Curated OER
Main Idea in Informational Text
Readers identify main ideas and supporting details using informational texts. For this literacy lesson, they make predictions and read the text to find the main ideas. They use a table diagram to define the main idea and supporting...
EngageNY
Revising for Organization and Style: Exciting Endings
Young writers compose a gripping ending to their historical fiction narratives. Following the previous lesson plan, where learners wrote a bold beginning, class members examine exciting endings from a literary text. They then draft their...
Curated OER
Presenting Information
How do you make a pizza? Scholars examine a recipe for one of their favorite dishes. After reading the eight steps, they must re-write the steps in order. Although this offers great printing practice, younger writers may find the narrow...
Curated OER
Following Instructions
Get scholars thinking about the scientific process with this fun experiment they can do at home. Learners practice reading directions as they underline each instruction in a procedural paragraph. They create a flow chart and record...
Civil War Trust
Civil War Animal Mascots
A pet can offer comfort, friendship, and loyalty in the most stressful of situations. Here is a lesson plan that explores the important role animals played during the Civil War. Class members read informative texts, complete a...
Tennessee State Museum
Deciphering the Document: Unlocking the Meaning of the Emancipation Proclamation
Help your learners truly understand the Emancipation Proclamation by asking them the put it into their own words. After reading the document out loud to the class, and briefly discussing the legal language, split your class into small...
Facing History and Ourselves
Socratic Seminar
New to the socratic seminar format? Check out a resource that not only provides the rationale for the procedure and step-by-step directions, but also provides a list of suggested topics, rules and model statements.
Curated OER
Shorten the Length
Learn how to summarize by identifying main ideas and supporting details. Readers cross out unimportant information as they read through a text. Is it a random detail? Cross it out! They then draw a concept map, placing the main idea in...
Curated OER
Summarization Made Easy
Students explore the concept of summarization. They discuss the importance of summarization and the steps to summarize a text. Students read a text and highlight the important or main ideas within the text. They discuss the information...
Curated OER
Shakespeare: Standing on the Bookshelves of Giant
A phenomenal lesson on Shakespeare! Middle and high school learners create WebQuests about the texts and authors that Shakespeare himself studied when he was in grammar school. They use a variety of media in order to create dramatic...
University of North Carolina
Literature (Fiction)
An informative installment of the Writing for Specific Fields series helps readers learn how to interpret and write about fiction. The website details nine easy steps for writing a literary analysis—a useful method for all readers!
Curated OER
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: The Cloze Procedure
Is your class prepared to read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Do they have the reading level necessary to truly comprehend the novel? Use the cloze procedure (detailed here) to determine if this text is appropriate for your class. The first...
Ontario
Sample Guided Reading Lesson for Emergent Readers
Give your guided reading lesson plan a boost with a sample lesson plan designed to reinforce academic content covered in previous assessments. The sample plan describes how the story and activities were chosen and offers the...
Curated OER
Adapting "List/Group/Label" to Literature
Need a prereading activity in line with the Common Core Standards for Language? Although designed for grades 11 and 12, the procedure detailed in this resource could be used with most grade levels. Prior to reading, select 20 – 25 words...
Curated OER
Hiroshima: The Cloze Procedure
What is a cloze passage? The first page of this resource details this procedure and its benefits. To determine if Hiroshima is an appropriate reading-level text for your class, have them read the first passage provided, and then give...
EngageNY
Talking with My Peers: Carousel of Reading Superheroes Around the World
In many places in the world, people go to great lengths to get books to read. This beginning-of-the-year activity uses pictures of people reading in extraordinary situations to stimulate effective listening and speaking using the...
Curated OER
And Your Point Is . . .? Part II
After researching recent community or political issues, paired with a review of proper debate format, class members select a topic, adopt a side, and prepare for a debate. The value in this resource is the review of debate procedures,...
Curated OER
Collaborative Tall Tale Lesson Plan
Using Keynote, pupils will collaborate with their peers to create a tall tale. Each person in the group will participate by creating slides, adding text, and recording their voice. Tip: Have each group present their tall tales to the...
Curated OER
Researching African Americans Who Made a Difference
Celebrate Black History Month with this lesson, in which middle schoolers create an essay about a famous African-American. Writers conduct research online, take notes to write an essay in proper format, and use ideas, text, and graphics...
Curated OER
Let's Get it Together! Reading to Learn
Let’s learn about frogs! Young readers are led through “Freaky Frogs,” a non-fiction article. Teach learners how to edit an article so there are fewer details to sift through. After talking through the article, they learn the six steps...
Curated OER
Gift of the Magi
While reading O Henry's "The Gift of the Magi," your class will define and identify situational irony and allusion. Use a study guide (not included, but easy to produce) to record and discuss examples of allusion as you read. Map the...
Curated OER
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Cloze Procedure
Are your readers ready for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? Use a cloze procedure to determine if the reading level of Twain’s classic is appropriate for your pupils. The cloze passage, an answer key, as well as directions and a score...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
The Letter B (b)
Students discover words through text, audio and images that begin with the letter B. For this letter B lesson, students download an ebook and navigate through an interactive reading activity.
Curated OER
"So What Are You Trying To Say Here?"
Learners exercise the strategy of summarization to recall important information in a text. They read to summarize the passage, "Ways the Ocean Helps Us," by Katherine Jones Carter, from "Oceans." Each student follows a list of...