Can you find the themes from Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea in other books? What about picture books? Compare the novel to a picture book with a lesson plan about making predictions and finding textual evidence.

It's helpful to encourage kids to make predictions when beginning a reading unit. Before reading Hoot by Carl Hiaasen, have kids read Susan Barlow Broggi's Am I Grown Up When I'm Not Afraid of Spiders in My Shoes? to make...

Does the fastest one always win the race? Look deeper into The Tortoise and the Hare with a set of discussion questions for before, during, and after reading the story.

Enhance a class read-aloud of the children's story Hi! Fly Guy with this reading comprehension instructional activity. Children first listen as the teacher reads the story, stopping along the way to discuss any unfamiliar...

Create a cross-curricular learning experience based on the children's book Joseph Had a Little Overcoat with this collection of learning activities. Starting with a class reading of the story, children go on to learn about the...

A visual literary lesson plan provides learners with OPTIC (Observations, Predictions, Themes, Inferences, Conclusions), a reading strategy to help them understand and interpret visual and written texts. Scholars practice the strategy...

Turn your passive readers into active readers with an engaging lesson plan on reading informational text. Focused on compare and contrast structured essays, the activity prompts elementary learners to jot down questions and think-aloud...

Spruce up a class reading of the children's book Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback with this fun series of activities. Starting with a list of reading comprehension questions and key vocabulary to address during a teacher...

Active listening is all about thinking, asking questions, and making connections. That's the take-away from a lesson about active listening. Participants learn techniques for identifying important information, including how to ask...

A good story is a great way to support skills that are necessary for encouraging strong reading skills. Here is a class I do, You do, We do style lesson that stars the tale, Ming Lo Moves the Mountain. Included are two fun pre-reading...

Making inferences and drawing conclusions is a key component to successful active reading. Encourage your class to use context clues and prior knowledge to infer different elements of a story, including the setting, plot, and character...

Encourage your middle schoolers to interact with the text as they read. While reading "Three Skeleton Key," class members note predictions, define words and study their meanings, take notes on how the suspense builds, and jot down...

Young readers travel back to the time of the dinosaurs in this literature unit based on the story Dinosaurs Before Dark. Intended for use with upper-elementary special education students, this resource provides reading...

Story chains connect literary concepts, reinforce context clues, and even help learners predict what's coming next! Using words from the next chapter of Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons, middle schoolers craft story chains to...

Help to create the next generation of friends with a lesson about accepting people who are different. As kids read Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon, they answer a series of discussion questions and activities about making friends...

Teach your class about compassion and empathy with Jamee Riggio Heelan's Can You Hear a Rainbow? As kids read about Chris, a boy who is deaf, they discuss the things he likes to do, as well as the ways he communicates with the world.

Stand in My Shoes, a story by Bob Sornson, is an effective way to teach young learners about empathy and making friends. Once pupils read through the story, they answer a series of discussion questions and complete reading...

Full of activities for Jan Brett's story "Gingerbread Friends," this resource will get your kids in the mood for some snacks, fortify their need for vocabulary, and fill their minds with story elements.

How can you tell if a number of items is reasonable? Combine math and language arts with a fun lesson based on Jeff Shepard's The Right Number of Elephants. After reading the book, kids discuss amounts of other items and create...

Here is a 19-page sample lesson that uses an interesting format. It starts with an appetizer or activity to make reading the book James and the Giant Peach fun. Then it dives into the main course or core content instruction which...

Learn about how the seeing eye dog program began with a reading lesson about Eva Moore's chapter book, Buddy, The First Seeing Eye Dog. With vocabulary words, discussion questions, and extension resources, the lesson is a...

The Magic Pot by Patricia Coombs is the theme of this multidisciplinary lesson plan. Early readers first take part in a read aloud and grand conversation about the story's details. Then, they get to work practicing their skills in...

Introduce young learners to the idea of disabilities and making friends with children who are different than they are. Using Don't Call Me Special - A First Look at Disability by Pat Thomas, learners are guided through the new...

Perry the penguin wants to buy a new scooter, but he doesn't have any funds! Walk your kids through the short book Less Than Zero, and have them track his borrowing, spending, and saving on a line graph while you read. Pupils will learn...