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2018 Arkansas Teacher of the Year, Randi House, shows students how to look for clues in a text to support answers and gives students several examples of sentence starters they can use to introduce evidence from the text. Ms. House tells students a short story about Milly Hilly and then asks questions that require students to make inferences that must be supported by story details. The accompanying activity gives students an opportunity to practice making and supporting inferences with the short story “The Fisherman and His Wife.”

A piece of math-related children's literature, Sixteen Cows, is used to demonstrate the strategy of problem-posing. After hearing the story read aloud, students are invited to brainstorm some literary and mathematical observations to the story. With the teacher's guidance, students then turn those observations into "what-if" mathematical extensions. These extensions become mathematical problems that students solve, both individually and as a whole class. Since this strategy highlights changing attributes of a story, it underscores for children the range of choices that authors have.

Students will analyze the painting "Streets of Mbari."  They will listen to and evaluate the musical elements of The Marketplace at Limoges by Modest Mussorgsky. They will write a narrative based on their impression of both the painting and music.  

A storyteller uses the elements of a story: who, what, and where, to create a rap. After watching the video, students use story elements to write and perform their own raps. Identifying story elements, such as the setting, characters, and motivation, helps readers interpret and respond to a text. Focusing on key details of story elements supports the understanding of the author's message and purpose.

A storyteller uses the elements of a story: who, what, and where, to create a rap. After watching the video, students use story elements to write and perform their own raps.

Identifying story elements, such as the setting, characters, and motivation, helps readers interpret and respond to a text. Focusing on key details of story elements supports the understanding of the author's message and purpose.

Students explore picture books to identify the characteristics of four types of conflict: character vs. character, character vs. self, character vs. nature, and character vs. society. Next, students write about conflict in their own lives and then look for similarities among all the conflicts shared by the class, ultimately classifying each conflict into one of the four types. Finally, after investigating the compare and contrast format, students conclude with a compare and contrast essay that focuses on two conflicts—one from their own experience and one from a picture book or story that they have read.

In this singular and plural game, poor Lucy is still in the zoo! If you help her sort out her singular and plural words you’ll be able to give her some presents to cheer her up. Perfect for supporting the teaching of spelling with your KS1 learners. This game is part of our spelling games KS1 collection.

This lesson comprises five lessons that students love. During the first session, read aloud The Houdini Box by Brian Selznick to the class. Students then follow the steps of the writing process to create a new ending for this book. Students gain experience brainstorming, drafting, editing, and polishing their writing. Because their story endings must flow well with the rest of the book, students must understand what the book is about. The goal is for them to understand what they're reading and to demonstrate their knowledge of the book's content and their own creativity through a writing piece.

Construct-a-Word provides a simple, engaging way for students to generate dozens of different words by first choosing an ending (for example -an, -ed, -at, -op) and then adding a beginning letter or blend. When a correct word is created, the word is stored in a Word Bank where students can read and review their words. For each ending, Construct-a-Word prompts students to create between 6 and 14 different possible words, adding an element of fun and discovery. It uses animation and sound to guide students through the steps of creating words and employs prompts that are clear and easy to master. This interactive tool could be used individually or in small groups, either in one session or across multiple lessons.

This lesson invites students to explore the things relevant to a character from Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun, such as Mama's plant, to unlock the drama's underlying symbolism and themes. Students explore character traits and participate in active learning as they work with the play. Students use an interactive drama map to explore character and conflict and then write and share character-item poems.

YAY! It is time to learn about synonyms! Synonyms are fun and easy to learn in this fun learning video. This video will help students  learn what synonyms are and how they can be spotted.

This WPSU interactive Make Connections Game gives students practice in making mental connections between the text and things the reader already knows. These connections can include things readers have read (text-to-text), things they've seen or heard (text-to-world), and things they've done (text-to-self). The game is part of Blue Ribbon Readers, a collection of games designed to help elementary school students learn to read. This game is recommended for students in grades 2 - 5. 

This resource is particularly helpful with allowing students the opportunity to practice identifying text comparisons in the 3rd grade. 

In this activity, students will read the story, Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers by Karen B. Winnick and pick a moment in the story to add a new scene in the form of a comic strip.

The teacher will present an informational text from the website, ReadWorks. Students will interact with this non-fiction text by annotating the text digitally. The students will answer the questions associated with the article as an assessment. This learning activity can introduce students to the concept of designing weather-resistant structures, serve as reinforcement after students have already learned this concept, or be used as an assessment at the conclusion of a lesson. 

Are you ready for your students to burst into action while practicing contractions? Have them join the fiesta in "Arcade" mode by tapping/clicking on the correct contraction spelling and using the slingshot to make the piñata burst open, or play "Practice" mode to test their knowledge of contractions and hone their slingshot skills.

In this lesson, students explore the power of narrative voice in storytelling and in particular the first-person point of view. They engage with the text through a shared reading exercise and view a video segment from The Great American Read. Finally, students analyze text to identify how authors use language and voice to channel the emotions and experiences of characters.

This lesson supports third through fifth-grade students as they apply think-aloud strategies to reading, as well as to the composition of artwork and poetry. Activities include collaborative as well as individual work. Technology tools are integrated as students research symbols of peace and as they prewrite, compose, and publish their poetry.

The teacher will present an informational text from the website, ReadWorks. The students and teacher can interact with this non-fiction text by annotating the text digitally. The students will answer the questions associated with the article as an assessment. This learning activity can be used to explain why the sun is visible during the day and other stars are visible at night, serve as reinforcement after students have already learned this concept, or be used as an assessment at the conclusion of a lesson.

What kid doesn't love ice cream? Use this activity for a simple and quick way to work on the reading skill of cause and effect. Simply look at the four scoops of ice cream on the left, which contain the cause, and try to match them with their effect, listed on the cones to the right. Once you have found a match, drag the scoop of ice cream and place it on top of the cone. Just be sure to wipe your mouth when you are finished. The learning resource also has a quiz, worksheet, and video available to help with understanding.