and techniques

• Author’s Voice in a Passage (Grade 2)—ReadWorks.org
• Creating an Anthology (Grades 9–12)—McREL
• Defining and Exploring an Author’s Stylistic Choices (Grades 9–12)—Traci Gardner; ReadWriteThink, NCTE
• Point of View (Grade 3)—ReadWorks.org
• Point of View (Grades 4–5)—LessonPlansPage.com; HotChalk, Inc

Personal response to written/spoken text

• Cinderella (Grades 9–12)—McREL

Reading fundamentals

• Concepts in Print (PreK–2)—BJ Subbiondo; e Teaching Assistance Program
• Reading Buddies' Book Tour (Prekindergarten)—McREL>

Story/literary elements

• A New Point of view (Grades 6–8)—McREL
• Character Unit (Grade 3)—ReadWork.org
• Examining Story Elements Using Story Map Comic Strips (Grades 3–5)—Lisa Storm Fink; ReadWriteThink, NCTE
• Nibble, Nibble, Little Mouse (Grades 6–8)—McREL*
• Literary Terms and Devices (Grades 6–8)—Rebecca Morrison; Teachers.net
• Literary Terms: A practical glossary (Grades 9–12)—Brian Moon; ReadWriteThink, NCTE

Style, diction, and voice

• Every Dog Has It's Day (Grades 6–8)—McREL
• Jabberwocky (Grades 6–8)—McREL*
• Style and Voice (Grades 9–12)—McREL
• Using Sentence Structure to Improve Writing Style (Grades 9–12)—Trent Lorcher; Bright Hub Education
• Voice (Grade 4)—ReadWorks.org

Writing

Informative writing

• Expository Escapade (Grades 6–8)—Lisa Gaines; ReadWriteThink, NCTE
• Interview! Magazine (Grades 6–8)—McREL*
• I Wonder: Writing scientific explanations with students (Grades K–2)– Emily Manning; ReadWriteThink, IRA
• Writing a Resume (Grades 9–12)—McREL
  

Literary/narrative writing

• A New Point of view (Grades 6–8)—McREL
• My Writing Portfolio (Kindergarten–Grade 2)—McREL
• Nibble, Nibble, Little Mouse (Grades 6–8)—McREL*
• Screenwriting 101 (Grades 9–12)—McREL*
• Zooming In, Zooming Out (Kindergarten–Grade 2)—McREL
• Picture This! Building Photo-Based Writing Skills (Grades 6–12)—The Learning Network: Teaching & Learning With The New York Times; New York, NY
  

Paragraph development

• Scrambled Paragraphs (Grades 3–5)—McREL
• Successful Paragraphs (Grades 4–6)—Martha Adams; Jefferson Elementary; Everette, WA
  

Argument/Persuasive writing

• Building a Better Argument (Secondary)—FactCheckEd.org; Annenberg Classroom
• Emotion or Reason? (Grades 9–12)—McREL
• Finding Common Ground: Using logical, audience-specific arguments (Grades 9–12)—Susan Spangler; ReadWriteThink, NCTE
• House and Holmes: A guide to deductive and inductive reasoning (Secondary)—FactCheckEd.org; Annenberg Classroom
• Persuade Me (Grades 6–8)—McREL
• Taxed Tempers Toss Tea To Tides (Grades 5–6)—McREL
  

Writing conventions/mechanics

• Analyzing Grammar Pet Peeves (Grades 9–12)—Susan Spangler; ReadWriteThink, NCTE
• Eva's Code (Grades 3–5)—McREL
• Throw Capitals to the Wind (Grades 9–12)—McREL
• Spelling Practice - Yawn! (Grade 3)—Vicki Jennings; Utah
• Writing conventions (Elementary)— Sarah Donstow; Teachers.net

Writing for audience and purpose

• A New Point of view (Grades 6–8)—McREL
• Two Sides, Same Coin (Grades 9–12)—McREL*
• Writing for Particular Audiences (Grades 3–5)—McREL

Writing process

• And I Quote: A punctuation proofreading minilesson (Grades 9–12)—ReadWriteThink, NCTE
• Implementing the Writing Process (Grades K–5)—ReadWriteThink, NCTE, IRA
• Plan an Essay (Grades 6–8)—Kerry LeBlanc; teacher.net
• Proofreading/editing (Grades 3–5)—Heather Connelly and Scott Hendershot; Maple Hill Elementary School; Middletown, NY
  

Interactive activities for kids

• Hangman (Grades 1–10)—Kidscom.com

Viewing

Critical viewing

• Ad Appeal (Grades 3–5)—McREL
• Commercial Appeal (Grades 6–8)—McREL*

Media production

• Deconstructing Media Messages (Grades 3–5)—McREL
• Media Ownership and Control (Grades 9–12)—McREL
  

Style and techniques in visual media

• Commercial Appeal (Grades 6–8)—McREL*

Speaking

Oral composition and collaboration

• Modeling Academic Writing Through Scholarly Article Presentations (Grades 9–12)—Laura Hennessey DeSena; ReadWriteThink, NCTE
• Reading with Strangers: Ways to study literature collaboratively (Secondary)—Shannon Doyne, Holly Espstein Ojalvo; The Learning Network, The New York Times

Locating sources/gathering information

• Comparing Electronic and Print Texts About the Civil War Soldier (Grades 6–8)—Janet Beyersdorfer; ReadWriteThink, IRA
• Interview! Magazine (Grades 6–8)—McREL*
• Subject Category Searching (Grades 2–3)—CyberSmart! Curriculum; Common Sense Media
• Use of materials, plagiarism, referencing (Grades 6–12)—Viper: the anti-plagiarism scanner; Nottingham, England

Organizing information and ideas

• Research Building Blocks: Notes, quotes, and fact fragments (Grades 3–5)—Lisa Storm Fink; ReadWriteThink, NCTE

ESL/ELL

• Let’s Read it Again: Comprehension strategies for English-language learners (Grades K–2)—Christine Kalemba; ReadWriteThink, NCTE
• PIZZAZ! Creative Writing & Storytelling Ideas for ESL (Multiple lessons, multiple grades)—Leslie Opp-Beckman; University of Oregon, Eugene

General language arts resources

• K-12 Language Arts Lesson Plans (Multiple lessons, multiple grades)—Dr. Scott Mandel; Teachers Helping Teachers
• Lesson Plans: Literature, Writing, Poetry & Library Skills (Multiple lessons, multiple grades)—Ray Saitz; Outta Ray's Head
• Literature CyberGuides (Multiple lessons, multiple grades)—Schools of California Online Resources for Education
• PBS TeacherSource (Multiple lessons, multiple grades)—PBS Online®
• ReadWriteThink (multiple lessons, multiple grades)—fNational Council of Teachers of English; International Reading Association
• ReadWorks.org (multiple lessons, multiple grades)—Urban Education Exchange
• The Learning Network (Multiple lesson, multiple grades )—The New York Times

Note: An asterisk (*) denotes an activity that is listed under more than one topic.