Acquaint your class with informational text through a close reading. First, examine a couple of pages together, looking at text features and content. The whole class focuses on marking down a brief summary of each paragraph before...

Who are we and what shapes our identities? Seventh graders work to answer this question as they learn how to write a memoir. Full of non-print resources and supplemental texts that range from fiction to non-fiction, scholars write their...

With What Do You See at the Pond?, young readers explore pond life and practice reading strategies. Learners first make predictions and then read the simple story independently. After a second read-through with a partner, kids come...

The second in a series of three lessons from Scholastic comparing and contrasting fiction and nonfiction, this activity requires learners to read, write, and compare two books independently. After briefly reviewing the features of...

As a before reading strategy, class members select a tale from mythology, examine several picture book versions of the myth, and fill out part of a Venn diagram with observations about the hero in particular and the myth in...

The New York Times' Learning Network provides great lessons! This one uses articles from the paper to help readers understand homonyms like mail (verb and noun). It also includes an exercise in reading informational text. Links to the...

Reading, writing, and rings! A lesson from NASA combines space science with authentic reading and writing tasks. Included in this lesson are pre-reading activities, four mini informational booklets on Saturn, a structured...

Discuss the environment of the Arctic tundra using this resource. The focus of this lesson is the story A Walk in the Tundra by Rebecca L. Johnson. The appealing illustrations are bound to captivate your class! After reading the...

A language arts instructional activity helps young writers identify elements that make up historical fiction. First, it guides them through elements of fictional pieces with vocabulary cards. Then, pupils work collaboratively to...

Racist, independent, conflicted? Readers of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn brainstorm words that describe the traits of characters in Twain’s novel and then rate these qualities in several of their favorite characters. Individuals...

Intelligent? Arrogant? Obnoxious? After completing Chapter 18 of Freak the Mighty, individuals fill out a semantic feature chart for characters in Rodman Philbrick's novel. Group members then use their charts to discuss relationships...

“It was a miracle.” Basil Heatter’s “The Long Night of the Little Boats,” which details the miraculous rescue of the British army from the shores of Dunkirk in 1940, is featured in a series of exercises that ask class members to read,...

Should primary graders have their own computers? Should animals be kept in captivity? Young writers learn how to develop and support a claim in this short unit on persuasive writing.

Young learners examine different places in their neighborhood using informational texts. First they identify a place that they like to play and predict if it will be in the nonfiction book Community at Play.They will share their favorite...

Every class enjoys reading new books at the beginning of a unit. Use this resource to identify a variety of books for kindergarten to third grade that can be used to complement social studies standards. The books can kindle learners'...

When would two paws up denote a blockbuster film in your classroom? Only when young writers create movie reviews from a pet's perspective in this imaginative expository writing practice. This engaging topic begins with a class discussion...

Dive into journalism with your high schoolers! The resources provided here will help your learners write unbiased, clear, and succinct newspaper articles. First they spend time sifting through stacks of articles, filling out a graphic...

Discuss the life of Franklin D. Roosevelt. This story, called "Franklin D. Roosevelt" by Laura Hamilton Waxman, is used to explore comprehension skills. Some of these skills include identifying prefixes and suffixes, making comparisons,...

Help your class improve their spelling skills. Learners take a test, are given a particular spelling rule to practice, and play a Bingo game. This employs various methods for practicing spelling skills.

Explore a variety of fables to learn life's lessons through engaging stories. Add rigor to the learning process with activities that include matching a a fable to the story's moral, short answer exit slips, and a three-column graphic...

Convey how to determine appropriate and credible online sources with a series of three lessons. After completing the lessons, class members will know what kinds of sources to use, how to identify credible sources, and how tone and style...

Once you've entered effective search terms, how do you evaluate the results of your search? Through the presentation and activities included here, pupils will examine results pages and determine what guiding information is provided. By...

Teach your class some strategies for effective searching. Pupils should assess the whole results screen and then determine how to go forward with their searches. A table of strategies is included, as is a challenge. After they complete...

Lensey Namioka’s Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear provides an opportunity for young readers to observe how writers bring their characters to life. Each class member selects a character to trace through the novel, recording...