ALEX Resources

Title: Narratives & Grammar: There's More to the Story
Description: For this lesson, a mystery, a type of narrative realistic fiction, will be composed. Since strong adjectives and adverbs will support a mystery, they will be incorporated into the writing. What should a good narrative contain? This is a College- and Career-Ready Standards showcase lesson plan.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 41:

Title: Interactive Poetry - Learning Poetic Elements and Structure Through Exploration
Description: This is an online exploration poetry lesson.  Students will navigate through the interactive PowerPoint presentation and complete different tasks while acquiring knowledge on the various aspects of poetry. This is a College- and Career-Ready Standards showcase lesson plan.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (7) 5:

Title: Glog a Plot
Description: Students will use the Web 2.0 tool Glogster at glogster.com to create a book report, or the tool may be used to create a summary poster for a short story. This is a College- and Career-Ready Standards showcase lesson plan.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (6) 28:

Title: Exposed - Personal Narrative Writing
Description: Students will be able recognize characteristics of a personal narrative. Students will recognize the traits of good writing. Students will write, revise, and publish a personal narrative.  This is a College- and Career-Ready Standards showcase lesson plan.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (6) 26:

Title: Live at Five! The Devil's Arithmetic  Newscast/Podcast
Description: Four to five person teams will be created to research and present an in-depth TV news special about the Holocaust for the Passover Seder holiday.  Students will conduct research and assume a specific task of their news team to present a main story in a newscast/Podcast. This is a College- and Career-Ready Standards showcase lesson plan.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (6) 39:

Title: Drill and Kill No More - Incorporating Verbs, Adverbs, and Prepositions Within the Context of Argumentative Writing
Description: The technique known as "Drill and Kill" is not effective for the retention of grammar skills. Students are more apt to remember grammar skills when the skills are taught in connection with writing. The following lesson demonstrates a better way. Yes, the skills must be taught first; however, the “dril,l skill and kill” method is only 15% of the lesson. The first thing you must do is correlate the different genres of writing with the grammar concepts that go with them. This lesson will show teachers how to teach adverbs, verbs, and prepositions within the context of an argumentative paper. This is a College- and Career-Ready Standards showcase lesson plan.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 39:

Title: An Interest.....ing Math Lesson
Description: Eventually everyone will need to borrow money for one reason or another. A good understanding of how interest works will go a long way when applying for a loan. In this lesson students will complete a KWL chart about the purchase of a new vehicle. Students will visit several Websites where they will be able to practice computing simple interest. Then students will have an opportunity to compute simple interest problems that are located in a interactive whiteboard presentation. Students will also answer several written questions about simple interest. They will also create a presentation that will contain information that they gathered during one of the activities that are included in this lesson.
Standard(s):
[MA2015] (7) 3:

Title: Marshmallow and Pretzel Sensory Writing
Description: This language arts lesson applies hands-on materials to help students apply the sensory details need for writing. It also incorporates writing skills for comparing and contrasting. In addition, students will utilize Thinkfinity Interactive to write poetry using sensory words.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 23:

Title: A Visual Dress Code
Description: Primarily designed for ESL students who need visual representations to reinforce the meanings of words, this lesson encourages ESL and native speaking students to extend their vocabulary and conversational skills as they create a slideshow presentation or illustrated booklet of the school or system dress code.
Standard(s):
[TC2] (6-8) 6:

Title: Author Trading Cards
Description: In this lesson students conduct print and Internet research to gather information about a contempory author. Students create an author trading card featuring this information and then collect and/or trade these cards as they select reading material.
Standard(s):
[TC2] (6-8) 14:

Title: Who's Who on Olympus and Why Should I Care?
Description: References to mythology extend far beyond the basic exploration of a genre. This unit will serve as an exploration of the creation myth across cultures, an introduction to the major Greek gods and goddesses, and an opportunity to link mythology to today's world. Students will research and create a newsletter on a creation myth and the culture from which it came. They will also plan and present a slideshow presentation about a major god or goddess of ancient Greece, including allusions to him/her in today's world.
Standard(s):
[TC2] (6-8) 11:

Title: Personification in Poetry
Description: Students will explore the use of personification in published poetry and write a poem using personification. They will use clay animation to produce a short video of their poem.
Standard(s):
[TC2] (6-8) 14:

Title: The Camelot Times: Writing a Newspaper
Description: As part of a unit on Arthurian literature and medieval culture, students imagine they are reporters living in the realm of King Arthur and create newsletters/newspapers based on their study and research.
Standard(s):
[TC2] (6-8) 9:

Title: Christopher Paul Curtis and His Books: Bud, Not Buddy and The Watsons Go to Birmingham
Description: This interdisciplinary lesson on two books by C.P. Curtis features students in one classroom (or group) reading one of the books while the other class (or group) reads the other novel. Each class then divides into groups and researches the time period of its novel and develops presentations designed to encourage the reading of the second novel. These presentations are then presented to the other class.
Standard(s):
[SS2010] USS6 (6) 7:

Title: A Hero by Any Other Name. . .
Description: In conjunction with a study of literary or national heroes or in recognition of 9/11 week, students select a hero from among their family and friends, gather information about him/her, and prepare a multimedia presentation of their research.
Standard(s):
[TC2] (6-8) 11:

Title: Fighting for Gender and Racial Equality
Description: In this lesson students will examine the lives of key leaders and events in the fight for gender and racial equality at the turn of the 20th century. Through this inquiry study students will choose one of these leaders or events to research. The research content will be the basis of a written summary on an individual or event. The students will also create a visual aide or role-play relating the life and times of the individual or event.
Standard(s):
[SS2010] USS6 (6) 9:

Title: Newspapers: Facts and Opinions
Description: In order to sharpen a student's understanding of the differences between facts and opinions, this lesson incorporates both the close reading of a newspaper and the writing of a factual article and a letter to the editor.
Standard(s):
[TC2] (6-8) 11:

Title: An Author Study: Christopher Paul Curtis and his novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
Description: This five-day lesson will introduce the students to the author of the novel as the beginning of a unit. The students will conduct research to obtain biographical information about the author and read/analyze summaries and critiques of the author's writing. Finally, the students will create brochures or flyers to highlight the author as a guest at a mock author's conference.
Standard(s):
[TC2] (6-8) 14:

Title: "The Turkey Shot Out of the Oven" -- A Lesson on Verbs
Description: Using the poem "The Turkey Shot Out of the Oven" written by Jack Prelutsky, students will explore verbs, synonyms, and poetry.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (6) 6:

Title: Who Wrote That? -- Reporting on Books by the Same Author
Description: Students will read two chapter books by the same author, compare/contrast the books using graphic organizers, research biographical information on the author, and create a slideshow presentation and/or a brochure about the books and authors to share with the class.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (6) 7:

Title: My Own Kingdom
Description: This lesson requires students to write a descriptive essay and make an illustration of their own imaginary kingdom and share with the class. This lesson can be done after reading about Leslie's and Jesse's kingdom from the book, Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson (or any other imaginative kingdom).
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (6) 22:

Title: Book Reviews, Annotation, and Web Technology
Description: Students work in groups to create annotated book reviews with links to topics of interest related to their book.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 28:

Title: Metaphorical Gold: Mining the Gold Rush for Stories
Description: In this EDSITEment lesson, students research the Gold Rush era to provide authentic background for their own fictional prose. By mining online databases for primary texts and period photographs, students can explore the Klondike Stampede and glean from their visit sufficient period details to help them create their own narratives based on the Gold Rush. While the emphasis of this lesson is on history and research rather than literature, selections from Jack London's The Call of the Wild are used to provide focus and structure for students research in online databases of primary sources, and to serve as models of vivid narrative prose for students own stories.
Standard(s):
[SS2010] USS6 (6) 1:

Title: Weaving the Threads: Integrating Poetry Annotation and Web Technology
Description: Students read a poem by a Native American, explore Native American culture and then create a Website that explains words and phrases from the poem.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 41:

Title: Story Character Homepage
Description: Students analyze personal homepages, as well as a character in a book they have read, and then create a homepage for the character.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 31:

Title: Inquiry on the Internet: Evaluating Web Pages for a Class Collection
Description: Students use Internet search engines and Web analysis checklists to evaluate online resources then write annotations that explain how and why the resources will be valuable to the class.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 38:

Title: E-pals Around the World
Description: With e-pals, students develop real-life writing and social experiences, learn the format of a friendly letter and parts of an e-mail message, and discover other cultures, languages, and geographic areas.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 38:

Title: Picture Books as Framing Texts: Research Paper Strategies for Struggling Writers
Description: Students use picture books as framing texts for research, freeing them from the language of encyclopedia sources and allowing them to focus their attention on the content of their papers.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 41:

Title: Proverbs: At Home and around the World
Description: In this lesson, students work with proverbs from home and from around the world, exploring how these maxims are tied to a cultures values and everyday experience.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 40:

Title: Writing a Flashback and Flash-Forward Story Using Movies and Texts as Models
Description: Using the film The Sandlot, students are introduced to the literary devices of flashbacks and flash-forwards. They then write their own stories using those devices.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 25:

Title: Doodle Splash: Using Graphics to Discuss Literature
Description: Students keep a doodle journal while reading short stories by a common author. In small groups, students then combine their doodles into a graphic representation of the text.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 41:

Title: Timelines and Texts: Motivating Students to Read Nonfiction
Description: In an effort to help motivate students to read nonfiction, students are challenged to use a timeline to help them name the year when certain products were invented.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 41:

Title: Book Report Alternative: Comic Strips and Cartoon Squares
Description: Students must think critically to create comic strips highlighting six important scenes from a book they have read.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 34:

Title: Investigating the Holocaust: A Collaborative Inquiry Project
Description: Students explore a variety of resources as they learn about the Holocaust. Working collaboratively, they investigate the materials, prepare oral responses, and produce a topic-based newspaper to complete their research.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 41:

Title: Choose Your Own Adventure: A Hypertext Writing Experience
Description: Students analyze '' choose your own adventure'' stories and brainstorm to develop setting, characters, and plots for their own adventures stories and related Websites.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 30:

Title: Pictures in Words: Poems of Tennyson and Noyes
Description: In this lesson, from EDSITEment, students explore how poets Tennyson and Noyes use words to paint vivid and memorable pictures. They describe how word pictures emphasize or qualify the meanings of their poems.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 25:

Title: Artificial Intelligence: What Is It and Where Is It?
Description: In this activity, students will explore Artificial Intelligence, develop their own definitions for what AI is, and share examples with their classmates via Note.ly.  This activity was created as a result of the DLCS COS Resource Development Summit.
Standard(s):
[DLIT] (6) 35:

Title: Biography Blips
Description: After reading a biography or autobiography, the student can use this digital tool to summarize the main ideas of the person's life. The Bio Cube limits their information to what will fit on six sides of a small cube. The activity helps children learn how to identify and summarize key ideas.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (6) 26:

Title: Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover
Description: This is an interactive tool that allows students to create individualized book covers for their written works or the literature of others. 
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (6) 26:

Title: What Makes a Poem an Epic?
Description: This student interactive, from an EDSITEment lesson, prompts students to identify examples of the epic hero cycle from a story with which they are familiar.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 30:

Title: Today is World Poetry Day.
Description: Students read and respond to Billy Collins' poem '' Introduction to Poetry.'' Students then write about a favorite poem and imagine the perfect way to read it.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (12) 28:

Title: Louisa May Alcott was born in 1832.
Description: Students brainstorm important events and people that might serve as the beginning of an interesting piece of writing. They then use the Bio-Cube to plan their writing and write an essay about a memorable person.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 29:

Title: Find favorite book picks in the Children's Choices.
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.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 26:

Title: Mickey Mouse appeared in his first animated feature.
Description: Students create a short, humorous story with at least one action character, and then use the Comic Creator to make a flipbook.
Standard(s):
[ELA2015] (8) 25: