Standard 1: Communicating Through Writing

This is lesson #3 in the text unit series for The Star-Spangled Banner. After hearing the text read aloud and exploring the book, students will listen to the musical version of The Star-Spangled Banner (National Anthem). As the music is played, they will be encouraged to paint/draw as the music evokes the emotion in them. They will then dictate or write their opinion of the text including at least one supporting idea.

Civics content is integrated as the students use their emotions/feelings to describe patriotism and pride in their country. Students will recognize The Star-Spangled Banner (National Anthem) as a symbol that represents the United States.

This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is lesson #6 in the text unit series for The Flag We Love. This lesson is a culminating activity that focuses on students’ recall of information from the text to answer the question: ”Why is the flag an important symbol of the United States?”. To demonstrate learning, students will use their knowledge of a symbol to create a personal flag and write a statement indicating why it is a meaningful symbol of themselves.

This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is lesson # 3 in the text unit series for The Flag We Love. This lesson will be the first read through of the text after a picture walk has been done. After a whole group reading of the text, instruction will focus on text vocabulary. Students will identify one word that answers the question “Why is the American Flag important?” and create a drawing to demonstrate understanding.

This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is lesson #5 in the text unit series for The Flag We Love. Students will participate in whole group and partner discussions about the places and times the American flag can be seen and is used as a symbol, as detailed in the picture book The Flag We Love by Pam Munoz Ryan. The teacher will elicit responses from the class to complete a topic/detail graphic organizer. Students will identify the topic of the text and several details, then illustrate one of the details and complete a sentence stem.

This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will recognize that Florida’s nickname is, The Sunshine State, and will design a new state welcome sign by applying what they know about the Sun appearing in the daytime sky in this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will interview their teacher as a school authority figure. In this lesson, students will practice asking relevant questions focused on their teacher’s responsibilities as a school authority figure. Students will then draw a picture and add a label, writing or dictation of information about their teacher’s responsibilities at school.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will interview several school authority figures. In this lesson, students will ask relevant questions focused on the individual’s responsibilities as a school authority figure. Students will then draw a picture and add a label, writing or dictation of information about the individual’s responsibilities at school.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students reflect on the Founders’ decision to name the bald eagle as our national bird and symbol. They form their own opinion about whether bald eagles or wild turkeys would make a better national symbol and express their opinion with supporting reasons or facts. Students consider their classmates’ arguments before voting as a group to make a decision whether bald eagles or wild turkeys would make a better symbol for a country in part 2 of this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students use information from the book, The Bald Eagle by Norman Pearl, to compare the look and behavior of bald eagles and wild turkeys.  They explore early debates over the bald eagle as our national symbol as a way to differentiate fact from opinion in part 1 of this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will identify community authority figures that make and enforce rules and laws.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will create a poster that includes a drawing of themselves performing an identified strength. Students and the teacher will discuss and list the many different strengths that children have and things that they can do all by themselves. Students will then focus on one strength that they would like to write and draw about. In this lesson, students will create a self-portrait and add writing or writing attempts to complete a given sentence frame.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this close reading lesson, the teacher will read aloud Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina. Students will answer text-dependent questions and explain the meaning of new vocabulary. They will identify sight words and choral read repetitive parts of the text. Students will identify the setting, characters, and important events (including the problem and solution) and record these on a story map. They will retell the story and create a tri-fold book with illustrations and sentences explaining the beginning, middle, and end of the story. After analyzing the text, students will draw and dictate or write to explain the problem and solution in the text.

Type: Lesson Plan

In these lessons, students will learn how to identify nouns and verbs using the story Nouns and Verbs Have a Field Day by Robin Pulver and participate in several structured and independent activities.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will begin by discussing the difference between letters, words, and sentences followed by a reading of The Alphabet Tree by Leo Lionni. After partaking in a fun sentence strip activity, students will be asked to practice their star writing skills by writing a sentence about a time that they were happy.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this close reading lesson, students will compare and contrast the actions of the characters in two of Audrey Penn's beloved books, The Kissing Hand and A Pocket Full of Kisses. They will answer text-dependent questions, and they will describe and sequence story elements as they analyze the two books. Students will truly enjoy interacting with these two delightful stories!

Type: Lesson Plan

It really is amazing that a familiar story such as Cinderella can be found in so many different places around the world. Each story adheres to very similar story elements, but also includes its own culture and traditions. In this lesson, students will identify story elements from two Cinderella stories, Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters which takes place in Zimbabwe and the French version of Cinderella by Marica Brown. Students will compare and contrast these stories using a Venn diagram. Additional versions can also be shared, culminating in students choosing their favorite version to write an opinion writing piece about.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this close reading lesson, students will compare and contrast the actions of the characters in two of Eileen Christelow's beloved books, Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed and Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree. They will answer text-dependent questions and describe story elements as they analyze the two books. Students will truly enjoy interacting with these two delightful stories!

Type: Lesson Plan

In this close reading lesson, students will compare and contrast the actions of the characters in two of Laura Numeroff's beloved books, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and If You Take a Mouse to School. They will answer text-dependent questions, and they will describe and sequence story elements as they analyze the two books. Students will truly enjoy interacting with these two delightful stories!

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will use the beautiful text Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger to explore how an author uses color words and illustrations to describe various real-world objects. They will identify and explain how the descriptive words provide meaning and how the illustrations support the text. Students will brainstorm real-life objects that can be described and classified using color words and write an expository piece to describe those objects.

Type: Lesson Plan

Using the book Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin, students will explain facts and opinions about worms from the text. Students will decide if information from the text is a fact or opinion and write a factual statement about worms from the text.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will review and share what they have learned about brown bears and polar bears by comparing and contrasting these animals with a Venn Diagram and creating a bear project accompanied by a favorite fact.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will learn about the topic of brown bears by asking questions and gaining information from a non-fiction, informational text. Students will listen for key details in the text and recall information that will be demonstrated through drawing and writing.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will become story sequencers as they participate in whole group, partner, and independent activities. Students will recall important events from the story The Little Red Hen and help generate a class story to demonstrate their understanding of beginning, middle, and end before completing their summative assessment. At the end of the lesson students will become authors of their own narrative when they write a sequential story of a special event. They will use suggestions and revisions from their peers and teacher to create a final draft of their narrative that will be shared with the class.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this multi-day lesson, students will engage in a variety of literacy activities while reading The Grouchy Ladybug and The Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle. Students will answer text-dependent questions as they describe the characters, setting, and important events in the story. They will complete a story map and story sequence organizer and use them to retell what happened at the beginning, middle, and end of each story. Finally, they will use the two graphic organizers to plan their own narrative about what happens next to one of the characters.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this 5-day lesson, students will engage in a variety of activities using the beloved Dr. Seuss books, Green Eggs and Ham and Wacky Wednesday. Students will explain the roles of the author and illustrator of a story. They will identify rhyming words in the stories and produce additional words that rhyme. Students will answer text-dependent questions to complete a story map and sequencing graphic organizer about each story. Using the graphic organizers, students will retell the stories. Finally, students will choose their favorite Dr. Seuss book and write an opinion statement telling why the book is their favorite.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will learn about camping by reading stories about familiar characters that have gone camping, including Little Critter, Fred and Ted, and Curious George. Students will learn about how to make a camping list and compare and contrast the experiences of the characters in the stories using a Venn Diagram. They will create an opinion explaining what they think are the most important items to take camping.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is a fun lesson where students will be asked to compare the characters two popular gingerbread tales using a graphic organizer. Then, they will write an opinion sentence explaining which book was their favorite and why.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, in a hands-on activity, students will practice sorting food items from the grocery store into different categories. The teacher will read aloud Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert and send students on a scavenger hunt to find and record pictures of fruits and vegetables that are hung around the room. Students will be asked to provide an opinion of what they think is the best fruit or vegetable during a writing assignment and explain why they like it. Then each student will draw a picture of that food on a paper plate to display with their writing.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will have hands-on experience with categorization skills, by sorting objects commonly taken on a beach trip. Students will practice describing objects, sorting objects into categories, and verbalizing category concepts. Students will also practice discussing opinions about objects by writing a Beach Sorting Book.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will use the book, On a Farm by Alexa Andrews to practice identifying the topic and details of a text. Through the use of a bubble map and a student response sheet, students will record their learning after exploring the book. Student work will be appreciated at the end of the lesson with a gallery walk.

Type: Lesson Plan

As part of learning about Concepts of Print, students will explore how some books do not have words and you need to "read" the pictures to understand what is happening. The book, Chalk by Bill Thomson will be used to inspire the students to add writing to his book as they dream what they would draw if they knew their chalk drawings would come to life.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will recall information from a read aloud text and discuss what it means to demonstrate good manners. Activities include contributing to a good manners chart, composing a sentence using a sentence frame demonstrating understanding of the conventions of standard English and practicing spelling words in creative ways. At the end of the lesson, students will create a Good Manners page for a class book, sharing a time when they have shown good manners.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will listen to the teacher read aloud the well-loved book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Students will collaboratively practice retelling the story with a partner and record the food that the caterpillar ate on a class chart. Using their imagination, students will create a sentence and accompanying illustration of what their caterpillar would eat using the high frequency word ‘and’. Teachers are provided with a rubric to assess how the students are using punctuationusing punctuation, capitalization, finger spacing, and phonetic spelling.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will listen to The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle and The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf and will analyze the main character's actions and reactions to their adventures by comparing and contrasting using a Venn diagram. Students will also be given an opportunity to think and write about times that they have been grumpy or peaceful using grade-appropriate conventions of writing and phonetic spelling.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will serve as researchers of the beloved author, Kevin Henkes. After reading three of Henkes’s most popular books, students will complete a chart of story elements, record their opinion about each book, and create an opinion writing piece to inform others of their favorite Kevin Henkes book and why they like it best.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this multi-day lesson, students will learn about American holidays as they analyze grade-appropriate informational text. Students will learn to identify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book and their text features. They will also learn how to use the text features (title, headings, and illustrations) to predict the topic of the book. As the teacher reads the book, students will confirm the topic and identify important details, recording them on a graphic organizer. Finally, students will use details from the graphic organizer to draw, dictate, and/or write an expository piece about the topic of the text. 

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the first lesson in a kindergarten unit on classification and categorization. The lesson uses the informational text My Big Animal Book by Roger Priddy. In the guided practice activity, students will look at pictures in the book and pay attention to which animals fit into certain groups. In the independent practice activity, students will draw and label four pictures of animals from the book that would fit into the category, "Animals with Four Legs."

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will move like their favorite animal and identify what the movement is called reviewing verbs. Then they will create a chart about ways that animals move and interact with a read aloud as they search for more movement ideas. Students will end the lesson by completing an opinion sentence about their favorite animal movement and why it is their favorite.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this MEA, students will sort recycling material based on the shape, name the shapes, and decide on what recycling bin would be the best for the city to choose. Students will write and draw a picture describing which recycling bin they chose.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this multi-day lesson, students will learn about American symbols as they analyze grade-appropriate informational text. Students will learn to identify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book and their text features. They will also learn how to use the text features (title, headings, and illustrations) to predict the topic of the book. As the teacher reads the book, students will confirm the topic and identify important details, recording them on a graphic organizer. Finally, students will use details from the graphic organizer to draw, dictate, and/or write an expository piece about the topic of the text.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students learn about the roles of authors and illustrators through read-alouds, charades, and book-writing. Students will have an opportunity to act out the roles of illustrators and authors. They will learn how to describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in a story. Students will also identify the beginning, middle, and end in popular picture books and will write and illustrate a simple narrative with a partner.

Type: Lesson Plan

Identify the reasons an author gives to support his or her opinion in a text in this interactive tutorial. Then read along as Olivia and Oliver write their opinions and reasons to help their parents choose the best pet for their family.

Type: Original Student Tutorial