Step 3: Search for Book Information & Lesson Ideas
How does this book match with the curriculum or library program?
What will engage young people in reading across the curriculum?
How can I find resources to address individual differents?
When parents and educators are looking for books, it's easy to fall
back on the familiar classics. It takes time to develop materials to
go with new books or even older books you've just discovered. Use the
Internet to help.
Why reinvent the wheel? There's a good chance that other teachers and
students are reading the same book as your class. A library media specialist,
student, teacher, or publisher may have posted lesson ideas, class
projects, or discussions.
Explore ReadWriteThink from
the International Reading Association, NCTE, and Marcopolo. Identify
at least 3-4 quality resources to connect reading and technology resources
or tools. If you work with older students, explore EdSitement for
literature conections.
Our 42explore website contains resources
on dozens of popular literature topics. Be sure to check out Fantasy
and Science Fiction, Harlem
Renaissance, Literary Criticism, Mythology, Mystery, Poetry
for Kids, Skits,
Plays & Scripts, Storytelling, and Tall
Tales. They all have links to website resources, activities, lessons, and
other materials.
Searching for Lessons
There are many ways to locate lesson plans on the web. Some lesson websites contain search tools to explore lessons by grade levels, subject area, or topic. Try exploring Scholastic Lesson Site.
Use search engines to search for the name of the book. Put the book's name in quotation marks such as "Walk Two Moons". Again, if you forget the quotation marks you'll end up with information about walking for exercise and trips to the moon rather than the book you're reading. You might also do a general search for lesson plans and books.
Use the following websites as a starting point for
good lesson plans
and ideas related to books. As you explore the following sites, notice that the 
indicates
an exceptional quality resource.
- CyberGuides - Guides to go with books for grades K-3, 4-5, 6-8, and 9-12.
- Doucette Index - K12 Literature-Based
Teaching Ideas - Great searchable database. Shows websites and print sources.
- Economics and Geography Lessons for 32 Children's Books
- Edsitement - Lots of lessons for literature tops.
- Educators from Eduplace and Houghton Mifflin - Seach by theme.
- English Online
- Lesson Plans for Children's
Books from the Donns
- Literature from Teacher Vision
- Literature-Based WebQuests
- Literature Lesson Plan Library from Discovery School - Listed by grades K-5, 6-8, and 9-12
- Little Planet
- Planet Book Club - Resources for kids, parents, and teachers.
- Reading and Language Arts from PBS Teacher Source - Search by grade level and topic
- ReadWriteThink - Great resources for reading and language arts.
- Scholastic Lesson Plans - Do a search by grade level, subject, and topic
- Tech-Literacy
Curriculum
Publisher Lesson Materials
Check out book publishers. They often have great resources to go with tradebooks and their textbooks. Many of the activities can be used by anyone.
- Gryphon House Books
- HarperCollins - Check out their specialty sections: Guides, Kids, Parents, and Teacher & Librarian Sections. Also see Harper Teacher Guides and
- Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
- Macmillan/McGraw-Hill World
- Penguin Putnam - Check out their specialty sections: Educational services, young reader teacher's guides, and teachers & librarians site.
- Random House for Teachers - Check out their specialist sections: Kids, High School Teachers
- Scholastic - Check out their specialty sections: Kids, Parent, Teachers, Librarians, Books & Authors
- Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers - Check out SimonSaysKids
Technology-Rich Project Examples. Check out a few good examples of technology-rich book-based projects.
- Integration Technology into Literacy Curriculum
- The Owl and the Pussycat
- We Know Why Alexander Wanted To Move To Australia!
- The Legend of Maniac Magee
- Mark
Twain Lesson
General Lesson Plan Resources
When developing materials for use with books, you often want to connect the literature to subject area lessons. For example, if you're reading the book Out of the Dust, you make seek out good lessons dealing with the Depression.
Use
the Teacher Tap page below to locate good
lesson starting points.
Go
to Online Lesson Plans from
Teacher Tap
Try It!
Seek out resources and lessons available on the books you'll be using. Don't worry if the resources don't match your curriculum exactly. The key is collecting a variety of ideas, then adapting these for your own environment. As you try to differentiate your lessons to meet the needs of individual children, you may draw from many different resources.
Go to Step 4: Identify Topics and Resources