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Cultivate Active Reading Skills
Have class members try out these strategies to improve comprehension and engagement.
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Religions of the World
A perfect resource for encouraging an understanding of the world's religions and note taking skills. Text is broken into a classic note taking style, ideal for teaching good habits. Content includes a break down of major religions,...
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General Notebooking Pages
Spice up the note-taking process with a variety of different note pages. Learners can choose from 19 different designs. Many of the pages include space for writing and drawing.
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Interactive Student Notebook for Middle School ELA
Encourage creative, independent, and reflective thinking and writing throughout the school year by having your class members keep Interactive Student Notebooks (ISN). Here you'll find a presentation designed to introduce students to the...
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Pizza Biography
A biography writing instructional activity with a tasty twist! Kids create a "visual biography" in which each pizza slice represents a paragraph, and toppings represent supporting details. They learn research techniques, note-taking...
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The Daily Scoop
Pupils report classroom news. First, they write complete sentences using adjectives and adverbs to describe events. Next, they take turns presenting interesting news to the class using appropriate volume and clarity. As an extension,...
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The Carolingian Dynasty
Assist your class as they take notes on the Carolingian Dynasty. This handout contains spaces for them to take down information on each of the six rulers of the time period. Starting with Duke Pepin and finishing up with Louis I, this...
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Beginning Your Inquiry
If you're starting a research project, use this guide to help young learners form the inquiry for their research. With steps that outline the entire process, including note taking and gauging the quality of an inquiry question, this...
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Notes Unit 1: Art Fundamentals
Here is a guide for your middle schoolers to use while you are providing a lecture on the basics of art. They use this worksheet to aid them as they take notes on the purpose of art, art elements, properties of art, and art principles....
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Writing a Letter
Here are three well-thought-out tasks intended to build good note taking and letter writing skills. The class reads three short letters, determines who wrote them (based on context) and takes notes as a pre-writing activity. They finish...
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Comprehension: Compare and Contrast Topics in Two Texts
A scripted lesson can be a big help for new teachers. This fully scripted three-day learning activity provides teachers with the means to demonstrate how to compare and contrast two topics in two texts. Learners will work as a class to...
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Selective Underlining Taking Notes
It is so important for learners to become selective and strategic readers. This slide show provides examples and practice exercises that encourage them to read informational text and selectively underline key points or information. Great...
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Information Reports
Students practice essay skills. In this essay skills lesson, students select an essay subject and take notes for their topic. Students create a web for their essays. Students organize, write, revise, and publish their essays.
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Listening To a Guest Speaker
Pupils review the main points of note-taking to summarize the content of a formal or informal spoken presentation. They hear a guest speaker talk about a pre-arranged topic and take notes during the presentation. Next, they write a...
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Researching Skills: Taking Notes
The how and why of note taking is the focus of a four-page learning exercise. Tips include how to take notes in class, how to prepare note cards for a speech, how to fill out note cards on readings, and where to keep notes. Whether...
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Be An Effective Note-Taker
Guide your middle schoolers through the process of taking notes with this presentation. With tips and suggestions in the first half, the slideshow could be a good way to begin a research unit in your classroom. The second half of the...
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Answering a Research Question
Young scholars explore beginning research skills. In this nonfiction comprehension and research lesson, students generate possible research questions to answer when given the book title of Animals of the Sea and Shore by Ann O. Squire....
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Lesson 1: Identifying Information
Factual books about animals are great for sparking interest in non-fiction text. Little ones will love learning about the foods animals eat as they practice identifying facts in a text. They chart the information they've learned by...
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Big Bushy Mustache: comprehension skills
In this comprehension skills worksheet, students read the book Big Bushy Mustache and complete comprehension activities. Students complete 5 activities including note taking, making inferences, fiction and non fiction, drawing...
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Writing a Biography - Helen Keller
Students investigate inspirational figures by researching Helen Keller. In this biography lesson, students utilize the Internet to take notes about the life of Helen Keller. Students complete a biography question worksheet which they...
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Coming to America: U.S. Immigration
Students study immigration in the late 19th and early 20th century. In this immigration lesson plan, students participate in activities including creating maps, responding to non fiction text, memorizing and analyzing poetry, and...
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Animal Diaries
Students read Diary of a Worm by Foreen Cronin. In this journal writing instructional activity, students research an animal and write a diary by their animal. Students apply the research they've completed in their writings. Students...
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Science and Society: Synthetic Elements
In this synthetic elements worksheet, students read a selection, "Maya Lin's Civil Rights Memorial," then decipher the main ideas. Students are asked to support their main ideas with notes and phrases that prove their understanding of...
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Note Taking
In this reading worksheet, students fill out a chart about note taking. In the chart, students write notes, draw pictures, and write a summary.