You're on camera! Third graders find a news story and research it to get more information. Everyone uses their found information to write a script and create their own news broadcast!

Writers are asked to examine four sentences that contain details and craft a topic sentence for a paragraph that encapsulates the main idea.

Address the literary elements in a piece of writing using these materials. The packet includes plenty of resources, and focuses mainly on theme, character, and point of view, with some materials for setting, symbolism, and author's...

Scholars explore an expository text to answer questions about its structure.

Coyotes in Chicago? Yip. Middle schoolers demonstrate their ability to identify details that support the idea that coyotes are adaptable creatures.

3D printers, selfie sticks, smart watches. GPS, self-driving cars, YouTube. Imagine life without inventions. Believe it or not, these items were all invented in the last 10 years. Inventions, and the inventors responsible for them,...

How confident are your readers in responding to short reading passages? Find out with a worksheet that reinforces reading comprehension skills and requires self reflection on one's ability to read and answer questions...

Third graders read several nonfiction texts and practice finding the main idea for the text as well as learn about various habitats. For this main idea lesson, 3rd graders read several nonfiction texts and make habitat cards. Students...

The value in this PowerPoint about the five-paragraph expository essay comes from the clear explanations and specific examples provided to illustrate each aspect; however, a complete, model essay is not included. Beware the typos!

Begin this expository writing activity by reading a non-fiction book of your choice and modeling expository writing. The plan suggests The Trip of a Drip by Vicki Cobb but notes that other texts will work. Learners then choose a...

Discuss media stereotypes with your emerging consumers. They view a television program to identify gender bias. After discussing the clip as a class, each learner writes a story showing more equitable roles. Or consider having them...

Students, in groups, read and analyze the short story, A Good Man is Hard to Find, by Flannery O'Connor. They present their findings tot he rest of the class and then connect the various themes discussed to outside material, events...

In this main ideas worksheet, students read the groups of word sin each example and give each group a main idea. Students complete 8 examples.

Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin! Upper graders and middle schoolers read the story The Three Little Pigs and other tales related to the story from various points of view. They use the Internet to find more stories...

Reader's Theater is a great way to build fluency, intonation, and dramatic flare. The class reads the theater piece, "The New Friends" paying attention to how they express emotion and feeling as they read. They discuss the use of plot,...

For this ninth lesson plan in a larger beginning-of-the-year unit, close reading skills are used independently to find the gist of the story That Book Woman. Rereading for important details is the targeted skill to unlock a deeper...

Young scholars view a PowerPoint presentation about Character sketches, and write a four paragraph character sketch. Emphasis is placed on topic sentences having one main idea per paragraph and elaborating. They study and discuss ways to...

Third graders find the narrator or speaker in a story. In this story elements lesson, 3rd graders listen to the story My Senator and Me and answer comprehension questions. They complete a descriptive writing piece from different...

Students complete activities with the book Sarah Plain and Tall. In this literature instructional activity, students read chapter two and complete attached activities. They list the compound words they find and study new...

Students research and identify story ideas for the school newspaper. For this story ideas lesson, students pitch story ideas to their teacher on a weekly basis using a specific format. Students find the majority of their ideas from print...

Young scholars read a passage about immigrants making contributions to the state of Kansas and write the main ideas and details of what they read. In this immigrant contributions lesson plan, students fill out a graphic organizer of...

Young scholars identify the main ideas from expository text. In this main ideas lesson, students read a piece of text and practice identifying what is most important. Young scholars complete another sample reading with a group then...

Students explore how to summarize a text while reading. They discuss what it means to summarize. Students read a non-fiction text and practice summarizing the pages they read. They highlight the main ideas and important details within...

Students practice reading comprehension strategies. In this literacy and science lesson, students read a non-fiction article about wood and locate main ideas and details. Students construct a card game using information taken from the text.