Students work in groups to create annotated book reviews with links to topics of interest related to their book.

A family moves into an unpopulated area. With the ingenuity of one young girl, a town is established and grows. The idea of supply and demand is evident in this story. The businesses in town grow to include a tanner, a cooper, a miller, a blacksmith and a laundry.

This lesson provides teachers with support for using text-dependent questions to help students derive big ideas and key understandings while developing vocabulary from the biographical text, Boss of the Plains. This biography relates the life of John Batterson Stetson as a hatting apprentice until he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and decided to explore the American West. During his time with the people of the West, he invents a better hat, nicknamed "Boss of the Plains," - the first real cowboy hat.

This lesson provides teachers with support for using text-dependent questions to help students derive big ideas and key understandings while developing vocabulary using the fictional text The Bridge Dancers. In this book, two sisters, Maisie and Callie, are faced with a challenging situation. Callie gets hurt while their mother is away and Maisie must decide if she can rely on her knowledge of herbal medicine to save her sister's life.

Thornton Wilder is the only writer to have won Pulitzer Prizes for both fiction and drama. His novel "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" and his play "Our Town" ask us to examine how we live our precarious, precious lives, whether in small-town America, eighteenth-century Peru, or anywhere else. This Big Read Teachers Guide contains ten lessons to lead you through Thorton Wilders The Bridge of San Luis Rey and Our Town. Each lesson has four sections: a focus topic, discussion activities, writing exercises, and homework assignments. In addition, we have provided capstone projects and suggested essay topics, as well as handouts with more background information about the book, the historical period, and the author. All lessons dovetail with the state language arts standards required in the fiction genre.

In this video excerpt from Dinosaur Train, Buddy and Tiny name species of dinosaurs from Apatosaurus to Zigongosaurus when they sing the "Dinosaurs A to Z" song with the help of Mr. Conductor. ***Access to Teacher's Domain content now requires free login to PBS Learning Media.

Students learn components of think-alouds and type-of-text interactions through teacher modeling. In the process, students develop the ability to use think-alouds to aid in reading comprehension tasks.

Students research the effects of the Vietnam war on a specific group of people who were involved. They then create Internet scavenger hunts to share with the class.

Students choose unfamiliar words from their reading and create a multigenre, multimodal glossary of terms.

In this author study, students listen to and discuss four books by Leo Lionni. They identify similarities and differences in the stories and then compare two stories of their choice.

In this video segment from Between the Lions, Leon Redbone sings a fun alphabet song. In alphabetical order, each letter takes the stage along with a Between the Lions character or image that begins with that letter. Showing the letters and things they stand for helps build alphabet knowledge. ***Access to Teacher's Domain content now requires free login to PBS Learning Media.

Abducted from his comfortable home and sold as a sled dog, Buck battles the elements to become leader of the pack. This story of a struggle for survival is an unforgettable adventure. The Big Read Readers Guide deepens your exploration with interviews, booklists, timelines, and historical information. We hope this guide and syllabus allow you to have fun with your students while introducing them to the work of a great American author.

This 3-day activity reinforces what students have learned about animals. The activities focus on pets: cats, dogs, birds, and fish. Main Curriculum Tie: English Language Arts Kindergarten Reading: Literature Standard 2, with prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details. Activities in this unit reinforce what students have learned throughout the year about animals. For each activity, a different group of animals is studied. These activities focus on pets: cats, dogs, birds, and fish. Students will re-read both fiction and non-fiction stories that have been previously introduced during the school year. As they read the books, they will have activities to complete in order to earn their “badge” for that animal. Each student will make a paper bag vest on which they will be able to display badges they have earned.

Shadows, shadows, everywhere! In this lesson, students read fiction, informational text, and poetry about shadows to extend their knowledge of the concept before casting their own shadow poetry.

This lesson provides teachers with support for using text-dependent questions to help students derive big ideas and key understandings while developing vocabulary using the modern fairytale, Cendrillon. In this Caribbean Cinderella story, Cendrillon is treated as a servant by her step-mother and half-sister. Nannin, the gogmother, uses a magic wand to ready Cendrillon for a ball, where Cendrillon meets a rich man's son, Paul, who falls in love with her and finds her when she is lost to him.

Young Jose Mendez is a terrific centerfielder but a weak hitter. Jose wants his father to be proud of him. When his father calls him a "Born Outfielder," Jose realizes that his father is proud of his abilities on and off the field.

This set of lessons extends over several weeks and incorporates all acts of Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible. Students will closely read The Crucible. Students will cite textual evidence and make interpretations about character development. Students will combine the textual evidence with their interpretations and write interpretive statements. In the culminating activity, students will write a character analysis.

This lesson provides teachers with support for using text-dependent questions to help students derive big ideas and key understandings while developing vocabulary using the children's novel, Charlotte's Web. A story of friendship and loyalty between Wilbur, a spring pic and a grey spider named Charlotte. Wilbur learns that he is being fattened for slaughter in the fall. Wilbur is at first disgusted by the fact that charlotte eats flies, but comes to both appreciate and love her.