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...

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.

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.

Build the skills your budding authors need to develop to compose well-structured paragraphs. Give them the topic sheet (included here), and have them write a cohesive paragraph using the ideas listed. Consider having them include two...

Explore with your class the purposes and author's intents for poetry titles. First you read several brief poems to the class and discuss how the authors may have chosen the titles. Then small groups read title-less poems posted around...

To better understand how to compose a clear and well-organized paper, learners read short passages, write summaries, and make colored graphic organizers. This is a fully developed three-day lesson with suggested assessments.

Students view a PowerPoint presentation about Character sketches, and write a four paragraph character sketch. Emphasis is placed on topic sentences having one main idea per paragraph and elaborating. They study and discuss ways to write...

Get the bat facts with a short nonfiction reading passage. After reading the passage, readers respond to questions that focus on main idea, inferencing, vocabulary in context, and author's purpose.

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,...

Fourth graders work individually or in a small group to (1) read a nonfictional selection, (2) identify main idea and details, (3) identify the author's purpose, and (4) practice test-taking strategies.

Fourth graders explore the human and animal connection along with the idea that death is a part of the life cycle. They read "Where the Red Fern Grows." Students examine the feelings and emotions surrounding death and they discover the...

Students arrange illustrations in sequential order. In this text organization lesson, students access a webpage where they must follow the instructions to learn about the steps of pumpkin carving. Students then click and drag...

Students discuss equality and fairness by reading a Maya Angelo poem.  In this U.S. history lesson, students read the poem I Know Why Caged Birds Sing, and discuss how the era it was written in affected the words.  Students...

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. 

Is a college education necessary for success in today's world? The class investigates the question, along with others at the end of the sixth workshop in a 15-part series. The lesson has four parts with multiple activities and...

Young scholars discover story analysis by discussing a book the class reads together.  In this reading comprehension lesson, students read the book The Keeping Quilt and discuss the different characters and plot points among the...