| Name |
Description |
| Home is Where the Heart Is: Researching Habitats | In this lesson, students will learn about different types of habitats as they gather information based on research questions. Students will summarize the information from their research in an expository paragraph and create a diorama to present their habitat to their peers. |
| Throw Your Tooth on the Roof: Tooth Traditions from Around the World | This story is an informational text that is sure to get the attention of any second grader. The author takes the reader around the world to examine different traditions children have when they lose a tooth. A series discussion questions are provided along with practice on text features and author's purpose. Also included is a culminating writing task along with a rubric for scoring. |
| Digging for Differences | In this lesson, students will use the book Stellaluna, along with informational text, to create a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting bats and birds. They will then compare and contrast two other similar animals using the text A Whale Is Not a Fish and Other Animal Mix-ups, completing a Venn diagram and writing an expository paragraph that describes the similarities and differences between the two animals. |
| Ace High Flying Writers! | In this lesson, students will work with teacher and peer support on an informational text about whales to study the text features and determine the central idea. Students will use information from the text to complete a brainstorming organizer to prepare to write an expository paragraph. In the end, through this scaffolded practice, students will become Ace High Flying Writers! |
| Bloom Where You're Planted! | Students will learn all about the life cycle of plants. They will work in a whole group setting while completing a K-W-L graphic organizer with the teacher and building meaning for vocabulary words relevant to the understanding of the text. They will have an opportunity to work in small groups and share the information they have learned by writing an expository paragraph. |
| Ant Text Features and Writing Picnic | In this lesson, students will learn all about ants by reading National Geographic Kids: Ants. They will investigate the use of various text features in the book and describe how they help readers to understand a text. Students will use their new knowledge to compose an expository paragraph explaining how ants live and work together in their colony. |
| Exploring the World: A Habitat Study | Students will participate in a research study of our world’s habitats using texts and sources from the internet. Students will demonstrate their new learning by writing an expository paragraph, completing a checklist about their writing, and sharing a favorite fact about their habitat with the class. |
| How Does Your Garden Grow? | Within this MEA, the main problem the students will solve is to determine which brand of soil the client will use in their new garden center. The student teams will take on the role of an Agricultural Review Board that is composed of top scientists who will help organizations and companies review information related to plant life. The MEA will explore students reviewing different brands of soil that have been submitted by the Franklin Farming Agency that plans to develop community garden centers within the state of Florida. The students will need to examine the data submitted by the agency and respond in a letter as to what brand of soil they think is best. The students will consider price, composition, and consumer commentary to determine a ranking system. The students may need to reconsider their thought process if they encounter a conflict with any of the data points submitted by the agency. 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. |
| Jack's Magic Beans | Jack traded the family cow for some magic beans. The woman traded Jack the beans, said that if he planted the beans in the best soil, something magical would happen. Students will examine the properties of different types of soils to recommend the best soil for Jack to use to plant his beans. They will ask and answer questions about informational text on soils from various websites.They will create a procedure for ranking soils and will present their recommendations to the class. 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. |
| Help Ms. Betty! | This Model Eliciting Activity is written at a second-grade level. In teams, students will make decisions about how to select the best cookie shop to help Ms. Betty with the purchasing of chocolate chip cookies while still being cost effective for her school. 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. |
| Yummy Tummy Baby Food Company | This Model Eliciting Activity is written at a second-grade level. In teams, students will make decisions about how to select the best baby food based on several characteristics. They will need to calculate the cost to produce two types of baby food. 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. |
| Compare/Contrast Life Cycle Texts | Students will learn to compare and contrast texts about life cycles using a Venn diagram. Then, using the Venn diagram, students will write an expository paragraph including an introductory sentence, comparing/contrasting sentences, and a concluding sentence. |
| Video Game City | This Model Eliciting Activity (MEA) is written at a 2nd grade level. In this MEA students need to help the owner of Video Game City help his customers decide which gaming system best meets their needs. Students can consider the cost of each gaming system in their rankings. In part 2, students will need to add the cost of each gaming system and accessory. 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. |
| Cheesy Pizza Delivery: I Need a New Car | The Cheesy Pizza Delivery MEA gives students the opportunity to work in collaborative groups to solve the problem of buying new delivery cars. It also touches upon the topic of Hybrid vehicles. 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. |
| Holey Rusted Metal! | Students will conduct a guided inquiry lab involving the chemical change that creates rust. This lab is meant to be set up in one day and then observed over the course of 3 weeks. |
| A Past Hero: Reading and Writing about Martin Luther King, Jr. | This lesson uses nonfiction texts about Martin Luther King, Jr. to give students the opportunity to understand his life and why we still honor him today. Students will create a graphic organizer that uses adjectives to describe Martin Luther King, Jr. and use the information gained from reading the texts to support their descriptions. For their final assessment, students will write an opinion piece describing Martin Luther King, Jr. providing examples from his life that fit those adjectives. |
| The Body is Your Universe | In this lesson, students will work in groups of two or three to read an article about one of the major human body parts. They will create a list of facts related to their body part and turn them into questions.
The students will be reading online articles from kidshealth.org. These articles can be read online or printed. Each article describes the major purpose for each body part, how it relates to other systems in the body, and fun facts. Videos are also included.
Each group will present their facts and questions generated with the entire class. The teacher will create an anchor chart for each major body part and post them in the classroom.
Each student will use the key details generated during their group work to assist them in writing a paragraph about their body part. A diagram will be completed to go along with their paper. The questions generated by each group will be compiled into a final assessment for the class. |
| Cookie Cravings: How to Read and Understand a Recipe | This lesson begins with a read aloud of The Gingerbread Man by Eric Kimmel. After that, students will learn how to read a gingerbread recipe. They will discuss author's purpose and the genre of the writing. Students will bake their own gingerbread cookies following the recipe. While the cookies are baking, they will be assessed on their ability to read and comprehend a recipe by doing a "cold read" of a different recipe and answering comprehension questions. |
| Becoming a Butterfly: Writing about the Life Cycle of a Butterfly | In this lesson students will read the informational text The Life Cycle of a Butterfly by Lisa Trumbauer. Students will use elements of nonfiction, such as photographs and diagrams, to aid in their understanding of the text. They will create a graphic organizer and use it to produce an expository piece of writing that explains the stages of a butterfly life cycle. |
| What's The Weather? | This is an introductory lesson to teaching the students how to ask questions about the key details of a story. |
| A Tree's Life: Researching and Writing with Informational Texts | In this lesson, students will create questions to be answered through researching nonfiction texts. Students will then write an expository paragraph to share their research findings with the class to create a book all about trees. |
| A Writing Activity- Learning about Penguins | Let's learn about penguins! Students will explore text features and the author's purpose for writing National Geographic Kids: Penguins. Using new knowledge, students will write an expository paragraph on penguins, including what they look like, what they eat, and where they live. |
| Ants in Your Pants! - Part 1 | This is the first lesson in a series about ants. In this lesson, students will create a KWL chart. New learning will occur as the students read an informational text about ants and talk about how text features help readers while they highlight important details. Students will complete an exit ticket to show their knowledge at the end of this lesson. |
| Ants in Your Pants! - Part 2 | In this lesson, students will learn how to find the central idea of the passage, Ants in Action. Students will also discuss what makes a fluent reader and participate in paired reading with a partner. |
| Ants in your Pants! - Part 3 | Now that your students have become interested in this amazing animal, it is time to learn more by starting a research project. Students will use multiple sources and a graphic organizer to record new facts about ants in preparation to complete an expository writing piece in the next lesson. |
| Clouds, Rain, and Fog: A Closer Look | Teach a repertoire of comprehension strategies to successfully process informational text for content knowledge. The students will be able to describe what clouds, rain, and fog are and how they are made. |
| Footsteps that Changed Society | Students will learn various contributions made by famous African Americans throughout history. They will answer questions about informational text while identifying the central idea and relevant details in the text. They will then write about two famous African Americans and the contributions they made, using information from the text. |
