ALEX Lesson Plans

Thinkfinity Lesson Plans

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Using Historical Fiction to Learn About the Civil War Add Bookmark
Description: Students in grades 4 and 5 discuss inferential comprehension and visualization as they use a think-aloud questioning strategy to develop a deeper understanding of a historical novel.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Comics in the Classroom as an Introduction to Narrative Structure Add Bookmark
Description: This lesson uses comic strip frames to define plot and reinforce the structure that underlies a narrative. Students finish by writing their own original narratives.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Q is for Duck: Using Alphabet Books With Struggling Writers Add Bookmark
Description: A is for zoo? Q is for duck? The alphabet as students know it is transformed when students create a class book that contains clever associations for each letter of the alphabet.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Writing a Movie: Summarizing and Rereading a Film Script Add Bookmark
Description: Lights! Camera! Action! In this lesson, students view a scene with no dialogue from E.T., write a script for that scene, and perform a dramatic reading while the scene plays.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Pourquoi Stories: Creating Tales to Tell Why Add Bookmark
Description: Where did the stars come from? What makes lightning and thunder? Pourquoi tales are narratives developed by various cultures around the world to explain natural phenomena. Students study three tales and learn about their cultures of origin, then work cooperatively to write and present an original pourquoi tale.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Questioning: A Comprehension Strategy for Small-Group Guided Reading Add Bookmark
Description: Students learn about the process of questioning and using webs to organize information during reading and then practice writing factual and inferential questions.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5

Subject: Language Arts
Title: ' Black Beauty'' author Anna Sewell was born in 1820. Add Bookmark
Description: Through Sewell's novel, students explore the cruelty to animals and extend the discussion to current events, eventually presenting the information.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12

Subject: Language Arts
Title: November is National American Indian Heritage Month. Add Bookmark
Description: Students explore Native American heritage through the study of pourquoi tales, write their own original pourquoi tales, and use the ReadWriteThink Printing Press to publish them.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12

Subject: Arts,Language Arts,Science
Title: 'Leap, plashless'': Emily Dickinson and Poetic Imagination Add Bookmark
Description: In this lesson, from EDSITEment, students read and explore one of Emily Dickinson's nature poems, A Bird came down the Walk--through interaction with other art forms. First, they listen to clips of a hymn to help them hear Dickinson's meter. Then, they view 19th-century bird images and describe what they see, just as a poet would. They observe how a poet plays with language and imagery to create a scene by acting out verse lines. Finally, they write a brief poem of their own, using what they have learned and their own observations.
Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEment
Grade Span: 3,4,5

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Using Snowflake Bentley as a Framing Text for Multigenre Writing Add Bookmark
Description: Using Snowflake Bentley as a model, students create a working definition of multigenre text and then use that definition to create their own multigenre piece about winter or another theme.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Fairy Tale Autobiographies Add Bookmark
Description: Students read and analyze fairy tales from several cultures, identifying common elements. Choosing common situations, students write original fairy tales, using picture books as models and a peer review process.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 5,6,7,8,9

Subject: Arts,Language Arts,Social Studies
Title: It Came from Greek Mythology Add Bookmark
Description: In this unit of six lessons, from EDSITEment, students study basic plots of three Greek myths and discuss three common themes in Greek myths. They also explore contemporary uses of terms from Greek mythology and analyze artistic and literary works based on or inspired by Greek myths.
Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEment
Grade Span: 3,4,5

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Find favorite book picks in the Children's Choices. Add Bookmark
Description: Students create lists of their favorite books and then the class creates a '' Top Picks'' class booklist. Students can use the Book Cover Creator to create a book jacket for their favorite book.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: K,1,2,3,4,5,6