What do a cheetah, Audi commercial, and air have in common? They're all topics of an engaging inquiry-based, hands-on workshop for educators about background knowledge, reading strategies, the CER model, and argumentative writing. The...

Is a college education necessary for success in today's world? The class investigates the question, along with others at the end of the sixth workshop in a 15-part series. The lesson has four parts with multiple activities and...

[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson, you will be taking a look at how authors of informational texts, such as expository texts, organize their writing and the effects that organization can have...

This slideshow focuses on text structures for informational texts including how the author's purpose helps determine the organizational pattern to use and how the reader can use clues to identify the text structure used. Five...

Students will focus on Main Idea, Author's Purpose, Identifying supporting details and Organizing details. Students will read a variety of Informational Text (non-fiction) to understand how stated and implied main idea effect the...

This is a PDF worksheet that provides six reading passages related to smart phones to help your students master text structure (patterns of organization) in informational text. RI.9-10.3 author unfolds

Slideshow examines the five most common text structures used by authors to organize nonfiction writing.

Need help with doing a descriptive paper or personal narrative? Need a writing lesson plan? Meet Virginia Hamilton and follow her step-by-step guide to writing. When done, you are eligible for a certificate signed by this author.

This poster contains writing craft questions for students to ask when reading nonfiction. This graphic organizer is a copyrighted material that may be used for educational purposes.

In writing and reading organization is the key to a reader's understanding. A great site for those of you who are looking for some further explanation of organization in writing. There is instruction, an example text, and specific...

If you need help working with your students on questioning a text or if you are working on higher-level questioning skills, this is a simple and helpful site. Printable resources available from site.

A printable pyramid for use with nonfiction texts while students identify the main ideas and supporting details within a text. Students also determine author's purpose and key vocabulary words. Directions on how to use this type of...

A printable Venn Diagram with three circles to use when comparing and contrasting three things or topics. Directions on how to use this graphic organizer as well as lists of teaching ideas and related resources are also provided.