Read Works
Compare and Contrast Editorials
Does your class know what an editorial is? Introduce the genre to them with this plan. First, the teacher models how to read an editorial and compare and contrast. Next, the class has a chance to analyze editorials written by their own...
Curated OER
Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns
What does it mean to grow? To germinate? For the plan detailed here, class members investigate the growth process of an oak tree while focusing on the beginning stages of planting and germination. They plant seeds and record observations...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Animals as Pets: Everything You Need to Know
Students complete internet based research on pet care in order to prepare a written and oral presentation for the class. They examine the life span, environment, food and grooming of the pet they chose to research. They complete the...
Curated OER
The Peanut Wizard
Peanuts inspire this lesson about George Washington Carver, called The Peanut Wizard in the included informational text. Class members read about peanuts and George Washington Carver and create a timeline of his life. In addition, pupils...
Curated OER
Bread in a Bag
This lesson focuses on making bread, but also spends some time on the origins of wheat. In order to make the bread, each class member receives a kit full of the materials they will need. Included here is a detailed list of instructions...
Curated OER
Mighty Earth Movers
Note that although the publisher lists almost all of the Common Core standards for both math and language arts, you will most likely want to take the general topic and choose which area to focus on. Regarding math, pupils measure worms...
Curated OER
Piece by Piece
What do your pupils know about quilting? Read and discuss the information included here before sending class members off to create their own quilt blocks using construction paper. When they have completed their blocks, provide some time...
Curated OER
Back to the Farm
Read up on farming and ranching and connect this information to your learners' lives. After reading, send class members home to fill out a family tree and trace their family history, focusing on farming and ranching backgrounds. Once...
Scholastic
Scholastic: Writing With Scientists With the American Museum of Natural History
Follow this six-step method and you'll have a good understanding of what a good scientific research paper involves and how it is organized. There are plenty of samples for you to look at. This explanation is also very helpful for...
University of South Florida
Fcat Reading Grade 4: Teaching Strategies
This is a great resource that concentrates strategies and student activities in one place in an easy to use format, and can be navigated easily. Find great examples of probable passage, selective underlining, and semantic feature...
Read Works
Read Works: Passages: The Upside of Dyslexia
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read a nonfiction text about dyslexia and the difficulties and successes it brings and answer questions about comprehension, supporting details, vocabulary, transitions, and more. The text is...
Read Works
Read Works: Water Woes
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction piece includes information about the world's water shortage. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and establishes...
Other
Center for Assessment: Tools for Examining Text Complexity [Pdf]
Learn how to use several tools to determine text complexity and readability of text for your students.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Synthesize Ideas in Informational/expository Texts
[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] Learn how to synthesize and make logical connections between ideas within a text and across two or three texts representing similar or different genres (including literary...
Other
Reading Quest: Making Sense of Social Studies
Teaching students to read well in areas other than language arts requires teaching and reinforcing the kinds of reading strategies taught here. There are 27 strategies, ranging from brainstorming to word mapping. The site includes PDF...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Reading Basics: Comprehension
Provides articles, parent tips, research briefs, and a video on how to teach reading comprehension.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Cool Tools for Finding Information (Grade 3 4)
Identify text structures in various informational sources.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Scientific Important Book Passages
Students read and examine the structure of The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown and then follow that pattern while writing about the most important things about various scientific topics. Printable handouts and student samples are...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Comprehending Nonfiction Text on the Web
Contains plans for three lessons designed to improve comprehension of nonfiction, especially nonfiction texts on the web. It focuses on identifying text features, locating specific information, and generalizing that information. In...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Literature in Nonfiction Inquiry
This lesson plan involves students working in groups after reading a work of literature to develop text sets. Included in the lesson plan is an overview, practice, objectives, resources, preparation, and more.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Technical Reading and Writing Using Board Games
Contains plans for a game that helps teach technical reading and writing while reviewing a novel that young scholars have read. In addition to objectives and standards, this instructional plan contains links to sites used in the lessons...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Using Science Texts to Teach the Organization of Nonfiction
Contains plans for three lessons that use science textbooks to teach about the organizational features of nonfiction such as labels, captions, headings, and fonts. In addition to objectives and standards, this instructional plan contains...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Identify Important Info When I Read [Pdf]
Links to self-assessment activities for content area fluency activities are found on this resource. Students will read, time themselves, and record facts. Students will improve their reading rates and levels of comprehension.
Austin Independent School District
Austin Independent School District: Guided Reading [Pdf]
Learn what guided reading is and how it to use it in the classroom to increase literacy skills. Discover guided reading strategies to use before, during, and after reading. Then follow-up with information on how to create right questions...