Links to 2 lessons and activities that build student skills in standard L.3.4d: Use glossaries or beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.

Links to 18 lessons and activities that build student skills in standard L.3.5a: Distinguish the literal and nonliteral meanings of words and phrases in context (e.g., take steps).

Links to 6 lessons and activities that build student skills in standard L.3.5b: Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., describe people who are friendly or helpful).

Links to 3 lessons and activities that build student skills in standard L.4.3b: Choose punctuation for effect.

Links to 10 lessons and activities that build student skills in standard L.4.5b: Recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms, adages, and proverbs.

Links to 10 lessons and activities that build student skills in standard L.4.6: Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal precise actions, emotions, or states of being (e.g., quizzed, whined, stammered) and that are basic to a particular topic (e.g., wildlife, conservation, and endangered when discussing animal preservation).

Instead of telling your students new word meanings, let them take ownership for their learning.

In this lesson, students use multiple sources to learn the meanings of science words, collaborating to create useful resources for learning and retaining science vocabulary.

In this lesson, students will use several strategies to learn the meaning of new words they encounter in text. The students will learn specific strategies so when they encounter new words, they can figure out the meaning of those words in a more organic way than having the teacher pre-teach them. Students will utilize bold words and subheadings to aid them in determining the new words.

In this lesson, students will listen to stories and determine the meaning of the word by using sentence-level context clues. They will think about the verbs that are used and think about how that verb appeals to their senses, giving them a strong visual image. They will also be using the electronic thesaurus (thesaurus.com) to help us find interesting synonyms for common verbs. They will apply these new and interesting verbs to our writing. Printable resources are included.

The objective of this lesson is for students to understand how an author uses language and illustrations to influence the way readers think and feel about characters and events in a story. Students are asked to evaluate the introduction and illustrations found in "The Story of Ruby Bridges."

In this lesson, students are asked to compare the similarities and differences between two fables, "The Three Questions" and "Fu Finds the Way." Examples of students' Venn diagrams are provided.

In this lesson, a teacher describes the steps being taken to encourage students to become independent readers outside class time.

Students will brainstorm adjectives to describe the American Flag and will write two descriptive sentences for homework. Students will also create star art to accompany their writing to show the relationship between words and pictures and that books include both to help us make meaning.

This lesson really allows readers to express their opinion regarding an issue that affects them - the lunch menu! Students will be guided through the writing process and then will write a convincing opinion piece by stating their opinions, supporting opinions with details, and providing a closing statement. Examples of student work are provided, along with a printable student checklist.

This small group lesson addresses a very specific skill that some students need to improve their reading skills - self-monitoring. Using play phones, the students will listen to themselves very carefully to see whether what they are saying makes sense. A video and pictures of the lesson in action are provided.

One important aspect of the common core is to prepare students to be able to participate in conversations and contribute accurate and relevant information. In this lesson, students listening skills will evolve as they translate verbal instructions into a tangible result. Included are pictures and videos of the lesson in action, and a kite template.

Students will practice their ability to acknowledge new information expressed by classmates. A good lesson for the first day of school!

Common Core standards specify the requirement for children to use frequently occurring prepositions. Mastering this standard will help students formulate compound sentences as they go up in grade levels. In this lesson, students will use prepositions to write complete sentences describing the location of objects.

Through the story, Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come, students find out about Henry and his new kindergarten class. As a class, they write about what it is like in kindergarten class.