Printables
Polk Bros Foundation

Comprehensive Nonfiction Reading Questions

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Analyze any nonfiction text with the set of questions on this sheet. Class members practice inferring by noting the main idea and purpose of a passage. They also analyze an opinion in the passage and write a brief summary. See the...
Assessment
1
1
E Reading Worksheets

Summarizing Text

For Students 5th - 6th Standards
Help learners find the most important information in a text with a lesson on summarizing. As kids read through a passage about Johannes Gutenberg, they summarize small excerpts, put events in sequential order, and respond to two longer...
Worksheet
K12 Reader

Summarize It: President Theodore Roosevelt's 7th Annual Message to Congress

For Students 8th Standards
How did Theodore Roosevelt stress the importance of conservation during his time as president of the United States? Take a closer look at the language Roosevelt used himself in a 1907 address to Congress, and have your young...
Activity
Florida Center for Reading Research

Comprehension: Monitoring for Understanding, Simple Summary

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd Standards
Can your class sum up a text in a few sentences? Help them build this skill by starting nice and slow. For this summarizing activity, the teacher marks the main ideas with sticky notes. Learners read and reread the text, pausing at the...
Activity
2
2
Florida Center for Reading Research

Comprehension: Expository Text Structure, Text Feature Find

For Teachers 4th - 5th Standards
Scholars explore an expository text to answer questions about its structure.
Activity
Florida Center for Reading Research

Comprehension: Monitoring for Understanding, What Do You Know?

For Teachers 4th - 5th Standards
An activity promotes reading comprehension. Readers analyze a text of their choice while activating prior knowledge and asking and answering questions. Scholars enforce multiple strategies to improve comprehension.
Assessment
Fluence Learning

Writing About Literary Text: Wise or Foolish?

For Students 4th Standards
A three-part assessment promotes reading comprehension skills. Class members read literary texts and take notes to discuss their findings, answer comprehension questions, write summaries, and complete charts. 
Worksheet
DePaul University

Chicago Changer: Jane Addams

For Students 4th - 5th Standards
The power of a single person to change a community is amazing. Read about about how Jane Addams witnessed people living terrible lives in Chicago and chose to do everything she could to help them. When finished, young learners identify...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Listening Closely and Taking Notes: Colonial Trade Podcast About the Wheelwright

For Teachers 4th Standards
Voices from the past. Young scholars listen to a podcast interview with a historical re-enactor as they continue their research in the eleventh instructional activity of this unit on colonial trade. Applying their close reading skills,...
Organizer
Polk Bros Foundation

I Can Comprehend a Paragraph, then a Page/Section in a Text

For Teachers 6th - 10th Standards
Help your class tackle chunks of text with a simple graphic organizer. Pupils read three paragraphs and, as they read, draw pictures in the provided boxes that demonstrate what each paragraph says. There are three boxes on the page and...
Worksheet
DePaul University

Egypt

For Students 3rd - 5th Standards
The country of Egypt is more than just big pyramids and ancient pharaohs. After reading a brief overview of this African nation, young learners will demonstrate their understanding of the text by identifying the main idea and supporting...
Worksheet
DePaul University

The Football Team

For Students 4th - 5th Standards
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...
Worksheet
DePaul University

Working at the Television Station

For Students 2nd - 4th Standards
There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes of a local news program. Read this passage independently or as a whole class to learn about all the different people that work hard to bring us the news. Afterward, young learners determine...
Assessment
1
1
Fluence Learning

Writing Informational Text: Lemonade Stand

For Students 3rd Standards
Use a performance task to assess third graders' ability to read informational text. After they plan a lemonade stand business, young entrepreneurs implement that plan through informational writing. The task assumes learners can...
Unit Plan
2
2
Odell Education

Reading Closely for Textual Details: Grade 6

For Teachers 6th Standards
Close reading doesn't mean to literally read text close to your face, but rather to pay attention to particular details in order to develop a deep and purposeful understanding of text. The first part of a five-part resource provides an...
Worksheet
Education City

Reading Comprehension

For Teachers Pre-K - 6th Standards
Celebrate National Reading Month in March—or any month of the year—with a selection of versatile graphic organizers. The worksheets prompt readers to compare characters easily, predict what will happen next in a story, track their...
Worksheet
DePaul University

Breaking the Food Chain

For Students 3rd - 5th Standards
Throughout history, the growth of big cities has resulted in the destruction of ecosystems. In the case of Chicago, IL, a grassland that was once home to bison, deer, wolves, and foxes quickly became a booming city of over three million...
Worksheet
DePaul University

Settlement

For Students 3rd - 5th Standards
Early settlers in the American Midwest experienced constant struggle. This reading passage describes for young learners the hardships of homesteaders as they journeyed west and sought to start a new life. When finished, students identify...
Unit Plan
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program

The Backpack Travel Journals

For Teachers 2nd - 5th Standards
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...
Worksheet
DePaul University

A Garden in Lawndale

For Students 3rd - 5th Standards
We are all capable of changing the world for the better; all it takes is a spark. Read about a group of seventh grade students in Chicago, IL who took it upon themselves to improve their community by turning a vacant lot into a garden....
Activity
Ideas From Suzi

Guided Reading: Beyond the Basics

For Teachers 1st - 5th Standards
Elevate children's reading comprehension skills with this collection of guided reading resources. From paper dice with basic comprehension questions printed on them to a system for using sticky notes to identify key...
Assessment
Fluence Learning

Writing an Opinion: Student Council

For Students 4th Standards
A three-part assessment challenges scholars to write opinion essays covering the topic of the student council. After reading three passages, writers complete a chart, work with peers to complete a mini-research project, answer...
Study Guide
Joel Michel Studies

The Tale of Despereaux: Novel Study

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
What kind of mouse is Despereaux Tilling ... a field mouse? A white-footed mouse? With the novel study for The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo, scholars research the different species of mice and draw pictures of the one that they...
Study Guide
Reed Novel Studies

Sounder: Novel Study

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Only one character receives a name in William H. Armstrong's novel, Sounder—the dog! With the novel study, scholars explore the author's purpose in the unusual decision. They also write similes, answer comprehension and analysis...