Curated OER
Dragonwings: Evaluate Chapters 10-12
As your class finishes the novel Dragonwings, use these culminating projects. A vocabulary list is given for chapters eleven and twelve and either an epitaph or letter activity concludes the book. The final project consists of creating a...
Joel Michel Studies
The Tale of Despereaux: Novel Study
What kind of mouse is Despereaux Tilling ... a field mouse? A white-footed mouse? With the novel study for The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo, scholars research the different species of mice and draw pictures of the one that they...
Reed Novel Studies
Sounder: Novel Study
Only one character receives a name in William H. Armstrong's novel, Sounder—the dog! With the novel study, scholars explore the author's purpose in the unusual decision. They also write similes, answer comprehension and analysis...
Curated OER
End-of-Year Practice Test (Grade 6 ELA/Literacy)
With the end of the year quickly approaching it's time to find out exactly how much your sixth graders have learned. Specifically designed for the Common Core ELA standards, this practice test gives students five reading passages,...
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 17: Obituary
The Cay has been criticized by groups such as the Council on Interracial Books for Children because of the way race is portrayed. Explore the argument against the book while taking the author's perspective into account. Class members...
Polk Bros Foundation
Show, Then Write What You Learn
After reading a text or covering a new topic, have class members fill out the four boxes on this page with facts. Individuals can use words or drawings to represent the facts.
EngageNY
Getting the Gist and Determining Word Meaning: Paragraphs 12–14 of Steve Jobs’ Commencement Address (and connecting to Chapter 8)
Groups use a Venn diagram to compare the theme of love and loss in Steve Jobs' 2005 commencement address to Stanford University students and Christopher Paul Curtis' Bud, Not Buddy.
Curated OER
Ready Set Go Woah: KWL for Ender's Game
Readers of Orson Scott Card's award-winning science fiction novel, Ender's Game use the provided KWL worksheet to list what they already know about war, what they think they will learn in reading the book, the new information they did...
Simcoe County District School Board
Literature Circles
Get learners excited about reading with literature circles! Small groups discuss the day's reading in various roles, including Discussion Director, Summarizer, Word Wizard, Literary Luminary, Travel Tracer, Connector, and Fact Finder,...
K12 Reader
Her Story: Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth is one of the most prominent faces of the abolitionist movement, but what was her life in slavery like? Learn more about her early years with a reading comprehension resource that provides a short passage from her...
Curated OER
Phineas Gage: Questioning Strategy
Focus on chapter two of Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science with a questioning activity. After teaching and modeling several types of questions, learners work with partners and then independently to answer and...
Polk Bros Foundation
Common Core Constructed Response Organizer
Get your writers ready to compose a constructed response essay in response to either an informational or fictional text. Pupils note down the big idea they wish to address as well as up to nine examples from the text that they wish to...
Brigham Young University
Out of the Dust: KWHL Strategy
A K-W-H-L chart is a great way to scaffold prior knowledge. As class members begin their reading of Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse’s 1998 Newbery Medal winning verse novel, they chart what they already know about the Great Depression and...
Polk Bros Foundation
Main Idea Analyzer
Show the connection between the main idea and supporting details with a graphic organizer. Pupils fill in the main idea of a text in the circle and the supporting ideas in the boxes connected to the circle.
Teacher Printables
Photo Scrapbook
Have your class summarize a reading with drawings. This page provides six boxes shaped like photographs, each with small space for pupils to write a caption. A great way for students to process what they've read, use the resource for...
Curated OER
Essential Meaning in Text Using Non-fiction Information Source
Students practice the skill of summarizing in writing the content of a passage or text and point out the main points in the story. They revise their skills on note-taking that they took the semester before and fine tune them more...
Curated OER
Kumeyaay Indians
Useful for literary analysis, citing textual evidence, or summary skills, this lesson about the Kumeyaay Indians would be a good addition to your language arts class. Middle schoolers read novels and summarize the literature in their own...
Reed Novel Studies
The Sisters Grimm: Novel Study
Author Michael Buckley's novel The Sisters Grimm features two fairy-tale sleuths who are tasked with stopping a giant from destroying their town. Using the novel study, individuals acquire new vocabulary and answer comprehension...
Curated OER
Research and Technical Writing
Young scholars summarize information from their research on to note-cards. In this technical writing instructional activity students examine examples of note-cards that contain main ideas from research previously conducted. They will...
EngageNY
Close Reading and Gathering Evidence from Frightful’s Mountain and “Welcome Back”
Where did the falcons go? Scholars read the article Welcome Back which describes the disappearance of falcons due to the use of pesticides. During a second read, learners annotate the text by marking unfamiliar words and facts about...
Novelinks
Tuck Everlasting: Titles for Chapters
High schoolers synthesize the information they've learned from each chapter of Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting with a creative summarizing activity. With a graphic organizer for all of the book's chapters, readers title the chapter...
Curated OER
Phineas Gage: Personal Phrenology Chart During Reading Activity
Phrenology, the belief that parts of your brain control certain aspects of your personality, is described in Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science. While we now know much more about the brain, learners use this idea...
Curriculum Corner
ELA Common Core Checklists for K-6
In the hustle and bustle of life in the classroom, it's easy for teachers to lose track of the standards they have taught, and those that still need to be addressed. This Common Core checklist provides educators with an easy-to-use...
Polk Bros Foundation
Collect Evidence to Support an Idea
In order to support an idea, writers must use evidence. Your class members can prepare their evidence with this basic activity. Writers note down the topic they are learning about and their own idea. Next, they come up with information...