One of these things is not like the other. But, so what? Why is it important to examine the similarities and differences between two entities? Here's a presentation that shows viewers how to go beyond a mere listing to create and support...

Walk your class through the process of writing compare and contrast essays with this easy-to-use graphic organizer. After first using the included Venn diagram to record the similarities and differences between two subjects, students...

Keep an eye on the growth of your sixth graders' reading and writing skills with the help of this practice Common Core assessment. Working their way through the six included fiction and nonfiction reading passages, learners answer a...

Check in on the development of your fifth graders' reading and writing skills with this Common Core-designed assessment. Given a series of six reading passages ranging from narrative stories to informational texts, young learners answer...

Support your eleventh graders with a practice assessment for the Common Core tests. The practice test features a series of literary and informational passages and related multiple choice and essay questions. An online version is also...

Get an idea of how your class members might perform on the Common Core tests with a comprehensive practice test. The assessment includes literary and informational passages for learners to read an analyze. Pupils respond to a series of...

Ready your pupils for Common Core testing by providing them with practice. For this assessment, learners read and respond to a variety of different passages in both multiple-choice and essay format. An online version is also included.

Give your class a taste of the Common Core with a practice test that includes both literary and informational reading passages. Pupils respond to related multiple choice questions and longer written response questions. See the materials...

What is a thesis, and why is it important to a piece of writing? After defining the term thesis to your emerging writers, explain how one writes this kind of statement. Although examples are given comparing Bilbo Baggins with Odysseus,...

After reading Elie Wiesel's Night, watching the movie Life is Beautiful, and researching World War II, class members write a comparison essay on the book and film. This includes a prior knowledge activity, discussion in whole and small...

Students research the five tribes of the Iroquois Nation focusing on housing, food, clothing, transportation, religion, and language. They research using Internet sources and book mark sites for reuse.

Helpful for a unit on Walter Dean Myers' Monster, or any novel that you are teaching, a graphic organizer prompts learners to compare and contrast different character traits. The first box has one set of lines to jot down what two...

Do your students love movies? Use Star Wars and Indiana Jones to introduce the use of Venn diagrams for comparing and contrasting. A list of words to indicate comparison or contrast are also included to help with the writing process.

In this literature learning exercise, students respond to 26 short answer and essay questions about Cervantes's Don Quixote. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the novel at the bottom of the page.

Learners compare theme and plot in two short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In this theme and plot analysis lesson, students read Young Goodman Brown and The Minister's Black Veil  as well as take notes about the theme and plot for each...

Students explore fantasy through The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.  In this literature lesson, students investigate character analysis through book comparisons.  Students read The Hobbit and one other book by J.R.R. Tolkien and write a...

Students explore "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin, "The Magic Barrel" by Bernard Malamud, and "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver. For this shorty story analysis lesson, students write down facts about each of the main characters from the...

Young scholars compare taste, texture, structure (size and shape) and the prices of two different brands of chocolate chip cookies. They compose a five-paragraph essay using at least three transition words for comparison.