ALEX Lesson Plan Resources

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ALEX Lesson Plans  
Subject: English Language Arts (4), or Social Studies (4)
Title: Slavery: The Act of Buying, Selling, and Gifting Humans
Description: Through this lesson, students will explore primary sources related to the buying and selling of human beings for the purpose of slavery. Students will analyze receipts from stores and discuss what they demonstrate about modern society.  Students will then analyze the language and iconography used in bills of sale pertaining to the buying and selling of slaves in the 19th century. The students will write a paragraph to compare and contrast the items from both eras. This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

Subject: English Language Arts (4), or Social Studies (4)
Title: Alabama's Early Governors
Description: In this lesson, students will learn about the executive branch of government at the state level, especially related to the first governors of the state of Alabama. Their impact on the development of Alabama and Alabama's role in the United States will be discussed. Students will use research and note taking skills to gather information on an early governor. Then students will participate in jigsaw groups to share their information, discuss the importance of each governor, similarities, and impact. Finally, students will discuss the role of governor and how governors have an impact on the state and the impact these men had in Alabama and in other states.  This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History. 

Subject: English Language Arts (3 - 5), or Technology Education (3 - 5)
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.

Subject: English Language Arts (4 - 5), or Information Literacy (K - 12)
Title: Genre Who? Identifying Various Fiction Genres
Description: In this lesson students will be introduced to six different fiction genres. They will then practice their knowledge of these genres through a review game.

Subject: English Language Arts (4 - 6), or Social Studies (3 - 5)
Title: Living in the Wild
Description: In this lesson, students will compare and contrast how the Prehistoric Americans lived off the land at Russell Cave and how Sam Gribley from "My Side of the Mountain" lived off the land. This lesson plan is made possible through the ALEX and the U.S. National Park Service Partnership.

Subject: English Language Arts (4), or Social Studies (3)
Title: A Father's Life at Russell Cave
Description: In this lesson, students will learn about a father's life at Russell Cave and learn about different writing genres. This lesson plan is made possible through the ALEX and the U.S. National Park Service Partnership.

Subject: Character Education (K - 12), or English Language Arts (3 - 4), or Technology Education (K - 5)
Title: Stop The Bullying
Description: During this lesson, students start to recognize the different types of bullying, causes, and ways of dealing with it. Through literature and the Internet, students learn how to handle bullying. Students will develop presentations to teach other how to handle bullying.

Subject: Arts Education (3 - 4), or English Language Arts (3 - 4), or Science (3), or Technology Education (3 - 5)
Title: Animal Environment and Adaptation
Description: In this lesson students will enjoy different activities focusing on how animals adapt to their environments. They will begin by researching two animals, their environment, and the ways the animals adapt to this environment. In small groups students will invent a new animal, including its environment and adaptations. Using presentation software, students will introduce their new animals to the class.

Subject: Character Education (K - 12), or English Language Arts (4 - 5), or Technology Education (3 - 8)
Title: Lou Gehrig and Character Education
Description: After reading book or short story about Lou Gehrig, students conduct online research to learn more about him. Using the material they gather about his life and character, students create a flyer/poster. Students then participate in a virtual field trip from the Baseball Hall of Fame entitled "Lou Gehrig: The Iron Horse."

Subject: English Language Arts (2 - 4), or Information Literacy (K - 12), or Technology Education (3 - 5)
Title: Introduction to the Dewey Decimal System
Description: This lesson introduces the Dewey Decimal System of numbering used for arranging nonfiction books on the shelves of an elementary school library.

Thinkfinity Lesson Plans  
Subject: Language Arts
Title: Alaska Native Stories: Using Narrative to Introduce Expository Text      Add Bookmark
Description: Tradition and technology come together in this lesson in which students learn about Alaskan animals through Native American tales and their own online research.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
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


Subject: Language Arts
Title: Blending Fiction and Nonfiction to Improve Comprehension and Writing Skills      Add Bookmark
Description: Students use a text set to increase understanding of content area material and demonstrate what they have learned by writing an original piece that blends together narrative and expository elements.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5


Subject: Language Arts
Title: Charting Characters for a More Complete Understanding of the Story      Add Bookmark
Description: Character Perspective Charting allows students to compare multiple characters and their points of view to better understand a story.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5


Subject: Language Arts
Title: Investigating Junk Mail: Negotiating Critical Literacy at the Mailbox      Add Bookmark
Description: Students increase their media literacy skills by critically examining and revising junk mail.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5


Subject: Language Arts
Title: Charlotte is Wise, Patient, and Caring: Adjectives and Character Traits      Add Bookmark
Description: Students find examples of adjectives in a shared reading. Then students '' become'' major characters in a book and describe themselves and other characters, using powerful adjectives.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5


Subject: Language Arts
Title: Using Writing and Role-Play to Engage the Reluctant Writer      Add Bookmark
Description: What does the world look like through a javelina's eyes? Students become javelinas in this lesson when they analyze a character and write from his or her perspective.
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: Research Building Blocks: Notes, Quotes, and Fact Fragments      Add Bookmark
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.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5


Subject: Language Arts
Title: Acquiring New Vocabulary Through Book Discussion Groups      Add Bookmark
Description: This lesson employs direct instruction and small-group discussion to help students learn new vocabulary skills while reading Patricia Polacco's Pink and Say.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5


Subject: Language Arts
Title: Using Science Texts to Teach the Organizational Features of Nonfiction      Add Bookmark
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.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5


Subject: Language Arts
Title: Readers Theatre      Add Bookmark
Description: Students develop scripts, perform, and use their voices to depict characters from texts, giving them the opportunity to develop fluency and further enhance comprehension of what they are reading.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5


Subject: Language Arts
Title: Vote for Me! Developing, Writing, and Evaluating Persuasive Speeches      Add Bookmark
Description: This lesson encourages students in grades 4 and 5 to think critically and write persuasively by focusing on preparing, presenting, and evaluating mock campaign speeches.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 4,5


Subject: Arts,Language Arts,Social Studies
Title: Let Freedom Ring: The Life and Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.      Add Bookmark
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.
Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEment
Grade Span: 3,4,5


Subject: Language Arts
Title: Beatrix Potter's Naughty Animal Tales      Add Bookmark
Description: In this unit of four lessons, from EDSITEment, students gain insight into the unusual, solitary world of Victorian childhood and compare and contrast it with their own world to understand why Beatrix Potter wrote simple stories and why she wrote about animals rather than people. Students can also learn the difference between an author and an illustrator and practice some of the same artistic techniques used by Potter to create masterpieces of their own.
Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEment
Grade Span: 3,4,5


Subject: Language Arts - Writing (composition) - Social Studies - Anthropology - Social Studies - Geography
Title: A Nepalese Village and Your Town: What's the Difference?      Add Bookmark
Description: This lesson, from Xpeditions, introduces students to some of the cultural customs of rural Nepal and asks them to consider the differences between Nepalese culture and their own. They write letters as if they were Nepalese young people, describing their culture and lifestyle. They then write additional letters that they might send to Nepalese pen pals, describing the similarities and differences between North American and rural Nepalese cultures.
Thinkfinity Partner: National Geographic Education
Grade Span: 3,4,5


Subject: Language Arts - Journalism - Social Studies - Comparative Political Systems - Social Studies - Geography - Social Studies - World History
Title: Submarines: The Journey of K-19      Add Bookmark
Description: In this lesson, from Xpeditions, students study the ill-fated first mission of K-19, the Soviet Union's first nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine. Students learn about the Cold War and locate the key points of K-19's journey on a map. They consider the actions of crew members who risked their lives so that others might survive and contemplate the reasons why the story was kept secret until the end of the Cold War. Students conclude by writing a newspaper article about the accident at sea.
Thinkfinity Partner: National Geographic Education
Grade Span: 3,4,5


Subject: Language Arts,Social Studies
Title: Cinderella Folk Tales: Variations in Character      Add Bookmark
Description: In this lesson, from EDSITEment, students compare and contrast several versions of Cinderella stories told around the world to find differences and similarities in character traits. They define the essential qualities of a Cinderella tale and cite specific examples for support from at least two variations.
Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEment
Grade Span: 3,4,5


Subject: Language Arts,Social Studies
Title: Cinderella Folk Tales: Variations in Plot and Setting      Add Bookmark
Description: In this lesson, from EDSITEment, students compare and contrast several versions of Cinderella stories told around the world to find differences and similarities in plot and setting. They then write a narrative--a Cinderella variation--with a plot appropriate to the genre and an original setting.
Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEment
Grade Span: 3,4,5


Subject: Language Arts
Title: Biographies: Creating Timelines of a Life      Add Bookmark
Description: In this lesson students explore a number of sources to create a biographical timeline about a selected person. Students collaboratively research and resolve conflicting information they find during their investigation.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5


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: Alex Haley, author of '' Roots'' , was born in 1921.      Add Bookmark
Description: Students explore their own roots by interviewing family members and use their family history to write a fictional account of their roots.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12


Subject: Language Arts
Title: Nature Reflections: Interactive Language Practice for English-Language Learners      Add Bookmark
Description: Students whose first language is not English reflect on nature through readings, a visit to a green area, and bookmaking using the writing process and peer feedback.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5


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: Question and Answer Books--From Genre Study to Report Writing      Add Bookmark
Description: After exploring several question and answer books on a variety of topics, students research a topic and create their own class question and answer book.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5


Subject: Language Arts
Title: Looking at Landmarks: Using a Picture Book to Guide Research      Add Bookmark
Description: This lesson uses Ben's Dream by Chris Van Allsburg to highlight ten major landmarks of the world. Students research the landmarks and present their findings to the class.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5


Subject: Language Arts
Title: Literature as a Jumping Off Point for Nonfiction Inquiry      Add Bookmark
Description: Students use text sets to research a topic inspired by a fiction book they have read. A text set is a collection of multiple text genres with a single focus.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5


Subject: Language Arts
Title: Opening the Door for Reading: Sharing Favorite Texts to Build Community      Add Bookmark
Description: In this lesson, students build classroom community by exploring environmental print and a teacher-created display that focuses on a favorite book. They then create and share their own presentations.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5,6


Subject: Language Arts
Title: Inferring How and Why Characters Change      Add Bookmark
Description: Students will really get into character when they read short stories and analyze the how's and why's of characters behaviors.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5