Curated OER
Printing and Publishing
Explore African literature and artwork in a multicultural literacy and art lesson. Begin with a read aloud of Tiger and the Big Wind: A Tale from Africa, and afterward, have kids retell the main events in the story. They...
The Kennedy Center
Fairy Tale Variations
Here are two great lessons that work together and are inspired by the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods. Young writers and actors will retell the story of "The Frog Prince" through games, improvisational script writing, and...
PBS
The Little Red Hen: A Tale of Cooperation
Ensure that your kids don't even consider saying "Not me!" when it comes time to read by engaging them in this set of lesson plans based around "The Little Red Hen." The class reads the story together before starting in on additional...
EngageNY
Determining Main Idea Using Text and Illustrations: Accessing Books Around the World
Ease into informational text with the lesson plan suggested here. Part of a unit series, the lesson plan draws from previous lessons and acts as a natural moment to add in informational text. Class members read one section of My...
EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge About Physical Environment: What Makes it Hard for Some People to Get Books?
How far would your pupils go to be able to have access to books? Revisit Heather Henson and David Small's That Book Woman and challenge class members to take on the role of Cal or the Book Woman. By putting themselves in someone else's...
Curated OER
The Power of Retelling: Developmental Steps to Building Comprehension
Empower your readers by modeling for them the steps for retelling a story. Designed as a teacher resource, Dr. Cummins argues that shifting responsibility for retelling to the learners increases their comprehension. The procedure is...
Curated OER
A Fantasy Story: Baby Bear's Space Journey
Give this literacy worksheet to your beginning readers to help them draw out key details and retell in their own words. They read a short fantasy story about a bear in space which includes dialogue, onomatopoeia, and a simple story line....
Curated OER
A Soldier's View of the American Civil War
Study and research the American Civil War in this explanatory writing lesson. Middle schoolers complete six activities to learn about the American Civil War and soldiers' views of the war. The lesson includes several options to complete...
Curated OER
Those Fabulous Fables
A video leads off this activity on fables, introducing the class to this important form of traditional storytelling. The group defines fable and hears an explanation of the origin of this type of folk tale. They summarize the story they...
Curated OER
Main Idea in Informational Text
Individuals complete a pre-assessment to gauge their ability to determine the main idea and supporting details in nonfiction text. They examine a new piece of nonfiction reading by looking at the table of contents, headings, and index...
Curated OER
Book Discussions in a Reading Partnership
Do you have a lot of different reading levels in your class? Pair kids up by level and have them choose a book to read independently. They will make predictions, ask questions, make connections, etc. Consider creating a general reading...
Curated OER
Gingerbread Man Retell
Explore the concept of retelling a story with the Gingerbread Man. Read various gingerbread man stories with your class. They will create character puppets and retell the story to one another and in small groups. Additionally, they will...
Arkansas Department of Human Services
Caps for Sale
Bring to life a class reading of the children's book Caps for Sale with this printable set of manipulatives. Color, laminate, and cut out these pictures of the peddler, his caps, the tree, and the monkeys, using them act out the...
Curated OER
Multiple Viewpoints (Three Little Pigs)
Your youngsters have probably read The Three Little Pigs, but have they read The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig? Have your learners brainstorm how the second book could be similar or different from the first....
Curated OER
Roman Portfolio
Student practice decoding skills and phonological awareness. In this vocabulary development lesson plan, student identifies new vocabulary through word association and flash cards. Student also reads How he Chick Tricked the...
Curated OER
Three Little Pigs Peek Over
For this summary worksheet, learners write a retelling of the story the Three Little Pigs and color, cut, and paste this peek over top and bottom pages to display their work.
Curated OER
Theatre
Students identify and create flashcards of important key terms as related to theatre. Students observe and write a 1-page summary of events seen at the High School Musical production using at least 8 vocabulary words in your summary....
Curated OER
Freeze Frames
Students perform a series of stories or events. In this performing arts instructional activity, students strike a pose to create a picture from an event in a text. Students reflect on the characters and story line from the text.
Curated OER
Hickory Dickory Dock Webquest
Students listen to and read nursery rhymes. They discuss rhyming words. Students play a variety of computer games with rhymes, numbers and telling time. They retell the story through dramatic play, speech, and comprehension questions.
Curated OER
Minnie and Moo and the Thanksgiving Tree
Third graders practice retelling stories. They read a story and work with a partner to discuss the key elements: characters, setting, events, beginning, and end. They assess one another as they retell the story. They rewrite the story in...
Curated OER
Retelling a Story
Students fold paper into 8 boxes and number the boxes, then print the name of the story and their own name. They draw pictures of what they think the story might be about.
Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media: Education: Story Elements Retelling
In this instructional activity, students will learn to retell a story using story elements to improve their comprehension of the story. The students will actively listen to a story and complete a graphic organizer to share and discuss...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Modern the Emperor's New Clothes: Video
As you watch this modern version of The Emperor's New Clothes, take note of the character's personalities, how these characters interact, and how they are similar or different from one another. Check out the additional activities below...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Modern Rumpelstiltskin: Video
As you watch this modern story of Rumpelstiltskin, take note of the characters, setting, and what happens in the story. Check out the additional activities below for the classroom and home, and watch the "Guided Viewing" version for...