ALEX Resources

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Lesson Plans (1) A detailed description of the instruction for teaching one or more concepts or skills. Unit Plans (1) Learning Activities (4) Building blocks of a lesson plan that include before, during, and after strategies to actively engage students in learning a concept or skill. Classroom Resources (11)

ALEX Lesson Plans  
   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (3) 19 :
19. Determine the explicit or implied main idea and supporting details of a text.

a. Explain how supporting details contribute to the main idea, using textual evidence.

b. Recount or summarize the key ideas from the text.

[ELA2021] (3) 23 :
23. Identify and use text features in informational passages to locate information.

Examples: headings, photographs, illustrations, labels, charts, graphs, legends

a. Explain how text features support details in the text.

b. Explain how illustrations contribute to meaning in a story.

c. Interpret text features used in written and digital formats.
[SS2010] GHS (3) 9 :
9 ) Identify ways to prepare for natural disasters.

Examples: constructing houses on stilts in flood-prone areas, buying earthquake and flood insurance, providing hurricane or tornado shelters, establishing emergency evacuation routes

[DLIT] (3) 5 :
R5) Locate and curate information from digital sources to answer research questions.

[DLIT] (3) 22 :
16) Conduct basic keyword searches to produce valid, appropriate results, and evaluate results for accuracy, relevance, and appropriateness.

Examples: Use search techniques, check for credibility and validity.

Subject: Digital Literacy and Computer Science (3), or English Language Arts (3), or Social Studies (3)
Title: Preparing for Natural Disasters: Tornado
Description:

The lesson will begin by students performing a think-aloud as they consider the similarities of five words:  tornado, shelter, basement, underground, and safe room. Students will use a pros and cons graphic organizer as they read articles on three different types of tornado shelters: underground shelters, part of the house shelters, and prebuilt shelters. The students will find the advantages and disadvantages of each type of structure. At the end of the lesson, the teacher will create a table that lists all the shelters and the pros and cons of each. Students will then determine which shelter they feel is most efficient in an "exit slip" response. 

This unit was created as part of the ALEX Interdisciplinary Resource Development Summit.



ALEX Unit Plans  
   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (3) 15 :
15 ) Evaluate a design solution (e.g., flood barriers, wind resistant roofs, lightning rods) that reduces the impact of a weather-related hazard.*

[SC2015] (3) 14 :
14 ) Collect information from a variety of sources to describe climates in different regions of the world.

[SS2010] GHS (3) 9 :
9 ) Identify ways to prepare for natural disasters.

Examples: constructing houses on stilts in flood-prone areas, buying earthquake and flood insurance, providing hurricane or tornado shelters, establishing emergency evacuation routes

[MA2019] (3) 16 :
16. For a given or collected set of data, create a scaled (one-to-many) picture graph and scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories.

a. Determine a simple probability from a context that includes a picture.

b. Solve one- and two-step "how many more" and "how many less" problems using information presented in scaled graphs.
[ELA2021] (3) 19 :
19. Determine the explicit or implied main idea and supporting details of a text.

a. Explain how supporting details contribute to the main idea, using textual evidence.

b. Recount or summarize the key ideas from the text.

[ELA2021] (3) 23 :
23. Identify and use text features in informational passages to locate information.

Examples: headings, photographs, illustrations, labels, charts, graphs, legends

a. Explain how text features support details in the text.

b. Explain how illustrations contribute to meaning in a story.

c. Interpret text features used in written and digital formats.
[ELA2021] (3) 34 :
34. Write informative or explanatory texts about a topic using sources, including an introduction, facts, relevant details with elaboration, and a conclusion.
[DLIT] (3) 5 :
R5) Locate and curate information from digital sources to answer research questions.

[DLIT] (3) 6 :
R6) Produce, review, and revise authentic artifacts that include multimedia using appropriate digital tools.

[DLIT] (3) 19 :
13) Communicate key ideas and details collaboratively in a way that informs, persuades, and/or entertains, using digital tools.

Example: Create a digital presentation to persuade school administrators to allow additional time for lunch.

[DLIT] (3) 22 :
16) Conduct basic keyword searches to produce valid, appropriate results, and evaluate results for accuracy, relevance, and appropriateness.

Examples: Use search techniques, check for credibility and validity.


Title: Increasing Public Safety During Tornadoes
Unit Plan Overview: After collecting information on climates in different geographic regions through digital sources, text, and illustrations, students will understand various natural disasters, as well as how and why they occur. Next, students will research the cause and effects of tornadoes and write a cause and effect two-paragraph essay. For the third lesson, students will research different designs of storm shelters and determine which storm shelter they feel has the best design. Students will research states with most occurrences of tornadoes and determine the ten states with the highest average of tornadoes over a certain time period and create bar and picture graphs of their findings. Students will research and use information from lesson three to sketch and create an engineering prototype of a structure which addresses a particular type of storm damage.   This unit was created as part of the ALEX Interdisciplinary Resource Development Summit.


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ALEX Learning Activities  
   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (3) 23 :
23. Identify and use text features in informational passages to locate information.

Examples: headings, photographs, illustrations, labels, charts, graphs, legends

a. Explain how text features support details in the text.

b. Explain how illustrations contribute to meaning in a story.

c. Interpret text features used in written and digital formats.
Subject: English Language Arts (3)
Title: Information Text Features Part 3
Description:

The teacher will use this Google Slides presentation to review each of the text features. Afterward, the students will read an article and identify and label specific text features. For the final assignment, the student will use all that they learned to answer text feature questions about the article they read. 

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.



   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (3) 23 :
23. Identify and use text features in informational passages to locate information.

Examples: headings, photographs, illustrations, labels, charts, graphs, legends

a. Explain how text features support details in the text.

b. Explain how illustrations contribute to meaning in a story.

c. Interpret text features used in written and digital formats.
Subject: English Language Arts (3)
Title: Informational Text Features Part 2
Description:

The teacher will use a YouTube video to help students understand text features as it will explain each one. After each text feature is explained, the teacher will ask a follow-up question to determine if the students are comprehending the new information. The students will then play a game to interactively identify text features through the game.

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.



   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (3) 23 :
23. Identify and use text features in informational passages to locate information.

Examples: headings, photographs, illustrations, labels, charts, graphs, legends

a. Explain how text features support details in the text.

b. Explain how illustrations contribute to meaning in a story.

c. Interpret text features used in written and digital formats.
Subject: English Language Arts (3)
Title: Informational Text Features Part 1
Description:

In this learning activity, the students will watch a video to introduce them to basic nonfiction text features including photographs with captions, an index, glossary, bold print, maps, and labels. After watching the video, the students will complete a scavenger hunt to identify specific text features. Finally, the students will share their scavenger hunts with the class.

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.



   View Standards     Standard(s): [DLIT] (3) 5 :
R5) Locate and curate information from digital sources to answer research questions.

[DLIT] (3) 22 :
16) Conduct basic keyword searches to produce valid, appropriate results, and evaluate results for accuracy, relevance, and appropriateness.

Examples: Use search techniques, check for credibility and validity.

[ELA2021] (3) 23 :
23. Identify and use text features in informational passages to locate information.

Examples: headings, photographs, illustrations, labels, charts, graphs, legends

a. Explain how text features support details in the text.

b. Explain how illustrations contribute to meaning in a story.

c. Interpret text features used in written and digital formats.
Subject: Digital Literacy and Computer Science (3), English Language Arts (3)
Title: How Internet Searches Work
Description:

Students will be introduced to how an Internet search works by experts in the field and practice conducting basic keyword searches.

This activity was created as a result of the DLCS COS Resource Development Summit.



ALEX Learning Activities: 4

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ALEX Classroom Resources  
   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (3) 23 :
23. Identify and use text features in informational passages to locate information.

Examples: headings, photographs, illustrations, labels, charts, graphs, legends

a. Explain how text features support details in the text.

b. Explain how illustrations contribute to meaning in a story.

c. Interpret text features used in written and digital formats.
Subject: English Language Arts (3)
Title: Reading Charts and Tables – Garden Spiders
URL: https://aptv.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/vtl07.la.ws.research.lpspiders/reading-charts-and-tables-garden-spiders/
Description:

After watching a video about garden spiders, students will read a chart that reflects the information in the segment. They will then answer a series of questions using the information from the chart.

Why is this an important concept?
It is important for students to learn how to read the information in formats other than narrative texts. Learning to read charts and tables is another way for students to understand how information is collected and organized. It also helps students become skilled in gathering information quickly as well as categorizing information to develop their own charts and tables in a variety of subject areas.


   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (3) 19 :
19. Determine the explicit or implied main idea and supporting details of a text.

a. Explain how supporting details contribute to the main idea, using textual evidence.

b. Recount or summarize the key ideas from the text.

[ELA2021] (3) 23 :
23. Identify and use text features in informational passages to locate information.

Examples: headings, photographs, illustrations, labels, charts, graphs, legends

a. Explain how text features support details in the text.

b. Explain how illustrations contribute to meaning in a story.

c. Interpret text features used in written and digital formats.
[ELA2021] (4) 21 :
21. Explain how relevant details support the implied or explicit main idea of a text.

a. Determine the central idea or theme of a text.

b. Explain the difference between implied and explicit details.

c. Summarize the key supporting details by citing evidence from a text.
[ELA2021] (4) 23 :
23. Evaluate how text features and structures contribute to the meaning of an informational text.

a. Identify and describe the structures within a text, including description, comparison and contrast, sequence, problem and solution, and cause and effect.

b. Interpret information from text features in both print and digital formats.
[ELA2021] (5) 22 :
22. Determine the implied and/or explicit main idea in literary and informational texts.
[ELA2021] (5) 24 :
24. Determine and evaluate the effectiveness of digital and print text features and structures, including comparison and contrast, problem and solution, and cause and effect.

a. Identify various text features used in diverse forms of text.

b. Compare and contrast the overall structure of events, ideas, concepts, or information in multiple texts.
Subject: English Language Arts (3 - 5)
Title: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!
URL: https://aptv.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/reduce-reuse-recycle-what-is-air/reduce-reuse-recycle/
Description:

Save the Earth from all kinds of waste and trash. Rap with Mister C, read charts with a landfill rat, break the code for recycling symbols, then share this dirty, rotten, self-paced lesson with your friends.

This resource guides students as they identify the main idea and support details of a text.


   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (3) 23 :
23. Identify and use text features in informational passages to locate information.

Examples: headings, photographs, illustrations, labels, charts, graphs, legends

a. Explain how text features support details in the text.

b. Explain how illustrations contribute to meaning in a story.

c. Interpret text features used in written and digital formats.
Subject: English Language Arts (3)
Title: Make Connections Between the Text and an Illustration
URL: https://youtu.be/6GLaHqjhnDg
Description:

In this video lesson, students will learn how to identify where an illustration reflects specific descriptions in the text by examining illustrations and asking “How did this author use the illustration?”


   View Standards     Standard(s): [ARTS] VISA (3) 11 :
11) Discuss the meanings and messages communicated by visual imagery.

[ARTS] VISA (3) 12 :
12) Interpret art by analyzing use of media to create subject matter, visual qualities, and mood/feeling.

Example: Discuss the differences between Meret Oppenheim's Object and an everyday cup.

[ELA2021] (3) -2 :
R4. Use digital and electronic tools appropriately, safely, and ethically for research and writing, both individually and collaboratively.
[ELA2021] (3) 23 :
23. Identify and use text features in informational passages to locate information.

Examples: headings, photographs, illustrations, labels, charts, graphs, legends

a. Explain how text features support details in the text.

b. Explain how illustrations contribute to meaning in a story.

c. Interpret text features used in written and digital formats.
Subject: Arts Education (3), English Language Arts (3)
Title: Creating a Time and Place
URL: http://artsedwashington.org/curriculum/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Third-Grade-Lesson-10.pdf
Description:

Students will analyze settings (time, place, and mood) in stories and art.  They will cut shapes to represent a chosen time of day or year.  They will create a collagraph printing plate and make a print.  Assessment rubric, letter to parents, examples of artwork, and lesson plan included in PDF.   


   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (3) 1 :
1 ) Plan and carry out an experiment to determine the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object using one variable at a time, including number, size, direction, speed, position, friction, or air resistance (e.g., balanced forces pushing from both sides on an object, such as a box, producing no motion; unbalanced force on one side of an object, such as a ball, producing motion), and communicate these findings graphically.

[ELA2021] (3) 23 :
23. Identify and use text features in informational passages to locate information.

Examples: headings, photographs, illustrations, labels, charts, graphs, legends

a. Explain how text features support details in the text.

b. Explain how illustrations contribute to meaning in a story.

c. Interpret text features used in written and digital formats.
Subject: Science (3), English Language Arts (3)
Title: Falling for Gravity!
URL: https://aptv.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/falling-for-gravity-reach-with-stem/falling-for-gravity/
Description:

May the force be with you as you learn about using text features (like captions, bold print, subheadings, icons, and glossaries) to find facts about the force known as gravity! A big silly walrus will travel with you through this lesson.


   View Standards     Standard(s): [SS2010] GHS (3) 11 :
11 ) Interpret various primary sources for reconstructing the past, including documents, letters, diaries, maps, and photographs.

•  Comparing maps of the past to maps of the present
[SS2010] USS5 (5) 11 :
11 ) Identify causes of the Civil War, including states' rights and the issue of slavery.

•  Describing the importance of the Missouri Compromise, Nat Turner's insurrection, the Compromise of 1850, the Dred Scott decision, John Brown's rebellion, and the election of 1860
•  Recognizing key Northern and Southern personalities, including Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Joseph Wheeler (Alabama)
•  Describing social, economic, and political conditions that affected citizens during the Civil War
•  Identifying Alabama's role in the Civil War (Alabama)
Examples: Montgomery as the first capital of the Confederacy, Winston County's opposition to Alabama's secession (Alabama)

•  Locating on a map sites important to the Civil War
Examples: Mason-Dixon Line, Fort Sumter, Appomattox, Gettysburg, Confederate states, Union states (Alabama)

•  Explaining events that led to the conclusion of the Civil War
[ELA2021] (3) 23 :
23. Identify and use text features in informational passages to locate information.

Examples: headings, photographs, illustrations, labels, charts, graphs, legends

a. Explain how text features support details in the text.

b. Explain how illustrations contribute to meaning in a story.

c. Interpret text features used in written and digital formats.
[ELA2021] (5) 18 :
18. Explain the relationships among events, people, or concepts in informational texts, supported by textual evidence.
Subject: Social Studies (3 - 5), English Language Arts (3 - 5)
Title: Find Grace's Family
URL: https://amhistory.si.edu/ourstory/pdf/lincoln/find_family.pdf
Description:

In this learning activity, students will analyze a famous letter written by Grace Badell to President Abraham Lincoln. Using hints about Grace's family from the letter, students will draw pictures of her family.


ALEX Classroom Resources: 6

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