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Identifying Author's Purpose
The multi-lesson, 47-page packet contains everything you need to ensure kids can recognize the clues provided to identify the type of text, the intended audience, and the author's purpose in writing the passage.
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "When Giving Is All We Have" by Alberto Ríos
What makes giving meaningful? Class members discuss this question, then listen to Alberto Rios reading his poem, "When Giving Is All We Have." Finally, the class considers what the poet says about the question.
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "We All Return to the Place Where We Were Born" by Oscar Gonzales
What do you remember about your childhood home? Scholars listen to Oscar Gonzales reading his poem "We All Return to the Place Where We Were Born" in Spanish and English, then discuss what they learned about Gonzales.
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "The Teller of Tales" by Gabriela Mistral
The poem "The Teller of Tales" by Gabriela Mistral is the subject of a thoughtful lesson that allows scholars to listen to or read the poem, then discuss its meaning.
Read Works
The Age of Exploration
Christopher Columbus did not have a lot of evidence to prove that he was in India, but language arts pupils have plenty of evidence to prove that he wasn't. Delve into the world of European exploration with a reading activity about...
Read Works
Fireflies
A short story about a nighttime adventure at summer camp provides readers with a chance to practice their comprehension skills.
Curated OER
Interpreting Perspective
Work on characterization with a narrative writing lesson plan, in which middle schoolers interpret a character's perspective. They discuss family traditions and examine how culture can influence a character's perspective. Next, they read...
Curated OER
Using Compare and Contrast Key Words
Compare and contrast while challenging your class with this higher-level thinking and reading comprehension lesson. After observing the teacher model comparing and contrasting bats and birds, learners read passages about two towns. They...
Perkins School for the Blind
Please Call Me Names!
Teaching students who are blind means teaching them skills a sighted person may take for granted. To practice calling people and objects by name, learners engage in a cueing activity. The child calls for an adult by name, and then uses a...
Curated OER
Analyzing Plot Conflict
Young scholars explore the connection between analyzing a character and the character plot conflict. In this plot conflict instructional activity students role play two characters in the story, The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Young...