Cluster 1: Key Ideas and DetailsArchived

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

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 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

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will explain how the setting impacts the plot of a story. The teacher modeling and guided practice phases feature the story The Three Brothers: A German Folktale by Carolyn Croll. In the independent practice, students will read the passage "A New Home," which is provided with the lesson, and identify the setting and explain how the details of the time and place affect the plot. This lesson is part one of a two part unit on setting; the other lesson has been attached as a related resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the second of two lessons in a unit on setting. The lesson features "Forest Ghosts" from Even More Short and Shivery retold by Robert D. San Souci to make predictions about characters. The first lesson in the unit has been attached as a related resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the first of three lessons in a fourth grade unit on plot. Students will identify and describe the climax in a story. They will also examine elements of plot including rising actions, the problem, falling actions, and the resolution. The texts Stone Soup by Jon J. Muth and Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson are used in this lesson. In the independent practice, students get to choose a story of their own. The other lessons in the unit have been attached as related resources.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will learn to determine the universal theme of a story. They will first identify the problem and solution of a story and use that information to determine the theme or author's message, and from there, they will determine the universal theme. Finally, they will compare and contrast the text with another story with a similar theme. This lesson uses the texts Indian Children's Favorite Stories retold by Rosemarie Somaiah and Filipino Children's Favorite Stories retold by Liana Romulo.

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 work with their teacher and classmates to practice a close reading of the book Bud,Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. All of the supplemental resources needed in order to execute this lesson are included. Students will encounter multiple reading opportunities and be asked to analyze text, identify story elements, examine characters' actions and motivations, and finally, make inferences after closely reading the text.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

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

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, the students delve into the world of understanding characters and how to develop them in their narrative writing. Students will develop a deeper understanding of characters as the class reviews character traits as well as the development of the main character throughout the story. In the final assessment, students will develop their own characters from picture form to written form to build understanding and deeper meaning of characters. Students will create a storyboard that allows for five to six pictures of a main character with an accompanying storyline that is organized with a clear beginning, middle, and end. They will additionally use digital writing tools to plan a narrative piece.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson is focused on the text Kidnapped in Key West. It integrates Florida history into this historical fiction piece that is rich with complex characters, events and mystery that will captivate every reader. The opportunities for in-depth inquiry both through conversation and writing are limitless. Through writing the students will develop and enhance their writing and language skills.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson will help students review the story elements of fairy tales, using the original version of Cinderella. In subsequent lessons they will be using this information to compare and contrast different multicultural versions of Cinderella.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will identify multiple causes and effects in a work of historical fiction. The lesson features the text Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will go on adventures with the MacIvey family as they work cooperatively to summarize a text.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the third of three lessons in a fourth grade unit on characters. Students will identify and describe how the relationship between the protagonist and antagonist affects the plot. The teacher modeling and guided practice uses the story Hansel and Gretel retold by Rika Lesser. The other lessons in this unit are attached as related CPALMS resources.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the second lesson in a fourth grade unit on characters. Students will identify and describe the antagonist in a story using text evidence. The lesson uses Hansel and Gretel retold by Rika Lesser in the teacher modeling and guided practice. The other lessons in this unit have been attached as related CPALMS resources.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the first lesson in a fourth grade unit on characters. Students will identify and describe the protagonist in a story using text evidence. The lesson uses Hansel and Gretel retold by Rika Lesser in the teacher modeling and guided practice. The other lessons in this unit have been attached as related CPALMS resources.

Type: Lesson Plan

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

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will summarize text using a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify similarities and differences between characters. As an extension activity, students will compare the perspectives of two characters. Graphic organizers are provided for character analysis and comparisons.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will describe characters using a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify similarities and differences between characters' traits (as determined by actions, thoughts, and feelings).

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will retell or summarize a story.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will identify and sort story elements (character, setting, problem, solution, theme, plot). They will then compare and contrast the elements of different stories.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will answer questions related to story elements (characters, setting, plot, theme) and record their answers on a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will summarize text (narrative and expository) using a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will summarize narrative text using a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will sequence events in a story using a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

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.

Type: Teaching Idea

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.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence