Standard 1: Finding Meaning

Learn about the history and importance of American Founders Month with this interactive research page.

Type: Interactive Research Pages

Explore the history and meaning of Memorial Day with this interactive research page.

Type: Interactive Research Pages

This is lesson # 3 in the text unit series for The Flag We Love. This lesson will be the first read through of the text after a picture walk has been done. After a whole group reading of the text, instruction will focus on text vocabulary. Students will identify one word that answers the question “Why is the American Flag important?” and create a drawing to demonstrate understanding.

This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is lesson # 2 of 6 in the text unit series for The Flag We Love. Students will engage in whole group and partner discussions about illustrations #8-15 in the picture book The Flag We Love. Students will make predictions about the text. The teacher will guide students through illustrations 8-15 in The Flag We Love, strategically guiding student discussions to targeted civics vocabulary words. The students will indicate what they learned by adding to the class graphic organizer.

This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is lesson # 1 in the text unit series for The Flag We Love. Students will activate background knowledge about the American flag and add it to a class graphic organizer. Students will also generate questions, both independently and with a partner, about the American flag. Those responses will also be recorded on the graphic organizer. The teacher will introduce the book The Flag We Love. The class will complete a picture walk of the first seven illustrations with the teacher strategically bringing in targeted vocabulary words for the unit during the discussions. Students will share new learning or new questions after the picture walk. The teacher will also record that information on the graphic organizer.

This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will analyze and discuss the U.S. flag, the FL state flag, and the importance to use what they learn to create a flag that is a representation of the class.

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 these lessons, students will learn how to identify nouns and verbs using the story Nouns and Verbs Have a Field Day by Robin Pulver and participate in several structured and independent activities.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will begin by discussing the difference between letters, words, and sentences followed by a reading of The Alphabet Tree by Leo Lionni. After partaking in a fun sentence strip activity, students will be asked to practice their star writing skills by writing a sentence about a time that they were happy.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will use the beautiful text Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger to explore how an author uses color words and illustrations to describe various real-world objects. They will identify and explain how the descriptive words provide meaning and how the illustrations support the text. Students will brainstorm real-life objects that can be described and classified using color words and write an expository piece to describe those objects.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the first lesson in a kindergarten unit on classification and categorization. The lesson uses the informational text My Big Animal Book by Roger Priddy. In the guided practice activity, students will look at pictures in the book and pay attention to which animals fit into certain groups. In the independent practice activity, students will draw and label four pictures of animals from the book that would fit into the category, "Animals with Four Legs."

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson is the third lesson in a kindergarten unit on classifying and categorizing. The teacher modeling section utilizes the informational text My Big Truck Book by Roger Priddy. In the independent practice activity, students will cut out pictures of trucks and sort them into categories of their choice.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the second lesson in a kindergarten unit on classification and categorization. The lesson uses the informational text My Big World Book by Roger Priddy. Students will practice sorting pictures from the book into categories. An independent practice activity is included with an accompanying worksheet.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will move like their favorite animal and identify what the movement is called reviewing verbs. Then they will create a chart about ways that animals move and interact with a read aloud as they search for more movement ideas. Students will end the lesson by completing an opinion sentence about their favorite animal movement and why it is their favorite.

Type: Lesson Plan

Learn strategies for understanding new words in this interactive tutorial. Join Handy Hal and learn how to use picture clues, context clues, and word parts to help you determine the meaning of an unknown word.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Sort and describe words based on categories and key attributes in this interactive tutorial. Visit a circus, zoo, and fire station as you learn to describe and group people, animals, and objects.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

In this activity, students will choose words to complete sentences.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will exchange antonyms for the underlined word in sentences.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify the features that distinguish one word from another by completing a semantic feature analysis grid.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify connections between words and record their shared attribute/category.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will brainstorm words related to a topic and use books and/or reference materials to answer questions about unknown words on a semantic map.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will describe a vocabulary word using a four square map.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will sort verbs related to a picture.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will use adjectives to describe and identify objects.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will match synonyms.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify and sort words by categories.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will sort words by categories.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will compare and contrast words using a Venn diagram.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will sort transportation words into categories (air, land, water).

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will determine the meaning of words of interest in text.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will write simple definitions, sentences, and synonyms of targeted words found in content-area text.

Type: Student Center Activity