Learning Activities

This learning activity uses a strategic approach to introduce students to the academic vocabulary they need to understand before writing an expository essay. The activity uses quadrant cards to help extend student learning beyond the basic definition of the term. The following terms are included in the learning activity: transition words, target audience, supporting details, thesis, conclusion paragraph, body paragraph, introductory paragraph, objective tone, formal style, text organization, exposition, and body paragraph.  

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

This resource includes a writing prompt and a rubric. The focus of this resource is expository writing. The document includes space for students to compose their essays within the resource. A rubric is provided to students for self-assessment. 

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

This resource provides instruction and graphic organizers for the Prewriting, Drafting, Revising, Editing, and Proofreading stages of the writing process. The resource is designed to facilitate creating an expository essay. The purpose of the essay will be to explain a problem and present solutions. Students will need to research to gather support for their proposed solutions. 

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

This learning activity comes from The HappyEdugator. In this learning activity, the teacher shares the rules for using quotation marks when punctuating dialogue through a clever PowerPoint presentation. Students learn how to give their characters life. Then students choose from prompts and write a page of dialogue to show their ability to use quotation marks correctly.

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

This activity is a game that allows students to practice addition with three addends and word building. Students build decodable and/or high-frequency words with letter tiles (a printable option is provided) and then find the sum of the word. They record the words and the equations on a recording sheet.

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

In this learning activity, students are introduced to using quotation marks. This song illustrates how to punctuate dialogue correctly using quotation marks. After watching the video, students will complete an activity adding dialogue to student illustrations. 

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

This activity is a Google Slides presentation. It is intended to be completed independently. Each slide contains an excerpt from a Readworks passage. Each passage has a different text structure. The students will read each passage. Students will then respond to a text-dependent writing prompt that focuses on making inferences.

This resource was written as part of the ALEX ELA Resource Development Summit.  

In this activity, the student will evaluate the author's rhetorical style in two paragraphs to interpret the author's intended answer to the final question of the text:  Which came out of the door, the lady, or the tiger? Students will work in groups to complete t-charts and discussion questions to interpret the character's reaction to two scenarios stated in the text.

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

Students will explore the figurative language types of simile, metaphor, idiom, and hyperbole using the attached book list on Epic. Students will also explore the Epic book list on their own to locate and use examples of a simile, metaphor, idiom, and hyperbole to complete the attached Figurative Language Fun Table.

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

This activity is intended to be used as an assessment of students' ability to solve problems with three addends. The assessment includes a word problem and a performance task. The problems provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate an understanding of the properties of addition. 

Students will use their understanding of similes, metaphors, idioms, and hyperboles to write about a "Would You Rather?" holiday situation. Students will create a comic strip using similes, metaphors, idioms, and hyperboles correctly in context. 

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

Students will listen to and locate unknown phrases of similes, metaphors, idioms, and hyperboles in context using holiday songs and stories. They will explain the meanings of common idioms used in holiday songs and stories. They will also use figurative language (similes, metaphors, idioms, and hyperboles) correctly to describe digital holiday images. 

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

In this activity, the student will determine how rhetorical style contributes to the meaning of fiction. The student will follow along with the teacher as he/she presents notes on rhetorical style and meaning in fiction to complete a note sheet. This activity will help the students define, identify, and interpret two types of rhetorical styles which contribute to the meaning of fiction.

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

This activity is a graphic organizer that is completed via Google Slides. This graphic organizer is to be used with the ReadWorks passage "Top Crops." The passage can be read as a whole group, in collaborative groups, or individually. The graphic organizer guides students to use the textual evidence in the passage and their own background knowledge to infer why students in the passage like to go to school in the summer. 

This resource was written as part of the ALEX Resource Development Summit. 

In this activity, students will use their knowledge of imagery and point of view to express how the author uses those literary devices to convey meaning in a short fiction text.

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

Students will write a fictional narrative that includes the literary elements of characters, setting, and plot. Students will write a fictional narrative that includes a specific theme and two examples of personification. Students will be assigned a partner. Students will identify the theme and personification used in their partner's story.

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

Students will write a fictional narrative incorporating the literary elements of plot (character, setting, problem, rising action, climax, falling action, solution). They will also include multimedia components and visual displays in their presentations to enhance the development of ideas and themes.

Students will read another student's narrative and respond to the plot questions attached to be sure they comprehend the text and the literary element of plot used in the text. 

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

In this activity, students will use their knowledge of imagery and point of view to analyze a piece of short fiction and how the author uses those literary devices to convey meaning as a whole.

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit. 

Students will watch a video about an Aesop Fable. They will identify the theme of the fable portrayed in the video and support their answer with evidence from the video. Students will use a Google Slideshow to support a fictional narrative writing. 

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

Students will watch a short video about the elements of plot and identify character, setting, problem, and solution. Then, students will be given cards with text. Students will sort the text cards into the four categories of character, setting, problem, solution. 

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

Students will watch a video about personification. Students will identify examples of personification in the video and interpret their meaning. Students will write their own examples of personification using a Google Slideshow provided by the teacher.

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

Students will complete this activity using Google Jamboard. In this activity, students will make inferences about four related images. Students will use technology and visual literacy to make inferences throughout the completion of this assignment. This activity is intended as a formative assessment of students' knowledge and to build background knowledge for the ReadWorks passage "Top Crops."  

This resource was written as part of the ALEX Resource Development Summit. 

Through discussion with their peers and prompting from their teacher, students will brainstorm the key elements of an explanatory text. The purpose of this activity is to build background knowledge on explanatory writing. 

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

This activity provides a teacher-made Google Slides document with a link to an episode of the Smithsonian's Sidedoor Podcast called "The Worst Video Game Ever." With this high-interest topic and student-friendly format, students will practice active listening skills to answer questions about the podcast. This resource can be used in a whole group, small group, or individual setting or as at-home practice. 

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

In this activity, students will complete a quick write and cloze notes to prepare to analyze how author James Hurst uses imagery in the short fiction piece "The Scarlet Ibis" to create meaning in the piece as a whole.

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit. 

This is a slide show that can be used for whole-class instruction or as a guideline for the appropriate questions to ask when evaluating the credibility of sources for purpose, accuracy, authority, relevance, and currency. The slides guide students to work in pairs and evaluate two provided sources for potential use as evidence on the provided topic. Student observations are recorded on graphic organizers.

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

Resources include: 

1. YouTube Videos: Pixar Animated Shorts to use with the students. The animated shorts tell a story focusing on the elements of plot (characters, setting, conflict, rising actions, climax, falling actions, and resolution).

2. Plot Diagram 

Students will watch a Pixar Short video and complete the attached plot diagram that focuses on characters, setting, conflict, rising actions, climax, falling actions, and resolution. Students will demonstrate their understanding of the plot in the video by completing the attached plot diagram.

Students will summarize the Pixar Short video story, describing how the plot unfolds, and how the characters respond to challenges/problems using visual evidence.

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

This learning activity should be used as an assessment activity that allows students to explain their thinking to solve problems involving equal groups for multiplication. Students will solve an equal groups multiplication word problem illustrating their thinking. They will then have to defend their answer on an extension problem. 

During this learning activity, students will solve a quality task that allows students to find the product of a given problem using equal grouping. Cookie Monster needs help counting the number of cookies he is baking for the school's bake sale. Students will first build the problem using counters then solve the problem and write the multiplication expression that matches what they built. 

This learning activity allows the students to develop critical number sense that will help with their understanding of multiplication and equal groupings. In this learning activity, students will be shown a dot image for 3 seconds. Students will have to quickly determine the amount of total dots on the screen before they disappear. This activity helps students develop an understanding of quantity. Students will have to quickly look at the image and determine how many groups are in the image and how many dots are in each group. They will then use mental math to calculate the product of the image.

This activity is a task designed to introduce addition with three addends. The students use counters to represent the problem and begin developing an understanding of the commutative and associative properties of addition.

In this learning activity, students will use a graphic organizer to write their own tribute poem/letter using at least four literary devices of their choice. The students will then partner with another student and read their tribute poems. Finally, student partners will provide feedback on each other's poems using Poetry Feedback Prompts.

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

In this learning activity, students will read Dear Basketball by Kobe Bryant. Students will then complete a Poetry Analysis graphic organizer looking for the following literary devices in the poem: metaphor, alliteration, rhyme, hyperbole, repetition, imagery, and personification. Finally, students will explain how using the specific literary device enhances the meaning of the poem. 

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

In this learning activity, students will be introduced to literary devices used in poetry through the video, Poetic Devices Defined. Then, students will define and give an example of a literary device at random by spinning a digital wheel. Finally, students will share their definitions and examples with the class through a carousel around the room. 

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

In this learning activity, students will use a quality task to measure the lengths of toy cars to the nearest quarter of an inch and record their data in a chart. The class will use this data to create a line plot of the lengths of the toy cars.