In this lesson, students explore adjectives through a read-aloud and develop a working definition of the term. They list as many adjectives as they can, then combine them with "to be" verbs to create simple sentences. Next, they are introduced to character traits by putting the adjectives from their list in the context of a character from a shared reading. They then use an online chart to equate the character traits with specific actions the character takes. Finally, students "become" one of the major characters in a book and describe themselves and other characters, using Internet reference tools to compile lists of accurate, powerful adjectives supported with details from the reading. Students read each other's lists of adjectives and try to identify who is being described.

This resource, Character Perspective Charting, is an instructional method designed to reflect the actual complexity of many stories and is a practical instructional alternative to story mapping. This strategy delineates the multiple points of view, goals, and intentions of different characters within the same story. By engaging in Character Perspective Charting, students can better understand, interpret, and appreciate the stories they read.

In this activity, students read a story and answer questions about the text. The resource contains guided reading and assessment questions.

In this minilesson, students explore the use of dialogue tags such as “he said” or “she answered” in picture books and novels, discussing their purpose, form, and style. Students identify dialogue tags in stories, collaboratively revise a passage from a novel to add more variety to the tags, and then apply the text structure to stories that they have written.

In this activity, Gunnell describes watching kite fighting as a young girl. The resource contains guided reading and assessment questions.

In this lesson, students will see how artistic materials can extend knowledge. This lesson provides opportunities for students to explore and experience the meaning potential of everyday writing and drawing tools in their own writing. The lesson can adapted for older students.

In this lesson, students begin by working in small groups to analyze differences and similarities among a selection of comics from a variety of subgenres. Based on their discussion, they determine what subgenres are represented and divide the comics accordingly. Students then analyze the professional comics' uses of conventions such as layout and page design. Finally, they create their own comics using an online tool.

A strong plot is a basic requirement of any narrative. Students are sometimes confused, however, by the difference between a series of events that happen in a story and the plot elements, or the events that are significant to the story. In this lesson, students select a topic for a personal narrative and then do the prewriting in comic-strip format to reinforce the plot structure. Finally, they write their own original narratives based on the comic strip prewriting activity, keeping the elements of narrative writing in mind. This lesson uses a version of "The Three Little Pigs" fairy tale to demonstrate the literary element; however, any picture book with a strong plot would work for this lesson.

In this lesson from Expeditionary Learning, students will perform a close reading of Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco. They will answer questions using specific details from the text and explain why they chose those details. Students will also use context clues to access new vocabulary. This is Lesson 2 of 10 from the unit Grade 3 Curriculum Map Unit 2, Module 1: http://engageny.org/resource/grade-3-ela-module-1-unit-2 .

Awareness and true understanding of other cultures can create the desire to take action. In this lesson, students learn about Palestinian Arabs. After exploring the culture in a book and online, students identify a current social issue that concerns them. In a formal letter written to an appropriate official, students identify these issues and discuss suggestions of ways the problems might be addressed.

Experiencing the language of great poets provides a rich learning context for students, giving them access to the best examples of how words can be arranged in unique ways. By studying the works of renowned poets across cultures and histories, students extract knowledge about figurative language and poetic devices from masters of the craft. In this lesson, students learn about personification by reading and discussing poems that feature this writing device. Then they use the poems as a guide to brainstorm lists of nouns and verbs that they randomly arrange to create personification in their own poems.

In this lesson, students describe characters in a story and describe how a character's actions contribute to the events in the story.

In this lesson, students answer questions using specific details from the text and determine the meaning of new vocabulary using clues in the text around a word.

 Using Wonders Literature Anthology and students Reading/Writing Companion, students will learn “What are different kinds of energy?”.  Students will complete a pre and post assessment for data collection. Students will read about solar energy, wind energy, and fossil fuels. Using information from the text, students will create a poster board to present information about each form of energy and will code a Dash Robot. Students will code Dash to move to the different types of energy, and students will voice record themselves describing and giving detail of each energy form.  

The teacher reads aloud Thank You, Mr. Falker. There is a follow-up whole-group instruction that provides a basis for improved higher-level reading comprehension. The teacher works with the whole class to model making predictions and personal connections, envisioning character change, and understanding the themes of the book. Response journals can also be used to further student connections to the characters and themes in the book.

In this activity, students read a story and answer questions about the text. The resource contains guided reading and assessment questions.

In this activity, students read a poem and answer questions about the text. The resource contains guided reading and assessment questions.

As a way to support teachers with English Language Arts (ELA) instruction during the pandemic, the NCDPI ELA team created choice boards featuring standards-aligned ELA activities.The intended purpose of these choice boards is to provide a way for students to continue standards-based learning while schools are closed. Each activity can be adapted and modified to be completed with or without the use of digital tools. Many activities can also be repeated with different texts. These standards-based activities are meant to be a low-stress approach to reinforcing and enriching the skills learned during the 2019-2020 school year. The choice boards are to be used flexibly by teachers, parents, and students in order to meet the unique needs of each learner.Exploration activities are provided for a more self-directed or guided approach to independent learning for students. These activities and sites should be used as a way to explore concepts, topics, skills, and social and emotional competencies that interest the learner. 

In this activity, students read a story and answer questions about the text. The resource contains guided reading and assessment questions.

In this activity, students read a story and answer questions about the text. The resource contains guided reading and assessment questions.