Can you judge a book by its cover? Decide who and what Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is about with a prediction activity. Before reading the first three chapters of the book, kids answer questions based on their interpretation...

Focus on the literary themes of Kyoko Mori's Shizuko's Daughter with an anticipation guide. Kids read statements about respect, abandonment, and love, and mark their agreement or disagreement before beginning the novel. After they...

Few studies have captured the complex relationships between mothers and daughters, such as Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. Tenth graders read "Rules of the Game," which describes Waverly's youth in chess tournaments, and compare how she...

Asking questions about what you're reading is an effective way to connect with the text. After kids read passages from Kyoko Mori's Shizuko's Daughter, they identify questions about the passages as Right There, Think and...

Is Yuki a selfish character? Analyze her motivation and behavior during a unit on Shizuko's Daughter by Kyoko Mori. Readers fill out two sides of a graphic organizer with reasons why or why not she is selfish, and then come up with...

How is your grandmother related to you? How is your cousin related to your grandmother? Learn about family relationships and pronouns with an activity that guides pupils to write two short narratives about members of their families.

How well do your learners really know the characters in Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising? A biopoem activity prompts readers to investigate the characters and their traits. Line by line, writers add the characters'...

A poet's word choice can be the difference between a poem that is merely sad, and a poem full of heartbreaking regret. Middle schoolers discern the tone in four different poems, noting the relevant textual evidence that supports...

Examine the text of Kyoko Mori's Shizuko's Daughter with a reading guide. With questions that prompt kids to refer to the reading as well as to their own experiences and opinions, the guide is an effective way to keep them engaged...

Get your middle schoolers up to scratch with analogies using this worksheet. Pupils complete 10 analogies by determining the associations between the words and using the provided bridge sentences.

When it comes to William Shakespeare, there seem to be more questions than answers! Using the fact sheet, pupils uncover information about the Bard's home and family life, as well as his schooling and career. Readers also learn about his...

Based on the book Victoria Goes to Brazil (Children Return to their Roots) by Maria de Fatima Campos, this instructional activity will teach learners about family, geography, sports, music, and transportation. Learners read, summarize,...

Who killed Laius? How is Creon connected to Jocasta? Where does the Oracle dwell? Get the details of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex straight with a crossword puzzle activity.

Analyze an abridged version of Martin Luther King Jr's "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Class members read the excerpt and respond to four provided questions, which focus on the content provided. Consider taking the time to read the entire...

Lost! (or misplaced) a modifier. Last seen dangling at the end of a sentence! Reward offered! To underscore the humor, class members are each given a sample sentence to illustrate (A woman passed by, leading a Springer Spaniel, in a...

Selected (8) reading passages (grades 5-8) to pair with "Sahara Special" by Esme Raji Codell. Sahara Special is the story of Sahara Jones's 5th grade school year and the struggles she overcomes to make friends and reach her potential as...