Cluster 1: Key Ideas and DetailsArchived

In this lesson, students will learn about the movement of water. In particular, flow (as in the flow of a stream), force (as in the force of a rushing wave) and fall (as in the fall of water in a waterfall). Students will create movements to imitate water and culminate in a student-created movement and dance to a book and to music.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will be introduced to the Everglades, learning about this special place for plants and animals that is unlike anywhere else on Earth. They will watch a presentation on some of the animals that live in the Everglades and start working on their Everglades Class Book.

Type: Lesson Plan

Through a story about three boys who become friends, children learn the importance of understanding that people who are different have strengths. This lesson focuses on friendship, self-confidence, and dealing with conflicts and teasing. This lesson addresses the following literacy skills: ask and answer questions about details and unknown words in text and write an opinion.

Type: Lesson Plan

Using the book Mouse Shapes as a springboard text, students will identify the main idea of the story and locate specific details to support the story. They will then use information in the story, attribute blocks, and discussion to identify a rectangle, its name, and its attributes.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this Kindergarten MEA lesson, students will work cooperatively to help Sweetie Cake Pops improve their recipe. They will work in groups to look at a data table and generate responses orally and written. Additionally, this lesson has a mathematical focus of skip counting by tens.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this close reading lesson, the teacher will read aloud Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina. Students will answer text-dependent questions and explain the meaning of new vocabulary. They will identify sight words and choral read repetitive parts of the text. Students will identify the setting, characters, and important events (including the problem and solution) and record these on a story map. They will retell the story and create a tri-fold book with illustrations and sentences explaining the beginning, middle, and end of the story. After analyzing the text, students will draw and dictate or write to explain the problem and solution in the text.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this close reading lesson, students will compare and contrast the actions of the characters in two of Audrey Penn's beloved books, The Kissing Hand and A Pocket Full of Kisses. They will answer text-dependent questions, and they will describe and sequence story elements as they analyze the two books. Students will truly enjoy interacting with these two delightful stories!

Type: Lesson Plan

It really is amazing that a familiar story such as Cinderella can be found in so many different places around the world. Each story adheres to very similar story elements, but also includes its own culture and traditions. In this lesson, students will identify story elements from two Cinderella stories, Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters which takes place in Zimbabwe and the French version of Cinderella by Marica Brown. Students will compare and contrast these stories using a Venn diagram. Additional versions can also be shared, culminating in students choosing their favorite version to write an opinion writing piece about.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this close reading lesson, students will compare and contrast the actions of the characters in two of Eileen Christelow's beloved books, Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed and Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree. They will answer text-dependent questions and describe story elements as they analyze the two books. Students will truly enjoy interacting with these two delightful stories!

Type: Lesson Plan

In this close reading lesson, students will compare and contrast the actions of the characters in two of Laura Numeroff's beloved books, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and If You Take a Mouse to School. They will answer text-dependent questions, and they will describe and sequence story elements as they analyze the two books. Students will truly enjoy interacting with these two delightful stories!

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will work together to "read" Pancakes for Breakfast, a wordless picture book by Tomie dePaola which shows the sequence of events the main character follows in preparing her own breakfast. Students will identify the story elements in the book based on its illustrations and retell the story by sequencing the important events. They will then create their own wordless picture book depicting their breakfast routine, presenting their routine and illustrations orally using complete sentences.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will become story sequencers as they participate in whole group, partner, and independent activities. Students will recall important events from the story The Little Red Hen and help generate a class story to demonstrate their understanding of beginning, middle, and end before completing their summative assessment. At the end of the lesson students will become authors of their own narrative when they write a sequential story of a special event. They will use suggestions and revisions from their peers and teacher to create a final draft of their narrative that will be shared with the class.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this multi-day lesson, students will engage in a variety of literacy activities while reading The Grouchy Ladybug and The Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle. Students will answer text-dependent questions as they describe the characters, setting, and important events in the story. They will complete a story map and story sequence organizer and use them to retell what happened at the beginning, middle, and end of each story. Finally, they will use the two graphic organizers to plan their own narrative about what happens next to one of the characters.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this 5-day lesson, students will engage in a variety of activities using the beloved Dr. Seuss books, Green Eggs and Ham and Wacky Wednesday. Students will explain the roles of the author and illustrator of a story. They will identify rhyming words in the stories and produce additional words that rhyme. Students will answer text-dependent questions to complete a story map and sequencing graphic organizer about each story. Using the graphic organizers, students will retell the stories. Finally, students will choose their favorite Dr. Seuss book and write an opinion statement telling why the book is their favorite.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will learn about camping by reading stories about familiar characters that have gone camping, including Little Critter, Fred and Ted, and Curious George. Students will learn about how to make a camping list and compare and contrast the experiences of the characters in the stories using a Venn Diagram. They will create an opinion explaining what they think are the most important items to take camping.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will sort and classify rocks by observable properties, such as size, shape, color and texture. (The properties of temperature and weight are not addressed in this lesson).

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will serve as researchers of the beloved author, Kevin Henkes. After reading three of Henkes’s most popular books, students will complete a chart of story elements, record their opinion about each book, and create an opinion writing piece to inform others of their favorite Kevin Henkes book and why they like it best.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson uses When a Storm Comes Up by Allan Fowler and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi and Ron Barrett to introduce four major weather patterns (rain showers, blizzards, tornadoes and hurricanes). The students will apply what they have learned to identify, describe, and illustrate the weather patterns using white liquid glue and oil pastels. It is recommended that this lesson be broken into two parts, with at least twelve hours in-between each lesson so the white liquid glue has time to dry.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson has been integrated to cover both math and language concepts. In this lesson, your students will learn new vocabulary in context while identifying story elements, practice counting and sorting colors, as well as enhance their gross motor skills.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will learn about retelling and performing stories from other cultures.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will begin to understand the concept of maps by describing the path that Little Red Riding Hood took on the way to Grandma's house.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students retell a story to reinforce sequencing. This activity focuses on retelling and performing a story that has been formatted from a traditional version to the setting of the Old West.

Type: Lesson Plan

Sharing quality literature provides the teacher with great opportunities for the class to discuss the interactions and feelings of people. It also allows the students to make connections based on their own feelings and experiences.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this resource, students will practice distinguishing between main and secondary characters. Teachers will model using these skills with Sheila Rae, the Brave by Kevin Henkes, and students will conduct guided practice using Jamaica's Find by Juanita Havill. Students will then select a picture book from their class library to draw a picture of the main character doing something from the story, and they will write to explain why this person is the main character. They will also draw a picture of someone who is not the main character. This is the third lesson in a unit about characters. The other lessons are attached as related CPALMS resources.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson students will “read” the wordless book Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie DePaola and complete several activities. Students will create a graph of their favorite breakfast items, discuss the story elements of the text, and help Tomie DePaola out by adding their own words to his story by creating a new class book.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, teachers will use the text Sheila Rae, the Brave by Kevin Henkes to help students practice identifying the actions of a character in a story. After modeling and guided practice activities, students will draw and write about one of Louise's actions in the story. This resource is the second of three lessons in a unit about characters. The other lessons are attached as related CPALMS resources.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this resource, teachers will use the text Lost! by David McPhail to help students practice identifying the physical attributes of a character. After modeling and guided practice activities, students will draw a picture of a character from the book and label the picture with specific physical descriptions. This is the first resource in a unit about character; the other lessons in the unit are attached as related CPALMS resources.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will identify and describe the problem and solution in a story. The featured text is Bringing Down the Moon by Jonathan Emmett. This resource is the 4th lesson in a four-part unit on plot. The other lessons are attached as related CPALMS resources.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the second lesson in a kindergarten unit on plot. Students will identify and describe the problem in a story. The teacher will use My Red Balloon by Eve Bunting in the teacher modeling phase, and Olivia...and the Missing Toy by Ian Falconer in the guided and independent practice activities. Other lessons in this unit have been attached as related CPALMS resources.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson students will identify and describe the solution in a story. The teacher modeling phase uses the story My Red Balloon by Eve Bunting, and the guided and independent practice activities use the story Olivia...and the Missing Toy by Ian Falconer. This lesson is part of a unit on plot; other lessons in the unit have been attached as related CPALMS resources.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson is part of a kindergarten unit on plot. In this lesson, students will listen to the story My Red Balloon by Eve Bunting and then practice retelling the story using important details from the text. Other lessons in this unit are attached as related CPALMS resources.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students learn about the roles of authors and illustrators through read-alouds, charades, and book-writing. Students will have an opportunity to act out the roles of illustrators and authors. They will learn how to describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in a story. Students will also identify the beginning, middle, and end in popular picture books and will write and illustrate a simple narrative with a partner.

Type: Lesson Plan

Identify the elements of storybooks (characters, setting, and events) and poems (lines and rhymes) and recognize their differences with this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Identify and retell the main elements of a story in this interactive tutorial. Join Walter Wolf to find the characters, setting, and major events in his favorite story, The Three Little Pigs, and retell what happened at the beginning, middle, and end of the story.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Identify story elements by answering who, what, where, and when questions in this interactive tutorial. Help Red Riding Hood find her friends Hansel and Gretel by answering questions about the key details in their story.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Join Baby Bear to answer questions about key details in his favorite stories with this interactive tutorial. Learn about characters, setting, and events as you answer who, where, and what questions.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

In this activity, students will sequence events in a story using a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will sequence events in a story.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will describe a character by using a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify similarities and differences between characters and record them on a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify similarities and differences between characters and will record their findings on a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify similarities and differences between stories using a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify story elements in two stories and compare the similarities and differences using a Venn diagram.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will make and check predictions about text.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will describe a character using a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will retell or summarize a story.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will retell or summarize a story.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will retell a story using story question cards.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will retell a story using a question retell wheel.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will sequence events in a story.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify similarities and differences between stories and record them on a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify story elements by sorting them into appropriate categories.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify story elements and record them in a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify story elements and record them on a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify story elements and record them on a graphic organizer. As an extension activity, students will retell the story using the recorded story elements.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify story elements (character, setting, events, problem, solution) and record them in a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will discuss and record the elements of a story using a question cube.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will write the main events of a story in sequential order using a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will sequence events in a story using a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity