University of Kansas
Newspaper in the Classroom
Newspapers aren't only for reading—they're for learning skills, too! A journalism unit provides three lessons each for primary, intermediate, and secondary grades. Lessons include objectives, materials, vocabulary, and procedure, and...
Curated OER
SIGHT READING RHYTHM PATTERNS
The perception of rhythms by reading and the ability to auditorily discriminate these rhythm patterns by listening to them performed by the teacher is practiced here. your students will work to create an eight-beat long rhythm pattern.
Curated OER
Daily Mind Builders: Social Studies
In this critical thinking worksheet, 5th graders create a conclusion. Students read a short passage and use the given information to synthesize their own conclusion from the presented material.
Curated OER
Lessons in Drama: Learning About American Political Thought
Students develop critical thinking skills so that they may produce their own written plays or music from their thoughts and feelings. They express their thoughts based on what has been presented to them over the duration of the course.
Curated OER
Family Stories
Students use dance to better understand the writing process. In this interdisciplinary lesson, students use their critical thinking skills to connect dance with writing. Students use thinking maps to follow the writing process, write a...
Curated OER
Critical Reading: Intelligence Augmentation
For this critical reading worksheet, students read a short passage regarding intelligence augmentation and then answer five questions based on the reading.
Curated OER
Imagining Back Story: Creating an Artifact for an Extra-Extended Text
Students create a "back story" for a character from Measure for Measure. In this Measure for Measure lesson, students read the text closely as they look for clues about where the character came from and how he or she became what...
Curated OER
Reading Miss Lady Bird's Wildflowers
Young scholars discover the impact "Lady Bird" Johnson had on America by reading a short biography. In this historical persons lesson, students read a multi page biography of the former first lady and write a summary of her life's...
Curated OER
Jump Ship To Freedom: A Mindwing Lesson
Focusing on chapters 1-4 from the book, Jump Ship to Freedom, this helpful resource outlines critical thinking questions using evidence from the text to deepen overall reading comprehension. Note: Familiarity with mindwing concepts is...
Curated OER
Famous Quotes Interpretation
In this quote interpretation learning exercise, students must use critical thinking skills to respond to a prompt regarding a quote by Charles Dickens.
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 11: The Historical/Biographical Approach to Literature
How affected is Thinks Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe's personal biography? Using a four corners strategy, and evidence from their readings, class members debate the degree of biographical influence in Achebe's novel.
Livaudais-Baker English Classroom
Literary Theories
Introduce ELA scholars to the basics of literary criticism with a 41-slide presentation that identifies eight different approaches to critical analysis. Each approach is defined, and advantages and disadvantages are listed. Also included...
Nemours KidsHealth
Online Safety: Grades 6-8
Recognize risky behaviors and avoid them! That's the big idea behind two activities designed to teach middle schoolers to think critically about online safety. After reading background articles about protecting online identity,...
Novelinks
The Tempest: QAR
Asking questions about a text is an effective way to improve reading comprehension. Apply the Question Answer Response strategy to your unit on William Shakespeare's The Tempest. As kids read each passage, they decide if the answer...
Museum of Disability
Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon
Help to create the next generation of friends with a lesson about accepting people who are different. As kids read Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon, they answer a series of discussion questions and activities about making friends...
Bantam Books
The Martian Chronicles: K-W-H-L Activity
Prepare your class for a unit on Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles with an activity that works for pre-reading, during reading, and post-reading. Learners fill out a K-W-H-L chart to reflect on what they already know, what...
English Worksheets Land
Compare and Contrast
Even though two passages discuss the same topic, they contain different facts and details. Scholars analyze two reading passages about the Gettysburg Address and list the ways they are the same and different.
Curated OER
Dive into Reading During National Book Month!
Cultivate a passion for literature with fun, easy to incorporate reading activities.
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "Spring is like a perhaps hand" by E. E. Cummings
E. E. Cummings' "Spring is like a perhaps hand" offers young scholars an opportunity to try their hands at analyzing a simile. After a warm-up activity and a close reading of the poem, class members discuss what they think the poem is...
Novelinks
The Devil’s Arithmetic: QAR Strategy
Asking questions about the text is an important way for kids to become critical readers. Use a QAR activity based on The Devil's Arithmetic to help learners decipher between questions that are right there, between the author and the...
Curated OER
Maniac Magee: A 5th Grade Literature Guide
There's no need to run around trying to plan a unit for the book Maniac Magee, the work has already been done for you. Through a series of whole class, small group, and independent lessons and activities, students practice...
Nemours KidsHealth
Screen Time: Grades 6-8
How much screen time is too much screen time? Even before COVID, tweens were spending hours watching TV, playing video games, and connecting with their friends by smartphone and computers. Two activities from Kids Health get young...
Academy of American Poets
Teaching the Vietnam War with Poetry and Archives
The language of and the perspective of photographs, poems, and official reports differ. After a close reading of two photographs, two poems, and a military report about the Vietnam War, individuals adopt someone's voice or something from...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: “As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days” by Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman's poem "As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days" offers scholars an opportunity to practice their noticing skills. They first examine a postcard of the Newport News Shipyard listing things they notice about the image and how...