High school learners review the six major reading comprehension strategies. They demonstrate the strategies by putting them into action using more complex reading. They finish by discussing a seventh strategy, monitoring comprehension.

A read-aloud anthology explores Colonial America. Third graders listen to informational texts, discuss what they heard, and participate in extension activities and writing. Take-home materials, assessments, and remediation opportunities...

Get your young historians thinking about East Asian culture and history during this partner research project, in which they analyze a variety of East Asian aspects to prepare for a presentation. After an initial "what do we already know"...

Following brief instruction about the Iran Hostage Crisis during Jimmy Carter's presidency, small groups read three-page sections from the diary of hostage Robert C. Ode. They write editorials from the perspective of either U.S. citizens...

Sometimes the New Order becomes synonymous with its implications for European countries, but what about its consequences for East Asia? The final instructional activity in a four-part series teaches scholars about World War II. High...

Fifth graders analyze a poem. For this poetry analysis lesson students read a poem, analyze it, and write a response. They write about their own thoughts on the poem's meaning and any feelings they have about the poem.

Explore vocabulary by participating in a word fluency game! Utilize a deck of flash cards with irregular words printed on them to play a game. As they show each other the cards, they collect points for each word they sound out correctly.

Students examine the leaders of the Middle East. In this Middle East lesson, students read biographies regarding featured twentieth century leaders of Egypt, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, and Yemen. Students...

Will walls help? Read to learn how Prime Minister Ariel Sharon proposes to build walls around Isreal in hopes of isolation from Palestine. Complete an online Webquest, analyze maps, listen to audio clips, answer discussion questions, and...

The mini Reading Adventure Pack takes a close look at the Olympics. After reading a fiction and nonfiction story, scholars research facts about the host country or a country of their choice participating in the games. The research...

Students explore many of the countries in the Middle East, developing research-based posters and a spider web illustrating the relationships among the countries. They write letters to fictional peers in Middle Eastern countries.

After several short 15-minute mini-lessons, your learners will gain an understanding of the characteristics of a non-fiction text. Using the book Map It by Elspeth Leacock, your class will become acquainted with non-fiction terms...

Sixth graders read "Seven Daughters and Seven Sons" and examine aspects of Middle East culture and geography. They define vocabulary from the book and map locations described in the book.

Young scholars use poetry to understand conflict in the Middle East. In this poetry lesson, students read persona poems and use the poetry  and a novel as mentor text to guide their own poem about peace in the Middle East.

Eighth graders find a current event related to the Middle East. In this current event activity students write a brief summary of a new story related to the Middle East. They give their opinion and tell how it affects their life or who it...

Students review different film versions of the play, Hamlet, and compare what was presented to the actual stage directions given in the original Shakespearean version.

Elementary schoolers examine the components of reading nonfiction. They use think-alouds to help them complete reading the selected sections. They also identify text features as they read.

Analyze the free-writing method of brainstorming to explore how to write an essay. Middle schoolers plan their writing from the beginning after reading two samples of free-writing, then creating their own. The instructional activity...

Bully, bullied, or bystander? Paul Langan's The Bully is the anchor text in a unit that examines bullying and violence. After a close reading of the text, readers imagine themselves as the characters and consider how they would react in...

Scholars read excerpts from the story, Heidi, in a three-part assessment that focuses on comparing and contrasting characters. Each part contains three tasks that challenge learners to discuss, answer comprehension...

Strap on those backpacks, it's time to travel through history with this literature unit based on the first four books of The Magic Tree House series. While reading through these fun stories, children create story maps, record...

Explore ethnicity and identity with a research and writing assignment. Class members conduct online research, looking in particular at images and carefully noting down their sources on notecards. They read about identity and compose...

Practice the strategy of summarizing to gain meaning and knowledge from an informational text. Young readers highlight supporting details and main ideas, and then they use this to summarize two articles: "The Great Quake" and "What...

A carefully crafted three-day lesson integrates poetry and visual art. By analyzing and comparing Langston Hughes' poem "Mother and Son" and Romare Bearden's collage "The Dove," readers explore the theme of hope. The lesson activates...