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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 8: Native Americans

For Teachers 5th Standards
Over five weeks, fifth graders listen to and discuss reading passages that explore the connection between Native Americans and nature. Following daily readings, scholars practice word work, including prefixes, root words, suffixes,...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 7: Poetry

For Teachers 5th Standards
Over the course of a 12-lesson language arts unit, young scholars analyze a variety of poems taking a close look at figurative language and tone. They learn to compare and contrast, improve comprehension, and identify settings. To...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 6: The Reformation

For Teachers 5th Standards
Over three weeks, fifth graders read about and discuss the Reformation which saw religion and politics shift across Europe. Following daily readings, young scholars practice spelling, grammar, and morphology skills such as prefixes,...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 5: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

For Teachers 5th Standards
Fifth graders analyze William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, paying close attention to character development, plot, and dialogue. With daily reading and thoughtful discussion, scholars take pen to paper to respond to journal...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 4: The Renaissance

For Teachers 5th Standards
The Renaissance is the theme of a five-week unit designed to boost reading comprehension, spelling, vocabulary, and expository writing skills. Scholars listen to and discuss daily readings and engage in skills practice activities...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 3: Adventures of Don Quixote

For Teachers 5th Standards
Fifth graders explore the Adventures of Don Quixote in a four-week language arts unit. Scholars listen to and discuss a new chapter each day as well as examine vocabulary and practice word work including suffixes, subject-verb agreement,...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 2: Early American Civilizations

For Teachers 5th Standards
Fifth graders explore early American civilizations in a four-week ELA unit. Every lesson offers an opportunity to read and discuss a selected passage followed by word work that covers vocabulary, grammar, and morphology. Learners write...
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Lesson Plan
2
2
MENSA Education & Research Foundation

Magical Musical Tour: Using Lyrics to Teach Literary Elements

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Language arts learners don't need a lecture about poetry; they listen to poetry every day on the radio! Apply skills from literary analysis to famous songs and beautiful lyrics with a lesson about literary devices. As class...
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Lesson Plan
2
2
ReadWriteThink

Literature Circles: Getting Started

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Make reading more enjoyable and interactive with literature circles! Here you'll find detailed lessons to begin the literature circle process. Ten lessons introduce each role learners take on. Literature circle roles include...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Mid-Unit 2 Assessment: Analyzing a New Narrative about a Natural Disaster, Part I

For Teachers 5th Standards
Scholars complete a mid-unit assessment by analyzing a narrative text, In the Middle of the Storm. Learners determine the gist of the text, identify synonyms, make inferences, and answer text-dependent questions to demonstrate...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Reading Literature about Natural Disasters: Inferring about the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on People Living in New Orleans

For Teachers 5th Standards
I survived! Scholars read a firsthand account from a natural disaster survivor in the text Save Bella! They record the gist of the text in their journals and answer text-dependent questions. They then take notes to more deeply analyze...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Analyzing Images and Language: Inferring about the Natural Disaster in Eight Days

For Teachers 5th Standards
Pictures often reveal different meanings. Scholars analyze the images in Eight Days and discuss how they add meaning to the text. Readers answers questions about how specific colors are used to create different emotions. Learners then...
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Activity
University of Waikato

Estuary Metaphors

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Mixing metaphors into science. To begin, the instructor leads a discussion about estuaries to determine what the class already knows. Working in small groups, pupils determine how a selected object is similar to an estuary, how it...
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Interactive4:44
PBS

The Symbolism of Sunflower Seeds in Ghost

For Students 5th - 7th Standards
Ghost by Jason Reynolds is a coming-of-age book that resonates with teenagers who have experienced childhood trauma. Explore the novel with an interactive resource that focuses on the author's use of symbolism, particularly with...
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Activity
Poetry4kids

How to Write a Diamante Poem

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
A lesson begins with a description of a diamante poem and the rules to follow while writing one. Scholars examine the ins and outs of synonym and antonym diamantes, then compose an original poem using their newfound knowledge. 
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Lesson Plan
Poetry4kids

Personification Poetry Lesson Plan

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Scholars take part in two exercises to boost their knowledge of personification. After reading a detailed description and excerpts from famous poems, writers list action verbs and objects then combine words to create a humorous...
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Activity
Poetry4kids

How to Write a Free Verse Poem

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Budding poets compose an original free verse poem. Encouraged to use personification and alliteration, scholars read over three tips and examples then try their hand at drafting a poem of their own style.  
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Lesson Plan
Poetry4kids

Onomatopoeia Poetry Lesson Plan

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Two exercises boost scholars' knowledge of a onomatopoeia with excerpts from famous poems. In exercise one, participants circle onomatopoeia words. Exercise two challenges writers to choose three words to use in an original poem.
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Activity
Poetry4kids

Creativity Exercise - Describe the Sky

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Scholars stretch their writing muscles with an exercise that asks them to describe the sky using similes and metaphors. 
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Lesson Plan
Poetry4kids

Alliteration and Assonance Lesson Plan

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Scholars analyze the poem My Puppy Punched Me in the Eye by Ken Nesbitt in order to locate examples of alliteration and assonance. After reading the poem, alliterative words are underlined and assonant words are circled. 
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Activity
Poetry4kids

How to Write an Alliteration Poem

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Learners follow five steps to compose an alliteration poem. They choose one consonant and brainstorm as many nouns, verbs, and adjectives they can think of to create rhyming sentences that come together in a poetic fashion. 
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Lesson Plan
Poetry4kids

Simile and Metaphor Lesson Plan

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Similes and metaphors are the focus of a poetry lesson plan complete with two exercises. Scholars read poetry excerpts, underline comparative phrases, then identify whether it contains a simile or metaphor. They then write five similes...
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Activity
Newspaper Association of America

Celebrating Women’s History Month

For Students 4th - 8th Standards
Examine the lives of four women—Blanche Stuart Scott, Madeleine L'Engle, Margaret Evans Price, and Sybil Ludington—in a 23-page activity packet. Each profile comes with a set of vocabulary and reading comprehension questions. Further...
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Lesson Plan
Penguin Books

Core Curriculum Lesson Plans for Jefferson's Sons

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
Thomas Jefferson lived a controversial life. A series of lesson plans shares information about Jefferson's Sons, a novel about the infamous founding father. Discussion questions and other tasks explore different points of view and cover...