In this Wonder of the DayR, we learn about why flamingos are pink. Students have the opportunity to explore the Wonder either as a class or individually. With suggestions for different age groups, Wonder #1 has an activity to engage students with drawing, writing description, or both. 

The attached lesson plan is designed for 3rd grade English Language Arts students. Students will analyze informational text to determine the main ideas for a report, apply the concepts of the writing process, and communicate their research through an oral presentation to their classroom peers. This lesson plan addresses the following NDE Standards: NE LA 3.1.6.e, NE LA 3.2.1.a,c,d,e,j, NE LA 3.3.1.aIt is expected that this lesson plan will take five one-hour sessions to complete.

This lesson uses tall tale read alouds to reinforce the common elements, or text structure, of tall tales. As the text is read aloud, students examine the elements of the book that are characteristic of tall tales. Then using what they've learned, they write and perform tall tales of their own.

This is a fun introductory writing piece for 7-12 students to help teachers get to know the individuals in their class. This writing lesson was created by Janelle Coady as part of the 2020 OER English Language Arts Workshop by NDE. It is expected that this plan will take students one class period to complete.

This lesson reviews the six types of nouns and then focuses in on abstract nouns.  The students will do a creative writing paragraph with the use of an abstract noun and that emulates Rand's writing style.

Consider are the pros and cons of children performing for TV and in other competitive performing environments. Learning Objectives:Students will read articles with opposing view points and find main ideas and details from each text.Students will take a stance on an arguementive issue and produce a piece of writing to include evidence from the text. 

This resource is designed to walk students through the process of completing a research project in any field of study. It covers the earliest stages of brainstorming and discussing, continues through researching and compiling sources; writing, documenting, revising, and polishing a paper; and finally presenting the research topic to a wider audience in a professional manner. The focus is on MLA format, though the course could be modified for other formats.

The first unit is an introduction to the project. It asks students to draw on knowledge of issues affecting their own community and world to help generate discussion that could eventually lead to a research topic.

After reading Beowulf and the story of Cain and Abel, students compare and contrast Cain and Grendel. Students research and make a case for a historical figure being a descendant of Cain. After reading page 10, chapter 2, and pages 30-33 in John Gardner's Grendel, students write about the different views we have of Grendel after reading Gardner's novel. Students research and write about a character who they feel is misunderstood like Gardner's Grendel. Students write about two traits they have because of the experiences they had in life, just like Grendel is the way he is in Gardner's novel because of his experiences. Students use MLA format for their works cited page and in-text citations. 

In this unit students will define, identify, and explain 5 types of text structure. Students will explain how text and graphic features enhance a text. They will determine the type of figurative language used in a text. Students will summarize a given text.

Students will participate in Book Club by choosing groups of 3-5 students and a book at their reading level according to their interest, or the subject currently being studied.  They will decide together how to split the book into three or more sections to finish in four weeks or less.  They will prepare and write out a discussion role for each meeting (Word Wizard, Connector, Summarizer, Questioner, or Passage Person).  This plan is written for either in class, blended, or remote learning.

 The attached Lesson Plan is designed for Third Grade English Language Arts students. Students will determine character traits and provide supporting evidence from the text. They will also identify and explain why authors use literary devices, specifically similes, in their writing. This Lesson Plan addresses the following NDE Standard: NE LA 3.1.6.b and NE LA 3.1.6.c.It is expected that this Lesson Plan will take students 2- 30-40 minute sessions to complete.

In this one lesson, students are able to evaluate a news report, using their prior knowledge and instints, learn about the CRAAP method of website credibilty evaluation, and practice using the CRAAP method on a variety of websites.

Making Evidence-Based Claims ELA/Literacy Units empower students with a critical reading and writing skill at the heart of the Common Core: making evidence-based claims about complex texts. These units are part of the Developing Core Proficiencies Program. This unit develops students' €abilities to make evidence-based claims through activities based on a close reading of the Commencement Address Steve Jobs delivered at Stanford University on June, 2005.

This resource was created by Kate Chrisman, in collaboration with Lynn Bowder, as part of ESU2's Mastering the Arts project. This project is a four year initiative focused on integrating arts into the core curriculum through teacher education and experiential learning.

This public speaking lesson focuses on presenting and conveying important information, details, facts, and opinions in a concise manner. This lesson presents several different real-world situations where students are asked to share their perspectives, experiences, and stories where they are to give supporting details and facts that are important to the context of different social interactions (talking with peers, colleagues, community, interviews, etc). With the creation of this lesson, different level options of technology integration are offered to allow for flexibility and modifications for this lesson to best serve various classrooms and their students (low tech, medium tech, and high tech options). This lesson will help students analyze a social interaction and/or topic and have them clearly and concisely give an authentic response.

 Overview: In this lesson, students closely examine Crevecoeur’s third letter in order to understand historically early American literature and the culture. Students critically read the letter and answer critical content questions to increase their knowledge. Students will take a quiz demonstrating their understanding of some of the literature of this period. Finally, in the spirit of early America, students will write their own letters defining what an American is, why immigrants should come, and what the American Dream is or if it is still alive. Students will exchange their letters with a partner for feedback and then turn them in for completion points.

Learn about Greek gods, heroes, and creatures through digital storytelling produced by students who have learned research techniques.

This Empower Learner Activity engages students in self-assessment, preliminary goal setting and reflection on use of learning strategies within the context of 5th Grade English studying Winin Dixie.

This Empower Learner Activity is designed for MS English students studying the book Hoot. Students will self-assess, set preliminary goals, and think through learning strategies.

Why do we tell painful stories? In this lesson, students read an article about Chinua Achebe, the writer of Things Fall Apart, in order to figure out his motivation for writing this novel and to learn about the issues facing Nigeria in the late 1800s.