ALEX Lesson Plans

Subject: English Language Arts (2), or English Language Arts (2)
Title: The Second Grade Times: Students Write A Newspaper
Description: In this project-based language development lesson, English Language Learners learn about the newspaper publication and create their own newspaper that covers stories about their school year. The lesson format follows the Sheltered English Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP).

Subject: Character Education (K - 12), or English Language Arts (2), or English Language Arts (2), or Science (2), or Social Studies (2), or Technology Education (K - 2)
Title: The Five Senses- How They Relate to Our World
Description: This lesson will demonstrate and incorporate the use of the five senses. Through hands-on and exploratory experiences, students will gain an understanding of the importance of the five senses. Students will also gain an awareness of the limitations for those who do not have use of all of their senses. This lesson plan was created as a result of the Girls Engaged in Math and Science, GEMS Project funded by the Malone Family Foundation.

Subject: English Language Arts (2), or English Language Arts (2), or Science (2)
Title: How Light Travels
Description: In this lesson, the students will be experimenting to show how light shines in a straight line. They will also be experimenting to see how light reflects using mirrors. The students will be working in cooperative learning groups to carry out these experiments. Technology will be used to introduce and extend the activity.This lesson plan was created as a result of the Girls Engaged in Math and Science, GEMS Project funded by the Malone Family Foundation.

Subject: English Language Arts (2 - 3), or English Language Arts (2 - 3), or Information Literacy (K - 12)
Title: Play the Dewey Decimal System Game
Description: This lesson introduces the 10 main categories used in the Dewey Decimal Classification System for non-fiction bookshelf arrangement. A slideshow will be presented to students to help them learn details about the Dewey Decimal Classification System. Students will be able to demonstrate what they learn through participating in an interactive game.

Subject: English Language Arts (2), or English Language Arts (2), or Mathematics (K - 3)
Title: Glorious Sunflowers
Description: In this lesson students will identify, measure and graph seeds and other characteristics of sunflowers and write descriptive and narrative paragraphs about sunflowers.

Subject: Character Education (K - 12), or English Language Arts (K - 2), or English Language Arts (K - 2)
Title: Reading and Writing about Miss Moo Goes to the Zoo by Kelly Graves
Description: This lesson provides literature-based reading and writing activities for special education and early elementary students. This lesson may also be used to illustrate the character education traits tolerance, self-respect and compassion.

Subject: Character Education (K - 12), or English Language Arts (K - 2), or English Language Arts (K - 2)
Title: The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
Description: This is a reading lesson for special education/early elementary students. This lesson helps students with their reading skills as they learn about generosity.

Thinkfinity Lesson Plans

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Using Web-Based Bookmarks to Conduct Internet Research Add Bookmark
Description: The important thing about this lesson is that it connects literature and science. The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown provides a model for original student poems about a content area topic. Web-based bookmarks guide students to appropriate sites on the topic, and a graphic organizer helps them focus their research.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 2,3

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Junie B. Jones Introduces Literacy Mystery Boxes Add Bookmark
Description: Like Junie B. Jones, students will be saying '' Wait till you hear this'' after listening to a Junie B. story and creating mystery boxes to help retell the story.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: K,1,2

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Let's Build a Snowman Add Bookmark
Description: In this lesson, students use both fiction and nonfiction texts, the Internet, and a K-W-L chart to learn about how animals survive the winter.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: K,1,2

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Catching the Bug for Reading Through Interactive Read-Alouds Add Bookmark
Description: Students learn about story structure, new vocabulary, and a variety of reading strategies by participating in an interactive read-aloud of Miss Bindergarten Stays Home From Kindergarten by Joseph Slate.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: K,1

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Taking Photos of Curious George: Exploring Character Through Images Add Bookmark
Description: Students will be monkeying around in this lesson when they create a digital class book in which they imagine what Curious George would do if he visited their school.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: K,1,2

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Active Reading Using The Enormous Watermelon Add Bookmark
Description: Using names and high-frequency words from nursery rhymes and the Big Book The Enormous Watermelon, students engage in word recognition activities such as character identification and a word matching game.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: K,1,2

Subject: Language Arts
Title: The Frog Beyond the Fairy Tale Character: Searching Informational Texts Add Bookmark
Description: Frogs often appear as the main character in fiction stories, but what do students really know about frogs? Students find out in this lesson in which they research real-life frogs.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: K,1,2

Subject: Language Arts
Title: It Doesn't Have to End That Way: Using Prediction Strategies with Literature Add Bookmark
Description: After listening to the beginning of a story, students use details in the text, personal experience, and prior knowledge to predict the way the story will end.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: K,1,2

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Fact or Fiction: Learning About Worms Using Diary of a Worm Add Bookmark
Description: Students often believe that fiction writers make everything up, seldom realizing how research worms its way into entertaining writing. In this lesson, students read Diary of a Worm to find out how fact merges with fiction.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: K,1,2

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Choosing the Right Book: Strategies for Beginning Readers Add Bookmark
Description: Students make purposeful choices for their reading materials, thinking about their reasons for reading a book and using strategies to match books to their abilities.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: K,1,2

Subject: Educational Technology,Language Arts,Social Studies
Title: Sodbusters! Add Bookmark
Description: In this lesson, from EDSITEment, students examine photographs of sod houses, build a model sod house, and picture themselves living in a '' soddie'' to gain a firsthand perspective on the frontier period of American history. After completing the activities in this lesson, students will be able to identify where and when American settlers lived and describe how settlers used available materials to build sod houses. They will also be able to explain how sod houses helped settlers adapt to the environment of the plains and compare living in a sod house with life in a typical home today.
Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEment
Grade Span: K,1,2

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Learning About Word Families with Click, Clack, Moo Add Bookmark
Description: Using text from Doreen Cronin's Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type as shared readings, first-grade students learn word families and how to decode new words in a word family.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: K,1,2

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Let's Talk About Stories: Shared Discussion With Amazing Grace Add Bookmark
Description: Make space for critical literacy and engage students in meaningful, thoughtful discussions. Using Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman, students dig deep into themes such as prejudice, courage, and self-confidence.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: K,1,2

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Comparing Fiction and Nonfiction with '' Little Red Riding Hood Text'' Sets Add Bookmark
Description: Students discuss and compare differing versions of '' Little Red Riding Hood'' and other tales about wolves in cumulative read-aloud sessions and text set explorations.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: K,1,2

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Creating Class Rules: A Beginning to Creating Community Add Bookmark
Description: Students work together to create classroom rules by brainstorming why they are at school and what they need while they are there.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: K,1,2

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Building a Matrix for Leo Lionni Books: An Author Study Add Bookmark
Description: 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.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: K,1,2

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Shhh! Bear's Sleeping: Learning About Nonfiction and Fiction Using Read-Alouds Add Bookmark
Description: Students explore the distinction between the fiction story Bear Snores On and the nonfiction book Every Autumn Comes the Bear.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: K,1,2

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Summertime Favorites 2005 Add Bookmark
Description: Relating to summer reading, and presents information about NEH's Summertime Favorites reading list. Learn more about how to engage students in reading by visiting the EDSITEment lesson plans referenced on this page.
Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEment
Grade Span: K,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Packing the Pilgrim's Trunk: Personalizing History in the Elementary Classroom Add Bookmark
Description: Students make personal connections between their lives and those of Pilgrim children by following the Pilgrims' move to the New World, their daily lives and struggles and their first Thanksgiving.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: K,1,2