Curated OER
Writing Summaries
Practice summary writing with informational texts. Young readers create summaries after reading magazine articles, newspaper articles, or other forms of informational texts. Readers use the GRASP strategy (read text, write what you...
Curated OER
Short But Sweet
After analyzing and evaluating news summaries found in the New York Times "Week in Review" section, middle schoolers study the steps for summarizing a news article briefly and accurately. They write two news summaries: one on a newspaper...
Curated OER
Can Scientists Discover a Limit to Discovery?
Is there anything left to discover? Evaluate opposing sides of the debate regarding whether or not there is a future for scientific discovery. Middle and high schoolers assess quotations from the articles included to evaluate claims and...
Curated OER
Denial on Trial
What is the "Faurisson Affair”? What is “Holocaust Revisionism”? What does freedom of speech entail? Do revisionists have a right to voice their ideas? Such questions are at the heart of a richly detailed, thought provoking lesson...
Curated OER
What's the Difference Between Procedural and Substantive Due Process?
Students discuss the difference between substantive and procedural due process. They research the uses of due process on the internet and books. They also discuss cases involving students and due process.
Curated OER
How Do I Write an Article Critique?
Your middle and high schoolers have written tons of summaries, but can they give a strong critique of an article they've read? Identify the differences between summary writing and critiquing. Choose an interesting article and have...
Curated OER
Budget Busters
Use this economic activity to focus on writing summaries of informational text. First, middle schoolers define common economic terms used to describe news about the economy. They closely read news about the federal budget deficit and...
Curated OER
Let There Be Peace: Nobel Prize Winners
What is the Nobel Peace Prize? After they establish criteria for great leadership, secondary learners read a New York Times article about President Jimmy Carter's acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Individuals research the...
Curated OER
Five Step Summary
Students review the five steps to summarization. They then read the article "Whoooo-o Are You?" silently. As a class they summarize a small section of the article using the five steps included. Finally, the students summarize...
Curated OER
Question What You Read
Readers test their reading comprehension after reading a nonfiction text about Paleo Indians. (This text is in Alabama: It's History and Geography, but other texts can be used.) After reading the nonfiction article as a class, they...
Curated OER
Justice Is Blind, Colorblind That Is
It's so interesting to see kids respond to articles about education. To start the day, prompt learners to discuss the words colorblindness and diversity. Then, split your class in two and have one side read an article from 2007 and the...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
The Columnist Project
Imagine a list that includes Alan Abelson of Baron's, Bob Woodward of the Washington Post, and Mother Jones. High schoolers select a national columnist, read and annotate five columns by this author, noting the rhetorical strategies,...
Curated OER
Back to School: Style Analysis
Jump back into expository writing and analysis at the start of a new school year! Start with a review of an authors' stylistic choices in diction, syntax, treatment of subject matter, and figurative language. Writers choose a text to...
Curated OER
KWL Chart and Background Article
Students discuss an ecosystem. In this coral reef lesson plan, students fill in their own KWL chart and contribute ideas to a whole class KWL chart. They read an article as a class to spark ideas for facts they can add to the "K" part of...
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
Tea Overboard
While less well known than the event in Boston, the Yorktown Tea Party was equally decisive in turning community sentiment against Great Britain. To gain an understanding of why the colonists objected to the Tea Act, young historians...
Curated OER
American Dream and The Great Gatsby
Is the American Dream alive and well or has it dried up and died? As part of a study of The Great Gatsby, class members search for articles on the state of the American Dream, analyze the arguments presented in those articles, and then...
Channel Islands Film
Dark Water: Lesson Plan 1 - Grades 3-4
As part of their study of the history of the Channel Islands, class members craft an informational article to post on a bulletin board that features the Chumash ancestral tradition of tomol paddling.
Curated OER
Science Current Events
Seventh graders write science current events articles using various media sources.
Curated OER
Sum Stuff
Students are introduced to informational text. Students explore nonfiction as a genre. They identify the components and text structure of text nonfiction. Students read a nonfiction passage and write a summary of the passage.
Curated OER
Summarize This!
Students explore how to summarize a reading passage. They read non-fiction books. Students use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the two animals they read about. They write a summary using the information in their Venn Diagram.
Curated OER
Sum It Up!
Students practice summarizing information from a reading using their own words. They take notes while reading using a guided worksheet. For the written summary they have a budget of two dollars with each word used costing ten cents.
Curated OER
Chunks, Chunks, And More Chunks!
Students summarize a selected piece of text nonfiction text. After reviewing the process for summarizing, students read a nonfiction article, highlighting important information as they read. They write a summary paragraph using the five...
Curated OER
1, 2, 3...A Summary
Students summarize a piece of nonfiction text. After reviewing the correct way to gather the important information needed to summarize, students independently read a nonfiction article. They write a summary paragraph using the process...
Teach Engineering
Dress for Success
Dressing for success is not always about looking sharp. Sometimes it is about staying warm and dry. Present your class with an activity that challenges groups of pupils to design a layered material for blizzard conditions. The teams test...