ALEX Classroom Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (0) 7 :

7 ) Observe and describe the effects of sunlight on Earth's surface (e.g., heat from the sun causing evaporation of water or increased temperature of soil, rocks, sand, and water).

[ELA2021] (0) -3 :

R3. Expand background knowledge and build vocabulary through discussion, reading, and writing.

[ELA2021] (0) 2 :

2. Actively engage in teacher-led reading experiences and collaborative discussions with peers to build background knowledge needed to be successful as they learn to read and, later, read to learn.

[ELA2021] (0) 3 :

3. Actively participate in teacher-led choral and shared reading experiences.

Examples: reciting nursery rhymes, songs, poems, stories

[ELA2021] (0) 4 :

4. With guidance and support, ask and answer questions to seek help, get information, or clarify information presented orally, through text, or other media.

Example: Use interrogatives who, what, where, when, why, and how to ask questions.

[ELA2021] (0) 22 :

22. Use content knowledge built during read-alouds of informational texts by participating in content-specific discussions with peers and/or through drawing or writing.

[ELA2021] (1) -3 :

R3. Expand background knowledge and build vocabulary through discussion, reading, and writing.

[ELA2021] (1) 2 :

2. Actively participate in shared reading experiences and collaborative discussions to build background knowledge and learn how oral reading should sound.

Examples: read-alouds, oral dramatic activities

[ELA2021] (1) 3 :

3. Ask and answer questions to seek help, get information, or clarify information to confirm understanding in response to information presented in audible, text, or digital format.

[ELA2021] (1) 17 :

17. Use content knowledge built during read-alouds of informational and literary texts by participating in content-specific discussions with peers and/or through drawing and writing.

[ELA2021] (1) 37 :

37. With prompting and support, write simple poems about a chosen subject.

[ELA2021] (2) -3 :

R3. Expand background knowledge and build vocabulary through discussion, reading, and writing.

[ELA2021] (2) 4 :

4. Orally answer who, what, when, where, why, and how questions about a text or conversation, using complete sentences to provide key ideas and details.

[ELA2021] (2) 22 :

22. Use content knowledge built during read-alouds and independent reading of informational and literary texts by participating in content-specific discussions with peers and/or through writing.

What makes a shadow? Do shadows change? Can a person escape his or her shadow? These and many other questions provide the framework for students to explore their prior knowledge about shadows as fiction, informational texts, and poetry. In this lesson, language arts skills are linked to the learning of science in a literacy-based approach to the study of shadows. Through discussion of the literature on shadows and the use of questioning techniques to probe prior knowledge, students begin to explore scientific concepts and develop and test hypotheses. After studying shadows, recording observations of shadows, and hearing poetry about shadows, students create their own poetic response incorporating their knowledge. The inclusion of poetry in the lesson encourages aesthetic appreciation of scientific phenomena and invites students to observe the world around them from new perspectives.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (0) -3 :

R3. Expand background knowledge and build vocabulary through discussion, reading, and writing.

[ELA2021] (0) 2 :

2. Actively engage in teacher-led reading experiences and collaborative discussions with peers to build background knowledge needed to be successful as they learn to read and, later, read to learn.

[ELA2021] (0) 3 :

3. Actively participate in teacher-led choral and shared reading experiences.

Examples: reciting nursery rhymes, songs, poems, stories

[ELA2021] (0) 4 :

4. With guidance and support, ask and answer questions to seek help, get information, or clarify information presented orally, through text, or other media.

Example: Use interrogatives who, what, where, when, why, and how to ask questions.

[ELA2021] (0) 33 :

33. Express ideas orally and connect these ideas through drawing and emergent writing.

[ELA2021] (1) -3 :

R3. Expand background knowledge and build vocabulary through discussion, reading, and writing.

[ELA2021] (1) 2 :

2. Actively participate in shared reading experiences and collaborative discussions to build background knowledge and learn how oral reading should sound.

Examples: read-alouds, oral dramatic activities

[ELA2021] (1) 3 :

3. Ask and answer questions to seek help, get information, or clarify information to confirm understanding in response to information presented in audible, text, or digital format.

[ELA2021] (1) 17 :

17. Use content knowledge built during read-alouds of informational and literary texts by participating in content-specific discussions with peers and/or through drawing and writing.

[ELA2021] (1) 42 :

42. Participate in shared research and writing projects to answer a question or describe a topic.

a. Recall information from experiences to contribute to shared research and writing projects.

b. Gather information from provided sources.

[ELA2021] (2) -3 :

R3. Expand background knowledge and build vocabulary through discussion, reading, and writing.

[ELA2021] (2) 4 :

4. Orally answer who, what, when, where, why, and how questions about a text or conversation, using complete sentences to provide key ideas and details.

[ELA2021] (2) 22 :

22. Use content knowledge built during read-alouds and independent reading of informational and literary texts by participating in content-specific discussions with peers and/or through writing.

Recognizing problems and identifying solutions are skills that help students develop an awareness of themselves and their surroundings. After reading the book Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann, students explore potential safety problems and then devise possible solutions. Each student creates a safety tip poster similar to the ones in the book to present a solution to one of the identified safety problems. Students communicate their safety messages to others by displaying the posters around the school or in the community. This lesson could easily be adapted for use with older students.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (0) 2 :

2. Actively engage in teacher-led reading experiences and collaborative discussions with peers to build background knowledge needed to be successful as they learn to read and, later, read to learn.

[ELA2021] (0) 19 :

19. Ask and answer questions about unfamiliar words in discussions and/or text.

a. Describe the relationship between words, including relating them to synonyms and antonyms.

[ELA2021] (1) -5 :

R1. Utilize active listening skills during discussion and conversation in pairs, small groups, or whole-class settings, following agreed-upon rules for participation.

[ELA2021] (1) 3 :

3. Ask and answer questions to seek help, get information, or clarify information to confirm understanding in response to information presented in audible, text, or digital format.

[ELA2021] (1) 8 :

8. Apply previously-taught phoneme-grapheme correspondences to decodable words with accuracy and automaticity, in and out of context.

[ELA2021] (1) 12 :

12. Ask and answer questions about unfamiliar words and phrases in discussions and/or text.

a. Identify possessives and plurals and use them as clues to the meaning of text.

Example: Jack's coat, mom's car; pigs, pig's, pigs'

b. Identify meaningful parts of words (morphemes) and use them as clues to the meaning of unknown words, including frequently occurring affixes and inflections -s, -es, -ed, -ing, -er, and -est.

Examples: Explain that adding suffix -s changes a singular noun to a plural noun and adding suffix -ed changes a verb to past tense.

c. Describe word relationships and nuances in word meanings, including relating them to their opposites and distinguishing shades of meaning in similar or related words.

Examples: look, peek, glance, stare, glare; big, large, gigantic, monstrous
Act out tiptoe, creep, and march to distinguish shades of meaning in words related to walk.
Discuss synonyms and antonyms.

This lesson uses music and art in a vocabulary study of unfamiliar words from the song "America the Beautiful," increasing students' vocabulary while also increasing their knowledge of U.S. geography. A discussion to activate students' prior knowledge about sights and scenery throughout the United States is followed by a read-aloud and introduction to the song "America the Beautiful," which is then sung in each session of the lesson. Students learn the meanings of the song's words through shared reading and the use of context clues and images. Students then use photographs, illustrations, and descriptive language to create a mural shaped like the United States. Finally, through pictures and words, students reflect on what they have learned. This lesson is appropriate and adaptable for any patriotic event or holiday, and many of the vocabulary strategies are adaptable for other texts or word lists, as well.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SS2010] LWT (0) 2 :

2 ) Identify rights and responsibilities of citizens within the family, classroom, school, and community.

Examples: taking care of personal belongings and respecting the property of others, following rules and recognizing consequences of breaking rules, taking responsibility for assigned duties

[SS2010] LWT (0) 12 :

12 ) Describe families and communities of the past, including jobs, education, transportation, communication, and recreation.

•  Identifying ways everyday life has both changed and remained the same

[SS2010] LWT1 (1) 2 :

2 ) Identify rights and responsibilities of citizens within the local community and state.

•  Describing how rules in the community and laws in the state protect citizens' rights and property

•  Describing ways, including paying taxes, responsible citizens contribute to the common good of the community and state

•  Demonstrating voting as a way of making choices and decisions

[SS2010] ALA (4) 14 :

14 ) Analyze the modern Civil Rights Movement to determine the social, political, and economic impact on Alabama.

•  Recognizing important persons of the modern Civil Rights Movement, including Martin Luther King, Jr.; George C. Wallace; Rosa Parks; Fred Shuttlesworth; John Lewis; Malcolm X; Thurgood Marshall; Hugo Black; and Ralph David Abernathy

•  Describing events of the modern Civil Rights Movement, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, the Freedom Riders bus bombing, and the Selma-to-Montgomery March

•  Explaining benefits of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and Brown versus Board of Education Supreme Court case of 1954

•  Using vocabulary associated with the modern Civil Rights Movement, including discrimination, prejudice, segregation, integration, suffrage, and rights

[ELA2021] (0) -3 :

R3. Expand background knowledge and build vocabulary through discussion, reading, and writing.

[ELA2021] (0) 2 :

2. Actively engage in teacher-led reading experiences and collaborative discussions with peers to build background knowledge needed to be successful as they learn to read and, later, read to learn.

[ELA2021] (0) 4 :

4. With guidance and support, ask and answer questions to seek help, get information, or clarify information presented orally, through text, or other media.

Example: Use interrogatives who, what, where, when, why, and how to ask questions.

[ELA2021] (0) 30 :

30. With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in literary and informational texts.

[ELA2021] (1) -3 :

R3. Expand background knowledge and build vocabulary through discussion, reading, and writing.

[ELA2021] (1) 2 :

2. Actively participate in shared reading experiences and collaborative discussions to build background knowledge and learn how oral reading should sound.

Examples: read-alouds, oral dramatic activities

[ELA2021] (1) 3 :

3. Ask and answer questions to seek help, get information, or clarify information to confirm understanding in response to information presented in audible, text, or digital format.

[ELA2021] (2) -3 :

R3. Expand background knowledge and build vocabulary through discussion, reading, and writing.

[ELA2021] (2) 4 :

4. Orally answer who, what, when, where, why, and how questions about a text or conversation, using complete sentences to provide key ideas and details.

This activity can be used in conjunction with the book, Freedom on the Menu by Carole Boston. Through the activity, students will gather information about the Greensboro Woolworth Lunch Counter sit-in and how it was related to the Civil Rights Movement. The activity includes links to other resources.