Polk Bros Foundation
Meet the Nonfiction Main Idea Challenge
Help your class develop the ability to determine a main idea with a packet of materials that you can introduce and use over a period of time. The packet includes some information for the teacher and rationale for the exercises. There are...
E Reading Worksheets
Climax, Structure, and Elements of a Story
Appropriate for any short story, this instructional activity asks readers to identify key elements and then analyze the structure of a short story.
Curated OER
Reading Rainbow Book Review
Students watch a "Reading Rainbow" video including the short book reviews that are always shown during each video. They read a book fo their choice and do an oral book report similar to those from Reading Rainbow.
Curated OER
Study Guide: The Scarlet Letter
In this study guide learning exercise, learners complete a variety of activities to review the novel The Scarlet Letter. Students work in groups and independently to complete the questions.
Curated OER
Reading Contour Maps
Students examine contour maps and bathymetry maps and discover how to interpret a contour map of the East Pacific Rise. Students look at a map as a class and answer questions together before working independently on a map of the East...
Curated OER
Independence Movements: India and Africa
Ninth graders examine the events of the independence movement of India. They listen to a lecture and complete a concept map of the independence movements of the 20th century, watch an excerpt from the movie "Gandhi," and answer...
Curated OER
Independent Courts: How Important Are They?
Young scholars investigate the importance of judicial independence and how it is exercised while conducting research to gather information using different resources. The teacher discusses the importance of Law Day. They also read the...
Annenberg Foundation
Revolutionary Perspectives
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Learners go to the heart of the causes of the American Revolution. Examining political cartoons, Enlightenment documents, and firsthand accounts, they present their ideas and reflective...
California Education Partners
Gettysburg Address
Looking for an assessment that reveals how well readers understand complex text? Check out an assessment module based on "The Gettysburg Address." Pupils are asked to craft an essay that demonstrates their understanding not only of...
Scholastic
Pilgrim and Wampanoag Daily Life for Grades 6–8
Two slide shows, viewed side-by-side, permit middle schoolers to compare and contrast the lives of the Pilgrims of the Plimoth colony and the Wampanoags. Four videos take learners on virtual field trips to the Plymouth plantation. And an...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Give It All You’ve Got!: Extra Support Lessons (Theme 2)
Understanding word parts can play a crucial role in understanding a word in the context of a larger text. A series of extra support resources designed to accompany Theme 2: Give It All You've Got offers activities related to grammar and...
Scholastic
Thanksgiving Lessons Grades PreK-2
A quintessential resource for teaching an elementary unit on the first Thanksgiving addresses a variety of skills, including informational reading, critical thinking, comparing and contrasting facts, technology tools, and historical...
Curated OER
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
For this Sense and Sensibility worksheet, students respond to 8 short answer questions and complete 1 graphic organizer designed to be used prior to reading, while reading, and after reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.
Curated OER
Simply Summarize
Students review the concept of silent reading. Through modeling and guided practice, they follow five given steps in summarizing a written passage. Then they read a passage independently and follow the same steps in summarizing the...
Curated OER
Summing it all Up...In Your Own Words
Learners observe and demonstrate the steps to identifying the main ideas of a text. They listen to the teacher read a paragraph and model the steps of summarizing the main idea. Students then independently read a different paragraph...
Curated OER
Sum It Up
After a review of the steps involved in writing a summary, class members read The Physics of Baseball by Sarah Ives and use a story web to identify the important details to include in their summary. Class members then choose an article...
Curated OER
Reading Primary Source Documents: Comparing Sources
Students analyze and compare various primary source documents. They formulate historical questions based on the documents.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Cultural Change
High schoolers research the passage of the 19th Amendment as an illustration of the mutual influence between political ideas and cultural attitudes. They also read the Seneca Falls Declaration and explore the cultural shifts it both...
Curated OER
Go for the Gold!
The options are vast with this Ancient Greece and Olympics research project! Using Scholastic online resources, historians have interactive and educational supports to guide them through researching and writing about the 2004 Olympics in...
Curated OER
Basil Heatter, "The Long Night of the Little Boats"
“It was a miracle.” Basil Heatter’s “The Long Night of the Little Boats,” which details the miraculous rescue of the British army from the shores of Dunkirk in 1940, is featured in a series of exercises that ask class members to read,...
Curated OER
Myths, Folktales, & Fairy Tales
Introduce the concept of myths to your class. Using the link to "Myths Around the World," read a story aloud and have learners list characteristics of a myth. Readers then choose their own myths from the site and work in groups to answer...
Scholastic
Will He See His Shadow? Groundhog Day Activities
What a fantastic collection of activities for celebrating Groundhog Day! This resource includes a variety of holiday reading selections, groundhog facts, links to printables, story comprehension lessons, and much more!
Curated OER
Magical Musical Tour: Using Music Lyrics to Teach Literary Elements
While music lyrics are often used to teach literary elements, the richness of this resource comes from the wealth of exercises, activities, and support materials provided in the packet. Although designed for gifted learners, the...
Curated OER
Reasons for Settling the New World
After studying the reasons settlers entered the New World, primary learners try to persuade others to enter this new land. Class members present their arguments in a variety of ways including posters, writings, and charts. Richly...