Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My Job [Pdf]
"My Job" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about the job as department of streets and sanitation worker including the work involved. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My First Baseball Game With Q & a Key [Pdf]
"My First Baseball Game" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a boy and his sister going to their first baseball game and learning what it means to be Chicago Cubs fans. It is followed by constructed-response questions which...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Grant Park [Pdf]
"Grant Park" is a one page, nonfiction passage about Chicago creating a landfill by putting the trash from the Chicago fire in 1971 into the lake, on which they built Grant Park. It is followed by an open-ended question which requires...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Gettysburg Address [Pdf]
"The Gettysburg Address" by Abraham Lincoln is one page, non-fiction speech given at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on November 18, 1963. It is followed by an assignment asking students to...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: John F. Kennedy's Remarks, Berlin [Pdf]
"John F. Kennedy: Remarks in the Rudolph Wilde Platz, Berlin" is a one page persuasive speech delivered by JFK on June 26, 1963. In it he commended West Germany in its efforts to have a democratic government and berated the Communists...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Frederick Douglass [Pdf]
"Frederick Douglass on Women's Suffrage," a one page, non-fiction, reading passage, is an excerpt from a persuasive speech delivered by Frederick Douglass to the International Council of Women in Washington, D.C., April 1888 in support...
NWT Literacy Council
Nwt Literacy Council: April Raintree: A Multi Level Novel Study [Pdf]
"April Raintree" was written by Beatrice Culleton Mosionier. This novel study is intended for adult learners at several stages in their acquisition of reading skills. The novel is about the experiences of a First Nations Metis child....
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: What Is a Fable? [Pdf]
"What is a Fable?" is a one page, nonfiction passage about what a fable is including animals that talk and a lesson learned. It is followed by an open-ended question which requires students to provide evidence from the story; it includes...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Chicago: Deval Patrick [Pdf]
"Chicago Is a City of Possibilities" is an inauguration speech by Deval Patrick given as he became governor of Massachusetts. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes determining...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Reversing the Chicago River [Pdf]
"Reversing the Chicago River" is a one page, nonfiction passage about how the leaders of Chicago reversed the polluted Chicago River so that it emptied into the Mississippi River instead of the lake. It is followed by questions which...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: American Explorers [Pdf]
"American Explorers" is a one page, non-fiction, reading passage about the Lewis and Clark Expedition. They traveled from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean with the help of Native Americans and made maps along the way. It is followed by...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Summarize Informational/expository Text (English 7 Reading)
[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] Learn how to evaluate a summary of the original text for accuracy of the main ideas, supporting details, and overall meaning.
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Comprehensive Assessment: Nonfiction [Pdf]
Questions are provided to help students determine the main idea, topic, purpose, and opinion of a piece of nonfiction. Students are prompted to write a summary of the informational text.
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Columbus and the Egg [Pdf]
"Columbus and the Egg" is a one page, historical fictional passage about Christopher Columbus's return to Spain after discovering America. Some people said anyone could sail the seas. Columbus used an egg to make a point. It is followed...
AdLit
Ad lit.org: Classroom Strategies: Summarizing
Summarizing teaches students how to take a large selection of text and reduce it to the main points for a more concise understanding. Upon reading a passage, summarizing helps students learn to determine essential ideas and consolidate...
Curated OER
Mc Graw Hill: Part 1 Reading: Literature: Summarize
Summarizing is a key skill needed in reading comprehension. This page describes how to summarize main ideas in a text. Click on Model button for a model with explanation and then click on Practice (Bottom Right)
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Creating Magazine Covers to Summarize Texts
In this activity, young scholars will examine the ways in which a magazine cover's headlines and graphics express the main ideas of its articles. They will then use an interactive tool to create covers that summarize chapters of...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Lexington [Pdf]
"Lexington" is a one page, historical fiction, reading passage about soldiers fighting in the Revolutionary War. A soldier describes the feeling of being an American. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My Community [Pdf]
"My Community" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a child talking about how his community has changed since his grandmother moved into that neighborhood 50 years earlier. It is followed by constructed-response questions...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My Job [Pdf]
"My Job" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about the job as a physical therapist including what is involved in the work. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from the story;...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My New President [Pdf]
"My New President" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about an African-American teen who learned about the government by working in Barack Obama's campaign office on Saturdays. It is followed by constructed-response questions...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My New President [Pdf]
"My New President" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about an African-American teen who learned about the government by working in Barack Obama's campaign office on Saturdays. It is followed by constructed-response questions...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: The Different Bird [Pdf]
"The Different Bird" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a bird that is teases because he can't sing, but finds out he can talk. It's okay to be different. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: The Difficult Journey [Pdf]
"The Difficult Journey" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about the hardships of a family of early settlers moving West in a wagon train. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence...