ALEX Resources

Title: Animal Adaptions for Grades 3-5
Description: HyperSlides are digital lessons/units that help students learn the material in a way that is engaging and inquiry-based. Students will work together to complete a HyperSlides unit centering around animal adaptations for standards in grades 3-5. Students will work creatively and collaboratively with a variety of Course of Study standards that engage students through using Google Slides and a Hyperlinks to assist in the understanding of animal adaptations. This project will take several class periods to complete. After an introduction to the Hyperslides, students are encouraged to work at their own pace, but Hyperslides can be assigned on a daily basis. This Lesson Plan was created in partnership with the Birmingham Zoo. 
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (5) 22:

Title: Preparing for Natural Disasters: Tornado
Description: The lesson will begin by students performing a think-aloud as they consider the similarities of five words:  tornado, shelter, basement, underground, and safe room. Students will use a pros and cons graphic organizer as they read articles on three different types of tornado shelters: underground shelters, part of the house shelters, and prebuilt shelters. The students will find the advantages and disadvantages of each type of structure. At the end of the lesson, the teacher will create a table that lists all the shelters and the pros and cons of each. Students will then determine which shelter they feel is most efficient in an "exit slip" response.  This unit was created as part of the ALEX Interdisciplinary Resource Development Summit.
Standard(s):
[SS2010] GHS (3) 9:

Title: Cyberspace Explorer: Getting to Know Christopher Columbus
Description: Students explore multiple online sources to gather information about the life of Christopher Columbus, complete a cyber scavenger hunt, and use their notes to prepare a timeline and summary report.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (5) 36:

Title: Research Building Blocks: Hints about Print
Description: In this lesson from a research skills unit, students examine abstracts on selected books to determine their relevance and helpfulness.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (5) 16:

Title: Q is for Duck: Using Alphabet Books With Struggling Writers
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.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (5) 36:

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: Exploring How Section Headings Support Understanding of Expository Texts
Description: Nonfiction may be dull for some students, but this lesson helps them focus on the main ideas. Through awareness of section headings, students learn to sort and categorize main concepts.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (5) 19:

Title: STAR Search: How Do I Find the Book I Need?
Description: Students become familiar with STAR Search, which provides a set of steps and thinking processes for intermediate students to use in finding library resources relevant to a specific information need.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (3) 14:

Title: Teaching Language Skills Using the Phone Book
Description: Through a series of activities using the phone book, students learn to use text aids, collect information relevant to a topic, organize information, synthesize information and use key words.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (5) 31:

Title: The prototype for the World Wide Web was created in 1990.
Description: Students look at pictures from the past using the WayBack Machine and brainstorm a few websites to explore to think about how they have changed over the years.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (5) 39: