What's the difference between summarizing and paraphrasing? Show class members how to find the main ideas from informational text and condense it, restate it, or quote it directly with a series of educational activities based...

West of the West's documentary Arlington Springs Man and a two-page scientific article about the same topic provide the text for a reading comprehension exercise that asks individuals to craft a one page summary of information gathered...

High schoolers in chemistry or health courses look at the material safety data sheet (MSDS) and periodic table of elements to gather information about mercury and lead, two toxic materials that have been found in food products. They read...

A great idea for showing language arts pupils the universality of themes, even in the real world! Have class members choose an idea-noun (peace, justice, war, love, etc.) at the beginning of the year or semester. They complete weekly...

Young journalists use four strategies from an "Am I Being Fair?" tip sheet to check for and counter personal biases about a topic. Scholars apply the strategies to an article about the best pizza as guided practice. Participants then...

Young scholars take notes from oral readings and lectures to create a summary of the material. They use different sizes of post-it notes to complete the activity. They practice pulling the main ideas out of the given material.

After reading "Aquatic Alchemy," an article about recapturing water for reuse when in space, your class will use calcium hydroxide or hydrated lime to purify cloudy water. Geared toward high school chemistry or environmental science...

High schoolers examine the "quiet crisis," the lack of clean water, by reading articles and viewing video clips. They discuss the situations in Ethiopia, Yemen, Kenya, and Nepal. There are two options for the lesson, but one of them...

Learners summarize a non-fiction article in this lesson. They review a six step process for summarization. They then read the assigned article, and work as a class to write a summary using the five steps provided. They then write an...

Students observe and demonstrate a variety of summarization strategies. They silently read an article from National Geographic Kids, and as a class write a summary that includes the main idea and details and the five W's. Students then...

Students locate and read an Internet article on sharks. They write a summary of the article, and complete a Concept of Definition Map using information from the article.

Pupils examine the process of summarization by creating an event map. They discuss the process of summarizing text, then silently read an article from "Time For Kids" magazine. Students observe the teacher create a map for the article,...

After reading a public health article, high schoolers identify groups that are at risk from secondhand smoke and what benefits have come from reduction of smoking in public places. The article isn't accessible via the link, but can...

Text marking and a T-chart format to distinguish important information from trivia help elementary readers summarize effectively. Encouraging readers to construct a chapter summary from paragraph-level topic sentences is another sound...

Ninth graders explore environmental concerns of the community and identify the basic needs of people, wildlife and domestic animals. Working both individually and in groups, they also define natural resources and compare and contrast...

Young scholars take a look back at the week's news by exploring the news summaries article offered in The New York Times' Week in Review section each week. They look further into ongoing news stories of interest to them in order to...

Young scholars share their all-time favorite books with peers. They read and discuss the article Notable Children's Books of 2007. Afterward, they create book webs and compose reviews based on their book selections.

Learners collect and analyze the front pages of various newspapers and perform research on the Titantic tragedy. They choose a name for their newspaper, a headline, gather photographs, and write a front page article. Using computer...

Learners explore key concepts/facts in 20th Century history, develop interview questions, and produce master list of questions that can be used in project. Students then interview grandparent, great-grandparent, or other elder about...

Students watch a video to introduce the study of historical outbreaks of infectious diseases and epidemics. They create charts of diseases after reading an article and share their information as a class.

Students explore the concept of philanthropy. In this service learning lesson, students read an article that challenges them to consider African-American contributions to social justice.

By examining free trade, protectionism, and analyzing 19th and 21st century arguments for and against the tariff, students will be able to compare and contrast the 19th and 21st century. They will analyze text, answer discussion...

Class members examine two documents—The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and The Rights of Migrants in the United States—and then use reports in the media to assess how well the US is doing in ensuring these rights.

The documentary, The Legendary King of San Miguel Island, introduces the fascinating tale of Herb Lester, his family, and their life on San Miguel Island. Viewers have an opportunity to expand their study of the island and of...