Fluence Learning
Writing About Informational Text: The Dred Scott Decision
Looking for a performance assessment that asks individuals to demonstrate their competency in writing about informational text? Use Frederick Douglass' essay "On the Dred Scott Decision," and an excerpt from Abraham Lincoln's 1857 speech...
Ontario
Reading Informational Text
Learning to recognize the importance of the features of information text (i.e., titles, subtitles, endnotes, sidebars, etc.) is the focus of a reading activity designed for middle schoolers. Learners examine how these text features help...
Kentucky School for the Deaf
Levels of Organization within an Ecosystem
From tiny organisms to entire biomes, young scientists examine the interdependent relationships tying all living and non-living things together with this collection of ecology resources.
Ontario
Reading Graphic Text
Do students really need to be taught how to read cartoons, comic books, and comic strips? Yes. Just as they need to learn how to read other forms of graphic text such as diagrams, photos, timetables, maps, charts, and tables. Young...
EngageNY
Conducting Research: Analyzing Expert Texts about the Mary River Project
Pupils read informational texts about the Mary River Project, searching for the gist. As they read the expert texts, they complete a graphic organizer to identify and analyze point of view.
EngageNY
Identifying Author’s Opinion and Evidence: The Value of Sports in People’s Lives, Part I
Just like instant replay, it's time to take a closer look! Pupils work together to add ideas to a Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart. They then put their knowledge to the test as they read an informational article about the...
National Council of Teachers of English
Timelines and Texts: Motivating Students to Read Nonfiction
With the emphasis on incorporating more nonfiction in language arts classes the question arises about how to design activities that motivate kids to engage with informational text. How about an assignment that asks class members to...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 3
The manipulation of time is one of the most essential elements in Sophocles' Oedipus the King. As your language arts class participates in a jigsaw discussion activity, they work together to analyze the play's plot structure and...
Columbus City Schools
Get Your Organisms Organized
From large to small, show your class how to organize them all! Included within the guide is everything you need to take their knowledge of classification from the cellular to the species level. The worksheets focus on building vocabulary...
EngageNY
Annotating the Text and Identifying Argument, Claims, and Evidence: “Double Whammy” Excerpt from “The Exterminator"
That's a double whammy! Scholars read the excerpt Double Whammy from The Exterminator. After identifying the gist of the text, they annotate by marking the author's claim. The group discusses what is meant by double whammy and complete...
Ontario
Critical Literacy—Media Texts
Media texts convey both overt and implied messages. As part of their study of media, class members analyze the language, form, techniques, and aesthetics in a variety of media texts.
Take 10
Author’s Perspective
Gradually build understanding of author's point of view through a scaffolded set of exercises. Moving from direct instruction, to collaborative work, and eventually to independent practice, these steps will assist your class in grasping...
Biology Junction
What Is Ecology?
Do you know the name for the biological study of interactions? A short presentation with accompanying worksheet introduces individuals to ecology. The materials offer a broad overview of the subject and the levels of organization to...
Lerner Publishing
Meet the Dinosaurs
Take your class of youngsters on a prehistoric adventure with this four-lesson series on dinosaurs. Accompanying the Meet the Dinosaurs books by Don Lessem, these lessons engage children in writing their own dinosaur books, making...
PBS
Reading Adventure Pack: Farms
A Reading Adventure Pack features a fiction and nonfiction text—The Oxcart Man by Donald Hall and illustrated by Barbara Cooney and Farming by Gail Gibbons. Following the readings, scholars make a collage showcasing foods farmed from...
CC Homestead
Summarize
Designed for third graders but appropriate for older learners as well, this packet of materials underscores the necessity of teaching kids how to summarize, how to identify main ideas and supporting details, and how to ask questions...
Institute for the Professional Development of Adult Educators
Using Context Clues with Signal Words
When you come across an unfamiliar word in a text, do you skip it and move on? Practice using context clues to identify words you don't know with a thorough set of language arts lessons. The resource reinforces close reading and critical...
EngageNY
Individual Research
Seventh graders get the option of choosing their own text from a selection to read and gather more information as part of their research. Learners discuss the difference in reading for research and reading for pleasure. They also begin...
Columbus City Schools
Let’s Get Theoretical About Cells
Get up close and personal with cells in a hands-on journey to discover what makes up living things. Scholars learn valuable microscope skills, delve into the Modern Cell Theory, and gain insight into how cells reproduce. The included lab...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
Utah Open Textbook: 3rd Grade Science
How do we interact with Earth? Scholars learn about the sun, Earth, moon, forces, gravity, and heat sources by reading a text and performing hands-on demonstrations. They also differentiate between living and non-living things using...
EngageNY
Analyzing the Central Ideas, Part 2: “The Border”
Writers use the Short Response Graphic Organizer: The Border to learn how to answer short response questions. After completing the organizer, they rotate among classmates conducting peer critiques of their work.
Idaho State Department of Education
Lessons for Social Studies Educators
Point of view, purpose, and tone: three concepts readers of primary and secondary source materials must take into account when examining documents. Class members view a PowerPoint presentation and use the SOAPS strategy to identify an...
Habits of Mind
Haileybury Habits of Mind Learning Resource Book
Imagine a learning community committed to using Costa and Kallick's Habits of Mind as the basis of curriculum design. The resource book is packed with lessons that are designed for and identify the standards and habits of mind targeted...
HealthTeacher
Get More Sleep
Help learners identify habits that interfere with sleep and to understand the importance of adequate rest and its impact on not only physical health, but also emotional wellbeing.