This lesson supports the use of a text set (paired fiction and nonfiction texts on a similar topic) to increase student interest in and understanding of content area material and to develop critical writing skills. The more familiar format of narrative fiction introduces the topic and generates confidence in exploring the less familiar genre of nonfiction. Students then demonstrate what they have learned about the topic and about genre by writing an original piece that blends together narrative and expository elements.

Book Creator is a simple and free online app that even very young students may use to make interactive multimedia-rich eBooks.

This lesson plan teaches students about onomatopoeia. Students will analyze how comic books use onomatopoeia and how they add to story in an effort to create their own comic books.

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.

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.

Students will learn the characteristics of tall tales, reflect on a historical moment, and discover why David Crockett and others like him became important figures in American frontier history.

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

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. 

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Science created this resource as part of an online workshop series, but you are welcome to use or modify it for your classroom. It includes a video and written directions for creating nature journals and tips for incorporating them into your classroom. For information on taking any the Nature Neighborhood online workshops for CEUs or EE credit, visit: https://naturalsciences.org/learn/educators/online-workshops.

After this lesson students will be able to combine word choice and procedural writing; thus enhancing their overall writing skills.

In this lesson, students explore and analyze the impact Logan has had on the sport of basketball in North Carolina. Students will create trading cards by using Web2.0 tools that illustrates details of Logan’s basketball career.

This activity for gifted learners might serve as a writing activity as part of a larger poetry unit. Students will take part in close readings of a variety of poems throughout the unit.  In this activity, gifted learners would work either individually or with a partner to close read “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost.  They will then work to decipher the poem, it’s meaning, and the point of view from which it’s told.  Finally, they will  “reframe” the original poem and it’s point of view, resulting in a poem told from the horse’s perspective.  This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

Students will read paragraphs and write to explain what will likely happen next. This resource supports English language development for English language learners.

Students will read a prompt and probing questions in order to write to respond to the prompt. Students will then draw a picture to accompany their writing. This resource supports English language development for English language learners.

In this lesson, students practice their relative location skills. They will create an illustrated neighborhood map showing landmarks they pass on a specific journey through their neighborhood. They will also write a story about a journey someone might take using the map as a visual aid.

Students previously looked at maps of Michigan and discussed some of the cities and regions in our state. In reading, students began to read narratives, both fiction and nonfiction. For the entry event, students were asked to select an artifact that represented a special, small moment they experienced within the state of Michigan.

Students shared their artifacts and stories and plotted the setting from their stories on a map of Michigan. We realized our stories represented many regions in Michigan and could be used to describe many aspects of life as a Michigander. Students wanted to share these stories with others, so we began learning about narrative writing.

Typically, I use Google Slides for a mini-lesson, to allow students time to work on a specific, standard related task that will help build their Michigan small moment story, and then pull them together to share a few examples of student work. Students sometimes work alone, but often work with a partner or small group to brainstorm ideas, revise, and edit.

After, students will publish their ideas on Google Docs. When completed, they'll put their doc onto Google Sites or Google Slides and incorporate other media to enhance their story. Then, we'll print the story and create book covers using the iPad app Canva. We'll use both models to share with other classes within our school and hopefully with students from another country (I'm still working on finding an international school).

In this lesson, students write a first draft of their Freaky Frog Trading Card paragraph in first person using vivid, precise words and phrases in their writing.

The students will develop an understanding of how quadrilaterals include all types of parallelograms, trapezoids, and other four-sided figures by exploring quadrilateral characteristics.  The students will understand that many types of quadrilaterals exist and that these shapes have some attributes in common.  The students will begin by comparing and contrasting various quadrilaterals with the use of Venn diagrams.  They will then move on to demonstrating their knowledge and understanding of quadrilaterals by creating a story about a quadrilateral that changes its shape (into various quadrilaterals- specific quadrilaterals such as a square, rectangle, rhombus…etc.) without losing/gaining sides.  This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.