ALEX Resources

Title: Fun With Idioms
Description: This lesson is designed to help students become comfortable with idioms.  Students will work closely with idioms to discover meanings and present them to the class.  Students will use technology to present the information.
Standard(s):
[TC2] (3-5) 8:

Title: Give That Character a Voice with Voki!
Description: This lesson fuses fictional literature with technology through a project-based experience.  Students will use the free online resource Voki to bring a fictional character to "life" and deepen their understanding notion of character, character traits, and the importance of character development within stories. They will create an avatar, compose and edit a script, and supplying the voice befitting the character.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (5) 27:

Title: Research Building Blocks: Notes, Quotes, and Fact Fragments
Description: Students are guided through the process of taking notes while reading factual information, then turning those notes into new sentences and paragraphs written in their own words.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (5) 43:

Title: Guided Comprehension: Knowing How Words Work Using Semantic Feature Analysis
Description: Based on the Guided Comprehension Model developed by Maureen McLaughlin and Mary Beth Allen, this lesson introduces students to the comprehension strategy of knowing how words work.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (6) 29:

Title: Using Science Texts to Teach the Organizational Features of Nonfiction
Description: Students explore organizational features of nonfiction science. Students then work together to create a two-page spread using those features to present information about their local environment.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (5) 43:

Title: Book Report Alternative: Examining Story Elements Using Story Map Comic Strips
Description: Comic frames are traditionally used to illustrate a story in a short, concise format. In this lesson, students use a six-paneled comic strip frame to create a story map, summarizing a book or story that they've read. Each panel retells a particular detail or explains a literary element (such as setting or character) from the story.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (5) 33:

Title: Let Freedom Ring: The Life and Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Description: In this lesson, from EDSITEment, students listen to a biography of Martin Luther King, Jr., view photographs of the March on Washington, and study King's use of imagery and allusion in his I Have a Dream speech. After studying King's use of imagery and allusion, they create original poetic phrases about freedom and illustrate them with symbols representing the forms of freedom that have yet to be realized in the United States.
Standard(s):
[SS2010] ALA (4) 15:

Title: How Big Are Martin's Big Words ? Thinking Big about the Future
Description: Inspired by the book Martin's Big Words, students explore information on Dr. King to think about his '' big'' words, then they write about their own '' big'' words and dreams.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (5) 24:

Title: Questioning: A Comprehension Strategy for Small-Group Guided Reading
Description: Students learn about the process of questioning and using webs to organize information during reading and then practice writing factual and inferential questions.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (5) 7:

Title: Talking About Books to Improve Comprehension
Description: This lesson is a conversation-starter! In this lesson, students learn about striking up deep-thought conversations and staying on topic in the form of a book talk.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (5) 6:

Title: Figurative Language: Teaching Idioms
Description: It's raining cats and dogs! Students explore figurative language through read-alouds, teacher modeling, and student-centered activities, further developing their understanding of the literal versus the metaphorical translations of idioms.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (4) 4:

Title: Today is St. Patrick's Day.
Description: St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by reading Irish folk tales and using the Story Map tool to create a graphic organizer and see what characteristics are unique to Irish tales.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 9:

Title: November is National American Indian Heritage Month.
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.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (5) 41: