A simple activity for young readers, this introduces the idea of author purpose. Learners analyze various types of texts (newspaper articles, magazines, books, advertisements, etc.) and determine if the author's purpose for writing was...

Reading with fluency and expression is an important skill for beginning readers to develop. They discuss what it means to read with expression and observe the teacher reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears without any interest...

Diversify your young readers' at-home reading habits with this activity. This handout consists of a list of 24 different types of reading materials from newspapers and how-to books to science fiction and poetry. The goal is for learners...

Read the story Amelia the Pigeon and discuss perspective. Since Amelia is a pigeon with a bird's eye view, use aerial photography to enhance your learners' understanding. Have fun connecting art and literature while talking about...

Students create an art project and write a process paper  as a response to literature.  In this literature response lesson, students listen to Lynn Ehlert's, Snowballs before decorating a construction paper snowman. They write...

Help your learners discover empathy and understanding by investigating two sides of a situation. In this humanities lesson, pupils examine different pairs of shoes and hypothesize about who may have worn them. Discuss real life...

When everyone understands that some words have multiple meanings they build a foundation for better writing and develop deeper reading comprehension skills. This presentation provides learners with several examples of words with multiple...

Explore words by building and decoding three-letter words. Real or nonsense words can be formed with the alphabet tiles. Practice fluency and blending sounds with CVC patterns.

When scholars re-tell a story, do they boil it down to important details in a logical order? Practice summarizing narratives using this think-aloud strategy, which is scripted here for your convenience. After explaining why this is an...

After you've begun identifying the cause and effect relationship within literature, it's time to give scholars some independent practice. Review the concept before handing out this graphic organizer. Learners use the book they are...

A Taste of Honey offers learners a chance to practice with unknown words and context clues. Choose several vocabulary words to focus on as you read the picture book, or use the ones provided here. Pre-teach the words and have...

Fact or opinion? That is the challenge facing learners who must record statements from a passage in either the fact or opinion column on a one-page template. 

Looking for a simple way to connect with each of your pupils about a book they've read? While the rest of your class is engaged in SSR, each learner comes to you for a one-on-one session. Great for formative assessment or just a good...

How do you make a story exciting? Teach young readers how to change your pitch, tone, and mood as you read. After modeling the various ways you can change your expression, have small pairs or groups work together to give it a shot! 

Students create an animal with clay and use toothpick to draw or carve features. Students write descriptions of their animal and tell why they created it in a certain way. Students write legends on their own, perhaps using their created...

Second graders read a book about carpets, a magic carpet ride, or some other type of story involving rugs/carpets. They examine discuss the classroom carpet, designate it the share carpet and develop rules for classroom carpet behavior.

In this initial consonant worksheet, students read 25 words. Students circle the words that start with l, m, p, or r. Then students answer 6 questions about the words.

For this reading comprehension worksheet, 2nd graders will read a 3 paragraph story about a scooter and answer 5 multiple choice questions. They will also draw a picture of a scooter they have or would like to have.

Here is an Alice in Wonderland word search puzzle where learners locate and circle 20 key terms and characters from the novel. Offer this to pupils who finish their work early, or who like to work puzzles at home. 

Here is a tricky little interactive online quiz with which your motivated learners can test themselves on the finer points of subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement. They need to know that macaroni and cheese is actually a...

  Students read and discuss the poem, The Purple Cow.  In this poetry lesson, students discuss the rhyming words in the poem and why this piece of literature is silly or unusual.     

First and second graders explore writing conventions. They add question marks or periods to the end of teacher generated sentences on sentence strips. They locate punctuation marks in poems and write original sentences using appropriate...

It's no fun when it rains! Young readers apply twelve words from a bank to a short passage about rain. You could use this activity as a homework assignment or a class activity to reinforce context clues. An answer key is available for...

Using colorful graphics, this presentation explores the use of the ay and ai spelling in words through an interactive quiz. This is a concept that learners in first and second grades may struggle to grasp. A teacher could add more...