Standard 1: Finding Meaning

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

Type: Interactive Research Pages

Learn about the history and importance of Martin Luther King Jr Day with this interactive research page.

Type: Interactive Research Pages

Learn about the history and importance of Patriot Day with this interactive research page.

Type: Interactive Research Pages

Explore the history and importance of Constitution Day with this interactive research page.

Type: Interactive Research Pages

Learn about the history and importance of Celebrate Freedom Week with this interactive research page.

Type: Interactive Research Pages

Discover the history and importance of Veterans Day 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

Learn about the history and importance of Independence Day in the United States of America with this interactive research page.

Type: Interactive Research Pages

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, part of a text unit utilizing David A. Adler’s A Picture Book of Benjamin Franklin, students will be transported back in time by taking a picture walk and creating an environment like Benjamin Franklin’s era. Students will be reminded that Benjamin Franklin is the main topic of the unit, so it is important to understand the time period he lived in. Students will identify differences they see in the pictures as compared to things they see in today’s world. As they notice the differences, the vocabulary from the text will be introduced.

This unit is focused on identifying Benjamin Franklin as the topic of the text. Civics is integrated through understanding that Benjamin Franklin represents the United States. Students will explore life in the 1700’s to gain background knowledge. Teacher will create an ongoing timeline to document the major events in Ben’s life as key details. Students will solve a real world problem through invention, create a newspaper article to spread news, and write both an expository and opinion piece. The assessment for the unit will be a kite that is a graphic organizer for students to identify the topic and relevant details in a text.

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 George Washington by Philip Abraham, pages 1-11. Students will develop their own definition for targeted civics vocabulary words using illustrations and their background knowledge. They will begin to build background knowledge as they continue to discover why George Washington is an individual who represents the United States.

During this unit, students will use the text, George Washington, to explain how George Washington is an individual that represents our country, how he demonstrated patriotism, and a responsible citizenship. Students will engage in a read aloud spread out over several lessons emphasizing vocabulary, text features, and identifying relevant details the central idea of the text, George Washington. In addition, students will write expository texts that explain why George Washington is recognized as a national symbol/individual and opinion texts identifying characteristics of a responsible citizen.

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 #3 in the text unit series for George Washington by Philip Abraham, focusing on pages 6, and 12-18. In this lesson, students will identify common inflections on targeted words that relate to why George Washington is recognized as an individual that represents the United States. Building upon previous lessons, students will use words that contain inflections that change a word from present tense to past tense to further understand why George Washington is a historical figure that represents the United States.

During this unit, students will use the text, George Washington, to explain how George Washington is an individual that represents our country, how he demonstrated patriotism, and a responsible citizenship. Students will engage in a read aloud spread out over several lessons emphasizing vocabulary, text features, and identifying relevant details the central idea of the text, George Washington. In addition, students will write expository texts that explain why George Washington is recognized as a national symbol/individual and opinion texts identifying characteristics of a responsible citizen.

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 #6 in the text unit series for George Washington by Philip Abraham. During a read aloud, the teacher will explain the terms “responsible citizenship” and “patriotism” and how George Washington was an individual that showed both. During the read aloud, students will use a graphic organizer and text features to identify how George Washington demonstrated patriotism, responsible citizenship, or both. Students will use this information to recognize how citizens can show patriotism, and will describe the characteristics of responsible citizenship. Students will use the information from the graphic organizer to share their new understandings with a partner.

During this unit, students will use the text, George Washington, to explain how George Washington is an individual that represents our country, how he demonstrated patriotism, and a responsible citizenship. Students will engage in a read aloud spread out over several lessons emphasizing vocabulary, text features, and identifying relevant details the central idea of the text, George Washington. In addition, students will write expository texts that explain why George Washington is recognized as a national symbol/individual and opinion texts identifying characteristics of a responsible citizen.

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 in the text unit series for George Washington by Philip Abraham. During a read aloud, the teacher will read with students pages 12-22 of the text. With teacher support, students will identify and use picture clues to determine the meaning of unknown vocabulary words and gain knowledge of who George Washington was and how he is an individual that represents our country. With modeling and teacher support, students will complete a vocabulary-based graphic organizer using the visuals in the text to explain the similarities and differences between the vocabulary words and the visuals. Students will use the vocabulary words, picture clues, information provided in the visuals and completed graphic organizer to develop the skills to recognize and explain George Washington as an individual who represents our country.

During this unit, students will use the text, George Washington, to explain how George Washington is an individual that represents our country, how he demonstrated patriotism, and a responsible citizenship. Students will engage in a read aloud spread out over several lessons emphasizing vocabulary, text features, and identifying relevant details the central idea of the text, George Washington. In addition, students will write expository texts that explain why George Washington is recognized as a national symbol/individual and opinion texts identifying characteristics of a responsible citizen.

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 students will connect with Benjamin Franklin using A Picture Book of Benjamin Franklin by David A. Adler for reference. Students will plan, design, and engineer an artifact that will better a task they encounter regularly. Through trial and error and free exploration, students will generate explanations about why their invention did or did not work.

This unit is focused on identifying Benjamin Franklin as the topic of the text. Civics is integrated through understanding that Benjamin Franklin represents the United States. Students will explore life in the 1700’s to gain background knowledge. Teacher will create an ongoing timeline to document the major events in Ben’s life as key details. Students will solve a real world problem through invention, create a newspaper article to spread news, write both an expository and opinion piece. The assessment for the unit will be a kite that is a graphic organizer for students to identify the topic and relevant details in a text.

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 # 3 of the text unit series for I Pledge of Allegiance by Bill Martin Jr. and Michael Sampson. This lesson will continue lesson #2, building students understanding of the vocabulary in the text I Pledge of Allegiance. Students will develop their vocabulary knowledge through reading, writing, and their choice of performance or drawing.

This unit will help students identify or explain rights and responsibilities in their school community, ways to show respect during the Pledge of Allegiance, symbols of the United States, and demonstrate characteristics of responsible decision-making. Students will engage in a read-aloud over several days with lessons emphasizing text features, vocabulary, central idea, and similarities and differences between information provided visually and within the text. In addition, the teacher will facilitate research, students' presentations, and artwork as activities to help students demonstrate their knowledge of respect for the Pledge of Allegiance.

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 in the text unit series I Pledge Allegiance. Students will explore the vocabulary words pledge, allegiance and republic from the Pledge of Allegiance and identify what a pledge is. Students will also be able to explain the similarities and differences of the visuals and text within the book I Pledge Allegiance. Students will identify a positive pledge, or promise, versus a negative pledge, regarding their rights and responsibilities within the classroom community.

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 lesson 3 of this unit, students will dive into reading the text, A Picture Book of Benjamin Franklin by David Adler. Civics will be integrated throughout as students make connections and identify the topic and relevant details of Benjamin Franklin's childhood as well as incorporate multimedia into their written timelines to develop awareness of important life events. This is the third lesson in a unit using the text, A Picture Book of Benjamin Franklin by David Adler.

This unit is focused on identifying Benjamin Franklin as the topic of the text. Civics is integrated through understanding that Benjamin Franklin represents the United States. Students will explore life in the 1700’s to gain background knowledge. Teacher will create an ongoing timeline to document the major events in Ben’s life as key details. Students will solve a real world problem through invention, create a newspaper article to spread news, write both an expository and opinion piece. The assessment for the unit will be a kite that is a graphic organizer for students to identify the topic and relevant details in a text.

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 lesson 6 of this unit, the teacher will continue reading A Picture Book of Benjamin Franklin. Civics will be integrated throughout as students learn about the purpose of rules and laws in school, home, and community. Students will identify relevant details in order to make a connection with Benjamin Franklin, who stood up against a law that he felt was unfair, by writing their own opinion pieces about a fictitious rule.

This unit is focused on identifying Benjamin Franklin as the topic of the text. Civics is integrated through understanding that Benjamin Franklin represents the United States. Students will explore life in the 1700’s to gain background knowledge. Teacher will create an ongoing timeline to document the major events in Ben’s life as key details. Students will solve a real world problem through invention, create a newspaper article to spread news, write both an expository and opinion piece. The assessment for the unit will be a kite that is a graphic organizer for students to identify the topic and relevant details in a text.

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 pre-reading lesson, lesson #1 of the text unit A Picture Book of Benjamin Franklin, students will be introduced to the academic vocabulary word “Timeline” as well as vocabulary words that will be learned throughout the unit. Students' will use background knowledge of our class schedule to build a timeline of our day. Students are connecting the timeline of our day to a timeline of historical events, dating back to the 1700's, that focused on the life of Benjamin Franklin. This will help students understand the concept that Benjamin Franklin, an individual who represents the United States, is a person in history from another time long ago.

This unit is focused on identifying Benjamin Franklin as the topic of the text. Civics is integrated through understanding that Benjamin Franklin represents the United States. Students will explore life in the 1700’s to gain background knowledge. Teacher will create an ongoing timeline to document the major events in Ben’s life as key details. Students will solve a real world problem through invention, create a newspaper article to spread news, write both an expository and opinion piece. The assessment for the unit will be a kite that is a graphic organizer for students to identify the topic and relevant details in a text.

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 the final lesson in the unit. Students will connect with Benjamin Franklin, after reading A Picture Book of Benjamin Franklin by David Adler, as an individual who represents the United States and whose curiosity led to many great explorations and impactful inventions. Students will be designing, exploring and building a kite. Through the process and with trial and error, students will describe the way their object moves and generate explanations about why their kite did or did not fly.

This unit is focused on identifying Benjamin Franklin as the topic of the text. Civics is integrated through understanding that Benjamin Franklin represents the United States. Students will explore life in the 1700’s to gain background knowledge. Teacher will create an ongoing timeline to document the major events in Ben’s life as key details. Students will solve a real world problem through invention, create a newspaper article to spread news, write both an expository and opinion piece. The assessment for the unit will be a kite that is a graphic organizer for students to identify the topic and relevant details in a text.

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

Students will describe the characteristics of responsible or irresponsible citizenship for character in a story. They will then apply this knowledge to various, short story scenarios to identify the character traits of a person showing good citizenship. In small groups students will agree or disagree with their peer’s opinions and will explain their reasoning.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will identify the job and responsibilities of the governor and write a letter to the current Florida governor.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will describe the main character using adjectives, determine if his actions throughout the community are responsible or irresponsible, and generate a list of responsible citizenship traits, in this integrated ELA and Civics lesson plan.

This is part 1 of 3 in a series of lessons based on the book What If Everybody Did That?

Type: Lesson Plan

In this reading lesson, students will fall in love with the engaging book Koala Lou by Mem Fox. Through several readings, the students will increase their comprehension of the text by identifying and describing story elements, learning new vocabulary, and thinking about the moral of the story. Students will use their imagination to rewrite the ending of the story wondering what would have happened if Koala Lou she did win the race.

Type: Lesson Plan

Did you know that chickens are amazing animals? You will after reading the book, From Egg to Chicken by Gerald Legg. Students will identify nonfiction text features, answer text-dependent questions, and sequence the life cycle of a chicken. They will then compose an expository piece of writing about what they've learned in during these reading lessons.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will listen to the poem The Quarrel by Maxine Kumin. They will analyze the story it tells, comparing and contrasting the characters' opinions and recording their findings on graphic organizers. They will write a paragraph retelling the story and explaining the moral or lesson.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, the teacher will guide the students through two readings of Little Bear's Friend. Students will identify new vocabulary words, practice identifying story elements, and analyze characters in the story. For independent practice, students will write a letter responding to the letter written to Emily in the story.

Type: Lesson Plan

Your primary students will love this magical adventure with Possum Magic by Mem Fox. This wonderful Australian folktale shares delicious academic vocabulary that allows students to interact with context clues and discussion questions throughout the story. Students and teachers alike will be charmed by multi-tiered activities and extensions that will keep their interest throughout the entire lesson.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, the teacher will guide the students multiple readings of Mouse Soup by Arnold Lobel. This will be done as a read-aloud. Students will practice identifying story elements and learn new vocabulary words. For independent practice, students will retell this delightful story through writing.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will enjoy listening to Unlovable by Dan Yaccarino and think deeply about the moral of this story. In addition to participating in a story mapping activity, students will answer discussion questions about the story to gauge their comprehension and expand their vocabulary. This set of lessons will be concluded with students writing an opinion piece about Unlovable’s biggest lesson.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson students will use details from the story It's Mine! by Leo Lionni to describe story elements, determine unknown words, and understand the moral or lesson of the text. This will be done with teacher support, in pairs, and by working independently. The lessons will conclude with a piece of opinion writing to show students’ perspective on the text.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, the teacher will read the book Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne. Through separate readings of the book, students will identify new vocabulary and practice identifying story elements. For independent practice, students will retell the story by writing a narrative that offers a new and different solution to the main character's problem.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will be amazed by the book What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. This book will encourage students to ask questions about interesting animals and learn many new facts. For the summative assessment, students will gather additional information about their selected animal and write an expository paper.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this reading lesson, students will analyze two characters from the same book, Toot and Puddle by Holly Hobbie, and identify their similarities and differences. Students will compare themselves to one of the characters and write a paragraph describing their chosen character and how they are similar.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will learn about story elements as they describe the characters, settings, and events from Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin. Students will be dectectives as they use the text to help them learn new vocabulary words and have a chance to get creative as they write a new ending to the original story.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, the teacher and students will read the engaging book First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg. They will identify and describe the story elements in the illustrations and text and analyze the author's use of specific words to suggest the main character's feelings. Students will write an opinion paragraph in response to a prompt about the book using text to support their opinion.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson is designed to teach students about adding description to their writing. They will be exposed to the word adjective as they practice adding descriptive words to enhance nouns in their writing to make it more exciting! Students will play a noun/adjective matching game and also complete descriptive paragraph with partner.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson is designed to introduce students to the concepts of characters, setting and the sequence of events that make a story complete. This lesson allows teachers to choose from three different book suggestions to engage the class in group discussions on how these story elements make the story complete. Students will have time to work with a shoulder partner to discuss the characters, the setting of the story and the sequence of events in a story. Students are given time to work with these concepts independently to further grasp their own understanding and practice using the concepts in an oral presentation.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson students will participate in reading the books,  A Mink, a Fink, A Skating Rink, To Root, to Toot, to Parachute, and Hairy, Scary, Ordinary and complete a variety of related activities that allow them to learn about and practice their knowledge of nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Students will contribute to a class generated grammar chart and complete a grammar sort. Students will also publish their own sentence which will include a noun, verb, and adjective, as well as an illustration to provide detail.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will have read chapter 1 of The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen. Throughout the reading of chapters 2-4, students will analyze why and how the setting supports characterization and plot development.

Type: Lesson Plan

Help Owen sort through photographs of gopher tortoises to decide which ones will help readers better understand his writing with this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Work with Cam and Cal at their construction company building and decoding vowel -y nouns and verbs with the inflectional endings of -s, in this interactive tutorial.

This is part 4 in a four-part series. Click below to explore other tutorials in this series.

• Part 1: Building Plural Nouns with -s and -es
• Part 2: Adding –s and –es to Verbs
• Part 3: Adding -es to Consonant –y Words
• Part 4: Adding -s to Vowel –y Nouns and Verbs

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Help Cam and Cal build words with the inflectional ending of -es to nouns and verbs that end in consonant -y, in this interactive tutorial.

This is part 3 in a four-part series. Click below to open the other tutorials in this series.

• Part 1: Building Plural Nouns with -s and -es
• Part 2: Adding –s and –es to Verbs
• Part 3: Adding -es to Consonant –y words
• Part 4: Adding -s to vowel –y nouns and verbs

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Help Cam and Cal learn about adding the inflectional endings of -s and -es at their construction site with this interactve tutorial.

This is part 2 in a four-part series. Click below to open the other tutorials in this series.

• Part 1: Building Plural Nouns with -s and -es
• Part 2: Adding –s and –es to Verbs
• Part 3: Adding -es to Consonant –y words
• Part 4: Adding -s to vowel –y nouns and verbs

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Come along with Cam and Cal as they build and decode words with the endings of "s" and "es" to nouns in this interactive tutorial.

This is part 1 in a four-part series. Click below to explore other tutorials in this series.

• Part 1: Building Plural Nouns with -s and -es
• Part 2: Adding –s and –es to Verbs
• Part 3: Adding -es to Consonant –y Words
• Part 4: Adding -s to Vowel –y Nouns and Verbs

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Explore the small differences in the meanings of synonyms in this interactive tutorial. Join Gemma as she compares, orders, and chooses synonyms based on their shades of meaning.

This is part 4 of a 4-part series. Click below to view parts 1, 2, and 3:

• Searching for Similarities - Part 1: Adjectives and Synonyms
• Searching for Similarities - Part 2: Verbs and Synonyms
• Searching for Similarities - Part 3: Synonyms and Context Clues

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Determine the meaning of unknown words using context clues in this interactive tutorial. Join Gemma as she uses synonyms as clues to figure out what words mean in the observations of her family.

This is part 3 of a 4-part series. Click below to view parts 1, 2, or 4:

• Searching for Similarities - Part 1: Adjectives and Synonyms
• Searching for Similarities - Part 2: Verbs and Synonyms
• Searching for Similarities - Part 4: Synonyms and Shades of Meaning 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Identify verbs and synonyms in this interactive tutorial. Join Gemma as she observes similarities and records her observations using action words with similar meanings.

This is part 2 of a 4-part series. Click below to view parts 1, 3, or 4:

Searching for Similarities - Part 1: Adjectives and Synonyms

Searching for Similarities - Part 3: Synonyms and Context Clues

Searching for Similarities - Part 4: Synonyms and Shades of Meaning

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Identify adjectives and synonyms in this interactive tutorial. Join Gemma as she observes similarities and records her observations using describing words that have similar meanings.

This is part 1 of a 4-part series. Click below to view part 2, 3, or 4:

Searching for Similarities - Part 2: Verbs and Synonyms

Searching for Similarities - Part 3: Synonyms and Context Clues

Searching for Similarities - Part 4: Synonyms and Shades of Meaning

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Determine the meaning of unknown words using context clues in this interactive tutorial. Join Jake as he uses antonyms as clues to figure out what words mean in the observations of his family.

This is part 3 of a 3-part series. Click below to view parts 1 and 2:

Observing Opposites - Part 1: Adjectives and Antonyms

Observing Opposites - Part 2: Verbs and Antonyms

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Identify verbs and antonyms in this interactive tutorial. Join Jake as he observes opposites and records his observations using action words with opposite meanings.

This is part 2 of a 3-part series. Click below to view parts 1 and 3:

Observing Opposites - Part 1: Adjectives and Antonyms

Observing Opposites - Part 3: Antonyms and Context Clues

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Identify adjectives and antonyms in this interactive tutorial. Join Jake as he observes opposites and records his observations using describing words that have opposite meanings.

This is part 1 of a 3-part series. Click below to view parts 2 and 3:

Observing Opposites - Part 2: Verbs and Antonyms

Observing Opposites - Part 3: Antonyms and Context Clues

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Help Pat the Penguin use context clues to find the meanings of unknown words and phrases in this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

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

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 identify the multiple meanings of words.

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 complete a sentence using descriptive words (adjectives).

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will match and correctly use homophones while playing a game.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will match synonyms.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will match words to contractions on a game board.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will match words to corresponding meanings (symbols, contractions, abbreviations) while playing a memory game. As an extension, students can sort matched words into categories.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will segment words by isolating the base words and affixes.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will make words using base words, prefixes, and suffixes (including inflectional endings).

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will make words by combining base words and inflections while playing a bean bag game.

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