Standard 3: Following Conventions

In lesson 3 of the integrated civics unit on the book Florida by Tamra Orr students will learn the key vocabulary terms public service and volunteerism. Students will use central idea and relevant details from the text to complete a graphic organizer with features of Florida, related needs & problems, related public service roles, and volunteer opportunities.

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 are asked to evaluate several space suit designs and select the best design based on given data. Students work in collaborative groups to develop a procedure for selecting the best design and share their ideas with the rest of the class. A twist is introduced and the groups are challenged to test the validity of their procedure.

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

This lesson uses the text, The Well written by Mildred Taylor. In this reading lesson, students will analyze the story elements as textual evidence to support the text’s theme. This lesson is to be used before a complete read of the text.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this partial reading of Kate DiCamillo's story The Tale of Despereaux students will meet a variety of charming, and not so charming, characters. Students will identify figurative language within the text and explain how it contributes to understanding the characters. At the end of the lesson, students will make a claim about one of the characters and support their claim using text evidence.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze and discuss the characteristics and story lines of two different fables, "The Owl and The Grasshopper" and "The Town Mouse and The Country Mouse," and then write a fable of their own.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson on Aesop's Fable "The Lost Wig" will provide students the opportunity to share and discuss their ideas of the fable’s theme. Students will work together in cooperative pairs to determine the theme "The Lost Wig." They will also have the opportunity to add on to the ending of "The Lost Wig" to enhance the theme.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will have an opportunity to learn about transition words. They willpractice editing sentences to include transitions and use these transition words in a writing activity.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson students will practice creating a variety of introductions for narrative writing using fairy tales as the springboard.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will take notes about the Everglades using a variety of resources. Students will identify appropriate text features that can be used to convey information. As a final product, students will practice their expository writing by creating an informational brochure about the Everglades that uses the description text structure and multiple text features.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this beginning lesson on using transitional word and phrases, students will explore the use of varied transitions in a published book and then include varied transitions within their own short narrative writing piece.

Type: Lesson Plan

During the lesson, students will listen to the story, The Frog Prince, in order to write an argumentative essay using the theme of the story. The students are set to the task of writing an argumentative essay as well as practicing the skills of peer editing. The students will have an opportunity to share their argumentative writings with classmates.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will briefly discuss background knowledge of the Berlin Airlift following World War II and then read Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot by Patricia A. Pierce. Students will then create a narrative story in which they describe an act of kindness. Students will utilize an editing checklist for giving and receiving peer feedback.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will read an informational text, will identify the central idea and relevant details, and record their findings on a graphic organizer. They will use the informational text and their graphic organizer to create a summary based on the text. The students will also answer questions based on the text. As a summative assessment for the lesson, the students will repeat this activity using a different informational text and will conduct the work alone, rather than in a group.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson presents students with three types of text structures (description, sequence, and problem/solution). Students are able to identify clue words that categorize each text structure and create their own graphic organizers and pieces of writing for each text structure.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will be able to identify similes and metaphors within a piece of literature. Students will be able to determine the meaning of the simile or metaphor and explain how it contributes to the text. The students will be able to then use their understanding of similes and metaphors to apply them to their own narrative writing.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will listen to and read literature where figurative language (specifically idioms) are used to convey meaning and enhance the writing. Students will have opportunities to explore and discuss idioms, in addition to applying their understanding of idioms by incorporating idioms in their own writing. Students will work in groups, individually, and with direct instruction from the teacher to gain a better understanding of idioms and how they are used in literature.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will use ears of corn to write a descriptive paragraph using adjectives to improve their writing.

Type: Lesson Plan

For this lesson, students will be able to improve their writing skills by generating ideas through brainstorming and group discussion, particularly as it relates to using more descriptive details.

Type: Lesson Plan

Ivonne Blank immigrated to the United States in 1961 as part of Operation Pedro Pan, the largest exodus on unaccompanied minors in the Western Hemisphere. Ms. Blank talks about how difficult it was waiting for her parents and living in an orphanage in Denver, CO. Her parents later left the island by boat, were rescued by the Coast Guard, and resettled in the United States. After the family was reunited, they were able to rebuild their lives with support from their community. Ms. Blank went on to become a lifelong educator and U.S. citizen.

Type: Video/Audio/Animation