Standard #: LAFS.4.RL.1.1 (Archived Standard)

This lesson helps students understand how increasing what they know about disabilities can improve their attitudes and relationships with other students. Jackson Whole Wyoming tells the story of how Tyler explores his own feelings about students who are different and the real meaning of friendship with a boy named Jackson, who has Asperger syndrome. This lesson addresses the following language arts skills: referring to details and examples in text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when making inferences; describing in depth a character, setting, or event in a story, drawing on details from the text; and writing opinion pieces in response to a text-based question, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

This is a close reading lesson on Chapter 1 of Phineas L. MacGuire Gets Slimed by Frances O'Roark Dowell. It includes graphic organizers, a writing prompt, and a rubric. Students will use context clues to discover the meaning of unknown words, answer text-dependent questions, complete a character analysis, and write an opinion piece.

After reading a book about a boy who claims to catch one million fish, students will work to help Wagon Willy of Wagon Wonders to design a custom wagon big enough to haul the boy's fish. He will also seek their input on the best building material for the wagon based on students' analysis of data about wood. After students collaborate to solve the problem, they will be presented with a twist. Wagon Willy will need the students to convert their measurements from feet to inches and reconsider which wood to recommend based on the introduction of new criteria plus another available wood type.

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.

This close reading lesson will take students on a journey through a brief historical fiction account of the Holocaust, Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. In the targeted passage the students will determine if and how the setting changes. The students will have opportunities to respond to and discuss several thought-provoking, open-ended questions about the setting. The students will also be given the opportunity to reflect and discuss ideas about the events of the historical account.

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.

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.

In this lesson, students will number the important events of a story in chronological order and answer exception questions about the passage. Reading passages and student worksheets are provided with the lesson.

This is the second lesson of a two-part unit on voice. Students will compare and contrast words and phrases in poems with different voices using The Random House Book of Poetry for Children by Jack Prelutsky. The first lesson in the unit has been attached as a related resource.

In this lesson, students will identify and describe first person point of view, as well as third person limited, objective, and omniscient points of view. Several student and teacher handouts are provided with the lesson.

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.

In this lesson, students will read an excertpt from Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis to analyze story elements and examine characters' actions and motivations.

This lesson will provide an in-depth look at the folk tale, "The Sly Fox and The Little Red Hen." By the completion of the lesson, students will have described the different character perspectives. They will also have written a new version of the folk tale based on the things they learned about the characters and that puts a twist on the original version.

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.

Fifth grade students will be challenged to become super sleuths, or investigators, to describe plot development in depth, with a focus on characters in terms of stated and implied character traits. They will use "investigative strategies" to explore characterization and the setting, events, and conflict of the story to explain how each contributes to its plot. They will do this exploration first as a group and then independently.

Students will use a graphic organizer to practice the skill of making inferences with the help of a picture book by Chris Van Allsburg. They will then continue to practice the skill with a making inferences worksheet.

This is the first lesson in a two-part unit on voice. The lesson features the text Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes. In the guided practice activity, students will read "Aunt Sue's Stories" and identify the author's voice using words and phrases from the poem. In the independent practice activity, students are told the author's voice in the poem "Youth" is one of hope, and students are asked to find evidence from the text to support the author's voice of hope.

This is the third and final lesson in a fourth grade unit on plot. Students will make a prediction about the resolution of a problem using the falling actions. The teacher modeling and guided practice phases use the story Lily and the Wooden Bowl by Alan Schroeder. Teachers can select a text of their own for students to independently practice with. The other lessons in this unit have been attached as related resources.

This is the second lesson in a fourth grade unit on plot. Students will make a prediction about the climax of a plot using the rising actions. The teacher modeling and guided practice phases feature the story Lily and the Wooden Bowl by Alan Schroeder. In the independent practice, students will read the passage "Hide and Seek," which is provided with the resource, and make a prediction about the climax of the plot using the rising actions. The other lessons in the unit have been attached as related CPALMS resources.

In this lesson, students will work with the teacher to identify cause and effect relationships in the text Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears: A West African Tale retold by Verna Aardema. Students will then independently identify cause and effect relationships in a myth called "Why the Cat Purrs" and write a paragraph response using evidence from the text. The passage for students to practice with is provided with the lesson.

In this resource, students will identify and describe evidence in a text showing that it is historical fiction. In guided and independent practice activities students will use the text Meet Addy: An American Girl, by Connie Porter.

In this activity, students will use multiple reading strategies to answer questions and comprehend text.

In this lesson, students will use a comic-strip format for pre-writing to reinforce plot structure and create their own personal narratives. Students will learn to differentiate between random or background events and events that are significant to the plot of the story. Handouts and a virtual manipulative are included in this lesson.

Because so many stories contain lessons that the main character learns and grows from, it is important for students to not only recognize these transformations but also understand how the story's events affected the characters. This lesson uses a think-aloud procedure to model how to infer character traits and recognize a character's growth across a text. Students also consider the underlying reasons of why the character changed, supporting their ideas and inferences with evidence from the text.