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Mark Twain Media

Understanding Informational Text Features

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Everything you need to know about informational text features can be found in this resource. Recognizing these types of text features and how they are used in text allows readers to better understand information. Teachers can use this as...
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Lesson Plan
Ontario

Reading Informational Text

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
Learning to recognize the importance of the features of information text (i.e., titles, subtitles, endnotes, sidebars, etc.) is the focus of a reading activity designed for middle schoolers. Learners examine how these text features help...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

End of Unit Assessment: Identifying Perspective and Using Evidence from Informational Texts about the Dinka and Nuer Tribes

For Teachers 7th Standards
Pupils consider the varying perspectives of people in different cultural groups as they read an informational text about the Dinka tribe of Southern Sudan and complete graphic organizers. They also respond to a constructed-response...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Summarizing Informational Text: “Hawaii’s Endangered Happy Face Spider”

For Teachers 5th Standards
Put on a happy face. Using an interesting resource, pupils read an informational text about Hawaii's endangered Happy Face Spider. Next, they participate in a jigsaw discussion to find the gist of the article. 
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Who is Mark Zuckerberg?: Reading Informational Text

For Students 9th - 11th
This New York Times "Learning Network" exercise provides 10 questions that apply to an article about Mark Zuckerberg. It poses key journalistic questions like, who, what, why, where, how, and when. This resource provides a nice, short...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Big Branding on Campus: Reading Informational Text

For Students 9th - 12th
This New York Times "Learning Network" activity poses 11 questions on an article and video about commercial branding and marketing on college campuses. The related article, "On the Market: Thinking Critically About Advertising", is...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Teaching Justice: Schooling and the Four Waves of U.S. Immigration

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
U.S. immigration is the focus of a unit on social justice. Over the course of a school year, young historians read a variety of texts to learn about four waves of immigration that have occurred over time in the U.S. An emphasis on...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Summarizing and Sorting Details from an Informational Text: Identifying the Main Idea

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Scholars participate in two activities that teach them to identify the main idea and key supporting details in informational text. Partners create a visual that reflects the main idea and key supporting details in an informational text...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Press Review

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
How can word choice affect a political speech? Middle and high schoolers examine the text of the 1999 State of the Union Address, and then determine how newspaper articles and television reports describe and analyze the event. Use this...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Short But Sweet

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
After analyzing and evaluating news summaries found in the New York Times "Week in Review" section, middle schoolers study the steps for summarizing a news article briefly and accurately. They write two news summaries: one on a newspaper...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Organizing an Opinion, Reasons, and Evidence: Expert Group Text 3

For Teachers 5th Standards
Let's race to the finish line. Scholars read an informational text about a chosen athlete. While reading, they add evidence and reasons to a graphic organizer to support their opinions about how their athlete broke barriers. 
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Connecting Informational Text with Litearature: Building Background Knowledge About Mexican Immigration, California, and the Great Depression

For Teachers 5th Standards
Help your class transition as the setting in the novel Esperanza Rising, by Pam Muñoz Ryan, moves from Mexico to California. Beginning with prior knowledge, and moving into jigsaw research groups, class members add to and create posters...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Search Warranted?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young readers work on evaluating claims in a piece of informational text with the article "In New York, It's Open Bag or Find Exits" from the New York Times. They analyze current search procedures implemented to fight terrorism and...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Using Peer Feedback and Summarizing Our Research In Informational Text Boxes

For Teachers 5th Standards
Insert text box here. Learners use index cards to create their own informational text boxes. The text box includes information about an insect in the rainforest. Scholars also complete the draft of their research science journal entries.
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Using Informational Text Features and Learning Freaky Frog Vocabulary

For Teachers 3rd Standards
What kind of text features help children build a strong vocabulary? Class members use text features such as headers to unpack new vocabulary words. They create vocabulary journals in which they will write what they think the definition...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Synthesizing Information: Living Things in the Rainforest

For Teachers 5th Standards
How is a map a type of informational text? Class members view a world map of major rainforests, discussing its text features with a partner. Next, they take notes on key details from multiple texts about rainforests and write an...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Organizing an Opinion, Reasons, and Evidence: Text 1 for Each Expert Group

For Teachers 5th Standards
Working in small groups, scholars continue reading an informational text about either Roberto Clemente or Althea Gibson. As they read, pupils create graphic organizers in their journals to help map their ideas logically. 
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Research: Close Read of Text 1 for Each Expert Group

For Teachers 5th Standards
Take a closer look to determine the legacy. Learners participate in a close reading of an informational text about either Roberto Clemente or Althea Gibson. Next, they determine how their athlete broke barriers and created a legacy,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introduce: Comprehension Monitoring using About Trees

For Teachers K - 3rd
As scholars begin reading more difficult text, they need to acquire an arsenal of comprehension strategies. Here are few helpful ones to guide new readers through the informational text About Trees, which is linked here for printing....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Map It Out

For Teachers K - 4th
Explore how illustrations add to a story. Young learners will look at picture books to see how the pictures tell the story. They create illustrations to go with a chosen story, and then flip the activity so they have to write a story to...
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PPT
Curated OER

Selective Underlining Taking Notes

For Teachers 5th - 7th
It is so important for learners to become selective and strategic readers. This slide show provides examples and practice exercises that encourage them to read informational text and selectively underline key points or information. Great...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Preparing for Passover

For Students 7th - 9th
Informational texts come in all shapes and sizes. Your kids will read the New York Times article, "Preparing for Passover" then answer seven comprehension questions. The answer to each question is located in embedded hyperlinks. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Who Would Win? Killer Whale vs. Great White Shark Storia Teaching Guide

For Teachers 1st - 3rd Standards
Teacher guides are wonderful tools with tons of ideas that help you relate content in many different ways. Using the high-interest book, Who Would Win? Killer Whale vs. Great White Shark, learners hone their discussion and reading...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Determining Main Idea Using Text and Illustrations: Accessing Books Around the World

For Teachers 3rd Standards
Ease into informational text with the lesson suggested here. Part of a unit series, the lesson draws from previous lessons and acts as a natural moment to add in informational text. Class members read one section of My Librarian is a...