Literacy Design Collaborative
Exploring Character Development in The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
How did the Civil Rights Movement affect young people in the United States? Scholars read Christopher Paul Curtis' novel, The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963. Next, they write compare and contrast essays showing how the main characters...
Read Works
Cats in the Catacombs
Fourth graders read a short story and then answer questions based on what they read. Learners are asked to support their answers with evidence from the text.
DePaul University
The Football Team
Playing team sports is about more than just scoring the most goals or winning the most games. Read this passage with your class and learn how athletes build character as members of a team. When finished, individuals identify the main...
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
The Backpack Travel Journals
Strap on those backpacks, it's time to travel through history with this literature unit based on the first four books of The Magic Tree House series. While reading through these fun stories, children create story maps, record interesting...
Curriculum Corner
Guest Teacher Plans Grade 5
Math, reading, writing, and word work; it's all here in a daily lesson plan created to support a substitute teacher in a fifth grade class.
Reed Novel Studies
The Indian In The Cupboard: Novel Study
Don't judge a book—or a toy—by its cover. Omri, a main character in The Indian in the Cupboard, quickly judged his plastic toy figures as boring. However, once placed in the cupboard, Omri's toys became something he never imagined....
Reed Novel Studies
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher: Novel Study
Don't count your eggs before they hatch—unless they are dragon eggs. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher follows the main character as he finds himself hatching dragon eggs. Scholars work through the resource and read how Jeremy tries to...
Reed Novel Studies
The Lions of Little Rock: Novel Study
A true friend sticks with you through thick and thin. Marlee and Liz, main characters in The Lions of Little Rock, have that type of friendship. Scholars learn vocabulary and answer comprehension questions as they read how the two girls...
Reed Novel Studies
Hatchet: Novel Study
Thanks to Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, teen readers now know it's possible to survive in the wilderness. A study guide for the novel discusses common topics and vocabulary words found within the text. Additionally, readers get the chance to...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 17
Eighth graders demonstrate their understanding with the final assessment in a literary analysis unit based on Karen Russell's short story, "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves." Having prepared for the assessment in the last few...
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
Mummies in the Morning Egyptian pyramids, hieroglyphics
Visit the Magic Treehouse and take your class on a trip through time with a reading of the children's book Mummies in the Morning. Using the story to spark an investigation into Egyptian culture, this literature unit engages...
Curated OER
The Metamorphosis: Multicultural Strategy
Track the changes and developments in Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis with a reading comprehension worksheet. Individuals copy important quotations from each of the book's three parts, record their reactions, and then reflect on the...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Comprehension: Narrative Text Structure, Character Consideration
An activity work alongside a narrative text of your choice. With reading comprehension at its focus, readers complete worksheets covering character descriptions.
Curated OER
Because of Winn-Dixie
Take an in-depth look at a passage from Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn-Dixie. Included here is the reading passage as well as a step-by-step procedure for reading the text, a set of text-dependent questions, and a final writing...
Curriculum Corner
Guest Teacher Plans: Kindergarten
Emergencies happen. Be prepared the next time you have to call in a substitute with a lesson plan designed to meet the needs of a kindergarten class. Throughout the day, class members work with number and alphabet cards, identify numbers...
Novelinks
Touching Spirit Bear: Directed Thinking Activity
Can you guess what is going to happen in a story just by looking at the cover? Readers engage in a directed-reading activity in which they preview the text from Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen, read to find an answer, and re-read...
Fabius-Pompey School District
Paired Passage Practice and the Extended Response Question
How do pupils relate paired passages to each other? Here's a resource that helps! The lesson includes a short story and a poem as a set of paired reading passages, followed by some analysis questions. It also includes an essay template...
Prestwick House
The Book Thief
Review main characters, story events, and important quotes from Marcus Zusak's The Book Thief. A crossword puzzle with 29 clues gives high schoolers the opportunity to check their understanding and revist Zusak's haunting work.
Polk Bros Foundation
I Can Analyze a Story or History Completely and Carefully
Start off analysis of a text with a instructional activity that asks pupils to complete several tasks. Class members note down a couple of characters or people and their distinguishing traits, describe the most important event, summarize...
K12 Reader
Narrator and Point of View
Point of view is important when choosing a narrator. Help young writers distinguish between first and third person point of view with an activity that features excerpts from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. After reading four...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Comprehension: Narrative Text Structure, Story Pieces
An activity boosts reading comprehension by challenging scholars to answer questions about a narrative tale detailing elements—plot, characters, setting, theme, problem, and solution.
August House
The Ghost Catcher
Delve into a Bengali folktale with a series of reading comprehension activities. Before kids read The Ghost Catcher, they discuss the concept of reflections and mirrors. They then answer comprehension questions about the characters and...
Curated OER
Pride and Prejudice: Directed Reading Thinking Activity
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 of the...
Reed Novel Studies
Peter Pan: Novel Study
J.M. Barrie's classic book Peter Pan is about an adventurous boy who never gets old. Scholars read the first two chapters about Peter and three young friends. They then complete worksheets by filling in sentences with vocabulary words,...