Category Archives: English/ Language Arts

All About Sheep

📖Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.1
Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

📃Summary

This English language arts and agriculture lesson consists of two short activities that teach students in Grades 3-4 about sheep using an online ebook and flashcards about domestic sheep. The lesson ends with a formative assessment writing activity consisting of either an informational writing prompt or an opinion one.

⏰Time Required

30 minutes

📲Technology Required

Access to computer or tablet for remote learning. Printing out cards for your students is best for this lesson.

📚Lesson

Activity 1: Use flash cards to learn vocabulary

The sheep flash cards below can be used to pre-teach the vocabulary found in the All About Sheep book for 8-10 minutes.

Download ready-to-print flash cards

Activity 2

Click the link to access the ebook on Book Creator: All About Sheep.
Students may read the book on their own or alternatively, listen to it.
This can take 5-10 minutes.

Assessment

Have students complete a writing prompt about what they learned after reading All About Sheep. This can take about 10-15 minutes. You can choose from the following writing activities.

Opinion Writing Prompts

My favorite part of being a shepherd would be…
If I had wool, I would make…
If I could feed a sheep a snack, I would feed it…

2. Informational Writing Prompts

Reflect: Why are sheep important to us? What resources do they give us?
Reflect: Why do sheep need a shepherd?
Synthesize (Going beyond the text.): Why might it be important to put colorful markings on a ewe and her lamb?

3. Book Review

Write a book review about All About Sheep. Have students tell other young readers what the book was about. Have students include their own evaluation or interpretation about All About Sheep.

Figurative language & poetry

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📖Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2
Determine a theme of a poem from details in the text; summarize the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.5.A
Interpret figurative language, including similes and metaphors, in context.

⏰Time

Estimated time: 30- 45 minutes

📲Technology Required

A device with a web-browser – PC, Mac or Chromebook – or phone or tablet. Google classroom or similar app will be needed if the teacher wishes to share slides and assignment online.

📃Summary

This is the eighth in a 10-unit English/ Language Arts unit centered around a visit to their grandmother that integrates English/ Language Arts and indigenous history. Teacher gives a brief presentation on rhyme schemes and figurative language. Students read a poem and complete a short quiz. Students then play Making Camp Premium to learn more about idioms.

📚Lesson Plan

Introduce the lesson

Using this Google slides presentation, the teacher discusses figurative language, figures of speech, metaphors, similes and idioms.

Read about rhyming schemes

Students can follow this link to the poetry4kids page on rhyming schemes.

or you can download the page here to print out in class or attach to an assignment in Google classroom.

We recommend reading at least the first part aloud to students to help them understand the sound of different rhyming schemes. Students can then complete the second part of this assignment individually or as a class, with students voting by raising their hands or posting in the chat their answer for the rhyming scheme of each poem.

Complete assignment analyzing a poem

Students will read the poem, Friends, and complete a short quiz. The poem and quiz can be found here.

The answer key for the quiz, along with the poem, can be found here.

Review Idioms in Making Camp Premium

Students should go to the Making Camp Premium game, playable online, or offline on a phone or tablet. They should select WORDS from the choice screen and the the two icons that show a watched pot that is not boiling and the price tag of an arm and a leg.

Related Lesson

This lesson is part of a unit centered around a visit to Grandma’s house. The previous lesson in this unit is Author’s Purpose.

Introducing Idioms – This lesson plan is not part of the unit, but related to the content taught above. It helps students recognize and understand idioms and what they are through different examples.

ASSESSMENT

This lesson plan includes three formative assessments. First, the students answer questions on rhyming scheme, either individually or as a group. Second, students answer the quiz on the poem, Friends. Third, students complete activities in Making Camp Premium which are recorded and scored automatically.

Author’s Purpose: ELA Lesson 7

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📖Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.3
Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.4
Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.

⏰Time

Estimated time: 30- 45 minutes

📲Technology Required

A device with a web-browser – PC, Mac or Chromebook – or phone or tablet. Google classroom or similar app will be needed if the teacher wishes to share slides and assignment online.

📃Summary

This is the seventh in a 10-unit English/ Language Arts unit centered around a visit to their grandmother that integrates English/ Language Arts and indigenous history. Teacher gives a brief presentation on author’s purpose and explains the assignment to match terms and examples with the correct purpose. Students apply this information by playing Making Camp Premium and identifying the purpose of the game as a while and/or individual components.

📚Lesson Plan

Introduce the lesson

Using this Google slides presentation, the teacher explains the three types of common author purposes.

Complete assignment matching author purpose

Students then complete a two-part assignment where they match the correct author purpose with its definition and with examples of specific types of writing.

The answer key for the author purpose assignment can be found here.

Play game and answer question on purpose

Students learned in the presentation that other media, like games and videos, can have a purpose, too. They play the game Making Camp Premium for 10-15 minutes and then answer the question on what is the game’s purpose.

(Answer: Our purpose in creating Making Camp Premium was both to inform and to entertain.)

Teachers may wish to submit a different game or video for this activity to fit with their curriculum.

Related lessons

The previous lesson in this unit is Venn diagrams.

The next lesson in this unit is Figurative Language.

Assessment

Student assignment matching author purpose can be used for assessment of this standard

State Standards

Missouri Learning Standards (MLS)

Reading 1C (5.R.1.C.a-b) – Develop and apply skills to the reading process.

Making Connections – Compare, contrast, and analyze relevant connections between text to text.

Reading 2A (5.R.2.A.)

Fiction – Develop and apply skills and strategies to comprehend, analyze, and evaluate fiction, poetry, and drama from a variety of cultures and times.

Reading 3B (5.R.3.B.)

Literary Techniques – Develop and apply skills and strategies to comprehend, analyze, and evaluate nonfiction from a variety of cultures and times.

Venn Diagram: ELA Lesson 6

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📖Standard

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.3 Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.

⏰LESSON TIME

45 minutes including game play

📲TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED

A device with a web-browser – PC, Mac or Chromebook – or phone or tablet.

📃Summary

This is the sixth in a 10-unit English/ Language Arts unit centered around a visit to their grandmother that integrates English/ Language Arts and indigenous history. Grandma and her grandchild disagree on their favorite president. After completing a question on the Venn diagram comparing the two presidents, students create their own Venn diagram comparing the two Making Camp games they have played.

📚Lesson Plan

1. Introduce the Lesson

Use the Google slides presentation to introduce the lesson. This presentation also explains Venn diagrams and directly teaches the vocabulary words, “set”, “union” and “intersection in the context of Venn diagrams.

1a. Students complete assignment using Venn Diagram

After learning about Venn diagrams, students use the diagram included in the presentation to answer questions on similarities and differences between the two presidents. The Venn diagram assignment is linked in the Google slides presentation. You can also find it here.

The answer key for the Venn diagram assignment is here.

2. Students create their own Venn diagram

In this assignment, also included in the Google slides presentation, with example, students create a Venn diagram of the two games they have played, Making Camp Premium and Making Camp Lakota.

3. Making Camp Premium and Making Camp Lakota

Students may wish to play the two games to complete the assignment above.

Related lessons

The previous lesson in this unit is Vocabulary in the Attic.

The next lesson in this unit is Author’s Purpose.

ASSESSMENT

This lesson plan includes three formative assessments. First, the students complete an assignment using a Venn diagram. Second, students create their own Venn diagram. Third, students complete activities in Making Camp Premium or Making Camp Lakota which are recorded and scored automatically.

You can view your students’ progress on mastering this standard by viewing your Making Camp Premium Teacher Reports. You can view the Making Camp Premium reports here.

Vocabulary in the attic: ELA Lesson 5

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📖Standard

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.4. Consult digital reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses) to find the pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.

⏰LESSON TIME

25 -30 minutes including game play

📲TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED

A device with a web-browser – PC, Mac or Chromebook – or phone or tablet.

📃Summary

This is the fifth in a 10-unit English/ Language Arts unit centered around a visit to their grandmother that integrates English/ Language Arts and indigenous history. Now at Grandma’s house, the student finds pages torn out of an old dictionary. After using the page to complete a quiz, the student plays a game to teach or reinforce vocabulary.

📚Lesson Plan

1. Introduce the Lesson

This Google slide presentation introduces the lesson. The grandchild finds a page from a dictionary in the attic. Read the definitions and answer the questions. After finishing the assignments, students will play a game.

1a. Students complete assignment

Dictionary page and questions are linked in Google slides presentation and can also be found here. These can be included in an assignment in Google classroom or printed and distributed to students in class.

Answer key for the questions can be found here.

2. Play the game Making Camp Premium

Making Camp Premium has 18 options for teaching English/Language Arts at the third through fifth-grade level. First, students should watch the idioms video (click on the pot on the fire in the top left of the first screen) and the synonyms video (microscope on bottom left).

For this lesson, we also recommend the food idioms and synonyms activities, which can be found in the middle of the second page in the WORDS section, with the icons with a cake and eggs, as shown above.

NOTE: This is not the same game played in Lesson 3.

Related lessons

The previous lesson in this unit is the Fireball Wand.

The next lesson in this unit is Venn diagrams.

ASSESSMENT: Making Camp Premium Teacher Reports

You can view your students’ progress on mastering this standard by viewing your Making Camp Premium Teacher Reports. You can view the Making Camp Premium reports here.

Fireball Wand: ELA lesson 4

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📖Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2 Determine a story’s theme from text details, such as how characters respond to challenges; summarize the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.5.4 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.5.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.

⏰LESSON TIME

10-20 minutes

📲TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED

None required if learning in the classroom. Copies of assignment can be printed and distributed to students. A device with a web-browser – PC, Mac or Chromebook – or phone or tablet if completed on line.

📃Summary

This short lesson is the fourth in a 10-unit English/ Language Arts unit centered around a visit to their grandmother that integrates English/ Language Arts and indigenous history. Once at grandmother’s house, she tells a story about a wizard who created a fireball wand. The student reads the page, answers a quiz. This lesson may be linked with “Vocabulary in the attic” for a full class period lesson.

📚Lesson Plan

1. Introduce the Lesson

Introducing the Lesson using the attached Google slide presentation should only take 3-5 minutes, including any time for questions.

1a Students complete reading and quiz

You can link directly to the Fireball Wand reading and quiz here in your Google classroom assignment, or print copies for students to read in class.

You can find the answer key for the quiz here.

Recommended resource: This activity uses a reading passage The Fireball Wand from the Have Fun Teaching site. While the site charges a monthly fee, there is also a free starter account teachers can sign up for sample activities.

Related lessons

The previous lesson in this unit is

The next lesson in this unit is Vocabulary in the Attic, where students use a page from the dictionary to answer questions and play a game that teaches about synonyms and idioms.

The previous game in this unit is Dakota Boyhood, where students read a passage, answer questions to check reading comprehension, and play a game that teaches Lakota history.

Assessment

The quiz, linked above, serves as an assessment of students’ mastery of the standards referenced.

Dakota Boyhood: ELA Lesson 3

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📖STANDARDS

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6
Describe how a narrator’s or speaker’s point of view influences how events are described.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.1
Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.2
Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.5.4
Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

⏰LESSON TIME

45 minutes

📲TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED

A device with a web-browser – PC, Mac or Chromebook – or phone or tablet.

📃Summary

This is the third in a 10-unit English/ Language Arts unit centered around a visit to their grandmother that integrates English/ Language Arts and indigenous history. On the way to grandmother’s house, the student comes across an excerpt from the book, Indian Boyhood. The student reads the page, answers a quiz and then plays Making Camp Lakota to learn more about the Plains tribes.

📚Lesson Plan

1. Introduce the Lesson

This Google slides presentation introduces the lesson. The grandchild is walking to through the woods and comes across a note, which happens to be a page from the book Indian Boyhood, by Charles Eastman, a member of the Santee Dakota, who wrote a book about growing up in the 1850s in Minnesota. The link to the passage is in the slides presentation, so you can open the presentation, read the slides to your students and then assign the reading on Google classroom. TThis presentation can be used in the classroom, in a web meeting or done individually by students at home.

1a. Assign students to read the passage and answer the quiz

The link to the passage and the quiz is in the Google slides presentation or you can access it directly here.

The answer key for the quiz, along with the lines in the passage highlighted, can be found here.

2. Play the game Making Camp Lakota

There are 7 options in Making Camp Lakota for learning more about Lakota life

In the game Making Camp Lakota, select the LIFE option and then select any two of the activities to teach about Lakota life before the Europeans came to America.

Related lessons

A visit to grandmother, ELA lesson 2, comes before this lesson in the unit and is recommended.

ASSESSMENT: Making Camp Premium Teacher Reports

You can view your students’ progress on mastering this standard by viewing your Making Camp Premium Teacher Reports. You can view the Making Camp Premium reports here.

STATE STANDARDS

This lesson addresses the following MISSOURI state standards
Reading 1A (5.R.1.A.c) – Develop and apply skills to the reading process. -Develop and demonstrate reading skills in response to text by monitoring comprehension and making corrections and adjustments when understanding breaks down
Reading Foundations 3A (5.RF.3.A.a-b) – Understand how English is written and read. -Develop phonics in the reading process by those tasks described in a-b.
Speaking/Listening 1A (5.SL.1.A.a-d) – Listen for a purpose. -Purpose – Develop and apply effective listening skills and strategies in formal and informal settings by following SL.1.A. a-d.

Visiting Grandma: ELA Lesson 2

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📖Grade 5 Standards Addressed

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.1.A Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which ideas are logically grouped to support the writer’s purpose.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

⏰LESSON TIME

45 minutes

📲TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED

A device with a web-browser – PC, Mac or Chromebook – or phone or tablet

📃Summary

This is the second in a 10-unit English/ Language Arts unit centered around a visit to their grandmother. Students organize a letter responding to the grandmother. The lesson ends with playing the words sections of Making Camp Premium.

📚Lesson Plan

1. Introduce the Lesson

This Google slides presentation introduces the unit. Students are given a letter to their grandmother read and correct. The link to the letter is in the slides presentation, so you can open the presentation, read it to your students and then assign it on Google classroom. The presentation includes links to sound files to read the slides and letter to students to accommodate individual students. This presentation can be used in the classroom, in a web meeting or done individually by students at home.

1a. Assign reading letter and correcting errors

The letter from you (the grandchild) is linked in the Google slide presentation. You can also find the link here.

The teacher answer key for the grandchild’s letter can be found here.

2. Play Making Camp Premium

Finish the lesson by playing any selections from the WORDS section of Making Camp Premium

4 Choices - Numbers Life Random Words — Select WORDS at bottom right

A Dakota boyhood is the lesson that is recommended to follow in this ELA unit.

ASSESSMENT: Making Camp Premium Teacher Reports

You can view your students’ progress on mastering this standard by viewing your Making Camp Premium Teacher Reports. You can view the Making Camp Premium reports here.

Visiting Grandma: ELA Lesson 1

1 Reply

This Common Core-aligned English/ Language Arts unit, combines ELA and indigenous history as your students follow in the footsteps of the grandchild on their visit to grandmother’s house.

In this first lesson, students receive a letter from grandmother.

📖Standard

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6
Describe how a narrator’s or speaker’s point of view influences how events are described.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.1
Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.2
Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.5.4
Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

⏰LESSON TIME

45 minutes

📲TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED

A device with a web-browser – PC, Mac or Chromebook – or phone or tablet

📃Summary

Students will be introduced to a 10-unit English/ Language Arts unit centered around a visit to their grandmother. In this first lesson, students receive and correct the grammar and spelling in their grandmother’s letter. The lesson ends with playing misspelled words and grammar sections of Making Camp Premium.

📚Lesson Plan

1. Introduce the Unit

This Google slides presentation introduces the unit. Students are given a letter to read and correct. The link to the letter is in the slides presentation, so you can open the presentation, read it to your students and then assign it on Google classroom. The presentation includes links to sound files to read the slides and letter to students to accommodate individual students. This presentation can be used in the classroom, in a web meeting or done individually by students at home.

1a. Assign reading letter and correcting errors

The letter is linked in the Google slide presentation. You can also find the link here.

The teacher answer key for the letter can be found here.

2. Play Making Camp Premium

Go to Making Camp Premium. Select WORDS and then go to the third screen.

Bottom left is misspelled words. Top right is grammar.

Play the game on the bottom left to practice spelling. The box on the top right will practice grammar. An example is shown below of a response after the student has answered correctly.

RELATED LESSON

The next lesson in this unit, letter to grandmother, focuses on organization in writing.

State Standards

Missouri Learning Standards (MLS)

Writing 1C (5.W.1.C.a-b) – Apply a writing process to develop a text for audience and purpose.

-Revise/Edit – Reread, revise, and edit drafts with assistance to do a variety of tasks as stated in a-b.

Language 1A (5.L.1.A.a-e) – Communicate using conventions of the English language.

-Grammar – In speech and written form, apply standard English grammar for a variety of reasons as stated in L.1.A. a-e.

Speaking/Listening 1A (5.SL.1.A.a-d) – Listen for a purpose.

-Purpose – Develop and apply effective listening skills and strategies in formal and informal settings by following SL.1.A. a-d.

Introducing Idioms

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📖STANDARDS:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.5.B Recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms, adages, and proverbs.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.5.B Recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms, adages, and proverbs.

[For state-specific standards, click here.]

⏰LESSON TIME

45 minutes

📲TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED

A device with a web-browser – PC, Mac or Chromebook – or phone or tablet

📃SUMMARY

This lesson plan helps students recognize and understand idioms and what they are through different examples. Students will be able to understand the meaning of common idioms through an instructive video, idiom book activity, and Making Camp Premium gameplay.

📚Lesson Plan

1. VIDEO: Idioms

Start your lesson with this video that covers the meaning of idioms and understanding common idioms through different examples.

2. Have your students make their own idiom book.

What you’ll need:

Paper
Pencils
Coloring materials (colored pencils, markers, crayons)
A list of idioms – Click here for a list of idioms at the bottom of this lesson plan.

You can go about this in different ways. You can have students pick their favorite idioms. You can assign different idioms to different students. You can assign all students the same idiom. Or you can make it more like a game and random by having students draw out idioms.

Once students have their idioms, have them write the idiom and what it actually means (this reinforces the memorization of the idiom’s meaning). Then have kids draw pictures as to what the idiom suggests. Students can then share their drawings with the class and see what fun ensues as they share their drawing and explain their idiom.

3. GAME: Making Camp Premium

Have students play Making Camp Premium for 20 minutes. Students should focus on the WORDS section of Making Camp Premium and especially the idioms activity (the first box in the Words section) in order to reinforce the understanding of idioms. You can access Making Camp Premium on Mac, Windows, Chromebook, and iPad on the Games page of the Growing Math site.

Choices screen from Making Camp Premium - Watch movies. Answer questions. Earn points.

STATE STANDARDS

Arizona (AZ), New Mexico (NM), North Dakota (ND), South Dakota (SD), Minnesota (MN) and Oregon (OR) have all adopted the English Language Arts standards covered in the Common Core Standards.

________________________

List of Idioms & Meaning

Idiom	Meaning
Cool as a cucumber.	To be calm and relaxed.
Going bananas!	To go crazy; to get very excited or angry.
It costs an arm and a leg.	To be very expensive.
Bite your tongue.	To not say something that you want to say.
On thin ice.	Being in a risky situation, usually one where you might upset someone.
Hit the books.	To study.
In hot water.	To be in a difficult situation, in trouble.
Smells fishy.	Doesn’t seem quite right.
It’s a piece of cake.	To be very easy.
Under the weather.	To be sick; not feeling well.
Raining cats and dogs.	To be raining very hard.
More than you can shake a stick at.	A great number; very many.
Drive up the wall.	To become frustrated or annoyed by something.
Break a leg!	Good luck!
On cloud nine.	To be very happy.
Time is money.	Work quickly.
That ship has sailed.	It’s too late.
Like two peas in a pod.	Always together.
Fit as a fiddle.	In good shape.
On the fence.	To be indecisive.