Who knew determining author's purpose could be turned into a game? Four teams compete to correctly identify the author's purpose for writing a series of passages.

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...

Sixth graders brainstorm the reasons authors write, and they list their responses on the board. Students discuss each purpose they have listed.Students work independently to read the selection  "Tarantulas and Typhoid" by...

Scholars delve into an informational text with the help of four pages that focus on the author's purpose, vocabulary words, summarization, and main idea.

Why do authors write? Practice determining the author's purpose with a categorizing activity. Learners sort twelve short passages into three categories: persuade, inform, and entertain.

Part one of a mid-unit assessment relating to The Omnivore’s Dilemma includes listening to and analyzing a speech by Birke Baehr. Part two involves analyzing an excerpt from the text. The assessment ends with short response questions.

Learners identify the author's purpose in various poems from the book Words with Wings: A Treasury of African-American Poetry and Art. In order to determine the purpose, pupils first observe as the teacher completes a PIES char...

Reinforce comprehension of informational text. This is a one-on-one lesson intended to build an internal dialogue the reader can use to boost overall comprehension. They work independently with a tutor or teacher to read a nonfiction...

FDR's December 7, 1941 address to the nation is the focus of a reading comprehension exercise that asks middle schoolers to read an excerpt from the Pearl Harbor speech and determine the president's purpose.

Third graders chunk text while reading it. In this language arts lesson, 3rd graders determine the author's purpose for calling certain things the names they are called like spuds for potatoes. Students discuss how words affect the...

Fifth graders determine the meaning of author's purpose. In this author's purpose lesson, 5th graders apply the PIE (persuade, inform, entertain) strategy to determine why an author wrote a piece of writing. They examine passages and...

Introduce expository writing to your elementary learners. Young authors write a three-paragraph informational paper using the steps of the writing process. They follow guided lessons to experience each of five steps. Included are tons of...

We chew with our teeth every day, but how much do we really know about them? Allow Ms. Frizzle to teach your kids a thing or two about teeth. Kids complete a prereading exercise, read the book, and respond to several prompts about the...

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,...

An assessment takes a close look at the story, Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt, and tests writing abilities. Over the course of two days, scholars read an excerpt, answer questions on a worksheet pertaining to the author's...

Capitalism, socialism, communism ... these may seem like a whole bunch of isms to your scholars. High schoolers won't  confuse them after completing an informative resource. Your class masters how to use primary sources to...

Even though readers investigate matters of the heart, this activity promotes the inner workings of learners' brains. The fifth lesson of six has the teacher first model the strategy to the class before having small groups practice. To...

Invite your learners to research three different websites that pertain to a topic focused on in your syllabus. Students fill out a chart by answering questions about each site. Then, they compare how useful the sites are to one...

How many Calories one needs on a daily basis is dependent on a number of factors including gender, height, and activity level. In the third of seven lessons about energy and food, young nutritionists calculate the number of Calories...

From baseball and tennis to capture the flag and four-square, here is a great document that will help you design your next unit on a sport-related activity. 

More than half the world's population eats rice as a daily staple ... imagine if that rice could prevent illness. Scientists genetically engineered rice to include vitamin A for just that purpose. However, room for debate still exists....

Pupils explore the meaning of the ancient Greek word aretê and the place of virtue in historical athletic competition and modern sports. They begin by reading an informational text on the goal of sports in education, and then...

What other inventions was Thomas Edison responsible for besides the telegraph and lightbulb? Incorporate a set of worksheets into your study of Edison and other inventors. The 48-page packet includes all types of activities from word...

Eighth graders examine a nonfiction selection in a teacher led lesson. They examine the author's purpose for writing the selection and identify the difference between fact and opinion. The compare and contrast expository and narrative...