Here is a reading strategies lesson in which learners use post it notes to create a bulletin board. They post their new questions on the bulletin board and look back at questions they have already learned the answer to. A great idea,...

Join Franklin the turtle at school as youngsters learn new vocabulary in the context of Paulette Bourgeois' story (or apply this strategy to any book). Scholars are acquainted with new words before reading and raise hands when...

Use this comprehensive packet to accompany a study of Missing May by Cynthia Rylant. Starting out with a brief author biography and background information about the novel, this guide includes materials to use throughout the entire novel....

Even someone with a dark side can make a good decision—and vice versa. Readers explore Cole's traits and decisions in Ben Mikaelson's Touching Spirit Bear and analyze his sunside and...

As part of a unit study of The Hobbit, class members engage in an activity that asks group to practice the skills needed to reach consensus in a discussion.

Use picture cues as a tool in order to create meaning along with text. With a wordless comic, young illustrators discuss the main idea and character traits, and independently write a summary for a page of a wordless comic. This strategy...

Budding readers will relate to Allison McGhee's story Countdown to Kindergarten in which a young girl is worried about not being able to tie her shoes once she gets to school. This is a fun way to teach vocabulary in...

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...

Explication may sound like a fancy word, but it's just a fancy way to say analysis. Using a handout on poetry explications, part of a larger series on specific writing assignments, writers learn how to break down and analyze a poem. The...

Take an amphibious journey with budding readers as you explore vocabulary in Wendy Pfeffer's informative book From Tadpole to Frog. This text is the backdrop of a vocabulary exercise based on six words: fertilize,...

Looking to set up literature circles in your class? Use these materials to support pupils when they meet in groups. Pupils take on various roles over the course of reading and meet with their groups to share the work they have done on...

Readers learn to ask questions about text with an activity based on Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. As they read, class members craft questions based on Bloom's Taxonomy and then find the answers themselves.

According to Anne with an E, "You can always nearly enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will." An eBook version of Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery introduces readers to the classic text. The novel includes...

Explore ways to make research and writing more interesting. The first in a series of three challenge activities designed to accompany Theme 2: Give It All You've Got involve creating sports cards, designing cereal boxes, and using other...

“What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages?” Ah, the central question of Lord of the Flies. As part of their study of William Golding's riveting novel, readers complete an anticipation guide and respond to a series of survey...

Three activities make up a lesson plan that explores the connection between former president George Washington, the farming industry, and leadership. Scholars listen to two read aloud,  Farmer George Plants a Nation by Peggy Thomas...

It's hard to beat the beauty of John Steinbeck's prose, so borrow a little of it to form your own found poetry. After kids finish Chapter One of The Pearl, they select the most evocative and vivid words to create found poems.

Everyone comes from somewhere. An interdisciplinary lesson on Elvira Woodruff's The Orphan of Ellis Island includes discussion starter and writing prompts for the novel, as well as a graphic organizer to help learners begin their...

How do you create a butterfly garden? Focus on reading comprehension with this packet. Young readers use the step-by-step instructions to answer five multiple-choice questions that follow. Vocabulary, comprehension, and the main idea are...

To better understand the conflict between Amir and Hassan, two characters in Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, readers assume the voice of one of the boys and craft a letter to the other that explains his feelings and concerns.

Readers select a character from Call of the Wild, record their responses to a series of prompts in a spiral notebook, and use details from the novel to support their thinking. The spirals are then used as source material to support...

Here’s the meatball in the bowl of spaghetti. Readers build a Lunatic Mystery Case Book, collecting evidence to support their prediction about the identity of the lunatic in Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech’s Newbery Medal winning novel....

Engage conversation and explore the journey as you challenge young readers to interpret the german folktale, "The Fisherman and His Wife" written by literary brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.

Help young readers learn to read and interpret complex text independently. Teach young children to ask interpretive questions and use the text itself to answer them. Use art, word play and drama to provide a deeper understanding of...