Learning to read is not a simple task, but there are methods for assisting pupils as they develop literacy skills. The first four pages of this resource include information about language development and reading development, as well as...

This pre-reading activity will certainly make your class ponder. With five questions to reflect upon, get insight to the moral dilemma Percy faced in the novel Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. 

Keep an eye on progress with reading and vocabulary using pink and green sticky notes. This resource describes how to set up the sticky note system so that learners can note difficult passages, and teachers can track ability.

Encourage close reading for young learners with a lesson based on Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting. The first part of the resource guides readers through a Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA), prompting them to make...

What experiences lead people to change and how do they do it? After reading about Cole's encounter with Touching Spirit Bear, readers complete the second out of a series of five activities to predict future events in the text. The...

Teach your readers how to engage with a text by using the request strategy. As kids read Antoine de Saint Éxupery's The Little Prince, they choose a passage of text and formulate questions to stump their partners or their...

Even though readers investigate matters of the heart, this activity promotes the inner workings of learners' brains. The fifth lesson of six has the teacher first model the strategy to the class before having small groups practice. To...

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...

Designed for teachers, this 12-page packet uses passages from Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace" to model how to design activities that encourage close reading of complex text.

High schoolers synthesize the information they've learned from each chapter of Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting with a creative summarizing activity. With a graphic organizer for all of the book's chapters, readers title...

What happens first in Tuck Everlasting? What happens after that? Prompt readers to create a timeline of the events in Natalie Babbitt's novel, detailing both story sequence and character relationships.

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...

What better way to examine a text than to ask your own questions? Use Bloom's taxonomy to guide kids through Carl Hiaasen's Hoot by asking questions based on knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Fridays can be a challenge with learners already dreaming about their weekends. Here's a routine that will bring their minds back to the classroom. Read aloud the beginning of a story, sure to engage your listeners.

What is it that makes people keep going when they face challenges in life? Ask your class to consider this question in relation to their own experiences and as they read material from The New York Times. Using personal experiences...

In the novel, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, Percy is faced with a major decision. After reading, chapter 19, discuss the decision-making process Percy took, what he decided to...

Guide learners through a discussion about Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting with a helpful graphic organizer. As they read through the novel, individuals note their reactions to statements about the book's themes, and fill out...

What did medicine look like a hundred years ago? Two hundred years ago? Invite small groups to conduct research on the history of a chosen medical advancement before reading Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science....

Take a break from reading to find the magic number with this vocabulary game using words drawn from Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee.  Participants match the definition to the word in each numbered square of the puzzle, then add...

Sad, depressed, miserable, inconsolable, forlorn: so many synonyms have a lot of variety with their connotations. Through the guided imagery activity, writers explore the use of connotation and its influence on imagery and description by...

Here's a calendar that helps readers keep track of the major events in The Wednesday War.

Begin your unit on Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting with a pre-reading activity about the novel's themes. As class members ponder five questions that reflect the book's themes, they talk about their opinions in...

Get in touch with the emotional side of writing by reading Words By Heart. The writing assignment helps learners make personal connections with the text and hone their writing skills by exploring a time that they had to forgive...

Sensory details can enhance the reading experience, especially during a guided imagery reading. Young readers close their eyes and listen to a passage from Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons before responding to discussion questions and...