Curated OER
Great Expectations: DRTA Strategy
A Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) strategy for Great Expectations scaffolds and guides readers as they begin Dicken's novel. Step-by-step directions are provided, as are chapter one pair-share questions, a prediction worksheet,...
Louisiana Department of Education
Essential Elements Cards
Use essential elements cards to help lesson plan! Each card contains an informational text common core standard for grade levels six through eight and suggestions for activities and supports. Cards address skills such as citing textual...
Curated OER
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: DR-TA Strategy
Making predictions is an excellent reading strategy. Work on building this into your pupils' toolkit of strategies by trying out the process outlined here for reading the very beginning of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. The...
California Education Partners
We Are The Ship
An assessment sheds light on scholars' ability to read, gather evidence, and draft an original written composition. Learners read an informative text twice before taking notes and discussing their thoughts and textual evidence with a...
California Education Partners
Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel
A three-part assessment tests scholars' reading and writing capabilities. Young readers listen to and read an excerpt from Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel. After drawing pictures of what is memorable, learners discuss their notes...
K12 Reader
Proverbs and Adages: What Do They Mean?
You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but feel free to find the silver lining in a worksheet about common proverbs and adages. Learners read six popular adages and write their literal definitions on the lines provided.
Curated OER
Directed Reading Thinking Activity: "A Raisin in the Sun"
Students predict outcomes of a text. In this comprehension strategy lesson, students read a poem and compare it to the play A Raisin in the Sun. Students discuss their similarities and the power of dreams.
Facing History and Ourselves
Justice After the Holocaust
Though there could be no true justice for the horrors of the Holocaust, many of those responsible for crimes against humanity were found guilty in the eyes of the law. Using primary and secondary sources in the 16th installment of a...
Calvin Crest Outdoor School
Survival
Equip young campers with important survival knowledge with a set of engaging lessons. Teammates work together to complete three outdoor activities, which include building a shelter, starting a campfire, and finding directions in the...
Eastconn
Women of the California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush was not just an opportunity for the male gold miners sifting for shiny nuggets. Small groups read accounts of the ways women took advantage of the influx of workers to run hotels, bake pies, and wading out into...
Curated OER
Reading
Students are introduced to various types of folk tales. During a read-aloud, they predict what they believe is going to happen next and practice following the story line. To end the lesson, they answer comprehension questions and...
Curated OER
Author In The Spotlight
Complete an in-depth study of the works or a specific author. Working in pairs, young scholars read at least four works by the same author. After completing the reading, they create an essay comparing and contrasting the works and create...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 2: Unit 1, Lesson 4
True, you may be very, very dreadfully nervous, but a literary analysis unit will set your mind at ease. Learners study the narrator's point of view in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" and analyze how it contributes to a...
Curated OER
Comprehension Questions: "Papa's Parrot"
Readers demonstrate comprehension and reflect on their reading of Cynthia Rylant's short story "Papa's Parrot." They recall, infer, analyze, speculate, synthesize, and make judgments about the content of the text.
Macmillan Education
Challenging Assumptions
After experiencing how quick and easy it is to make judgments as part of an opening activity, learners discuss the concept of a stereotype and the need to think critically and question our immediate assumptions.
Prestwick House
Author’s Purpose in Reagan’s “Tear Down This Wall” Speech
President Ronald Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall" speech, delivered on June 12, 1987 before the Berlin Wall, provides class members with an opportunity to examine three key aspects of informational text: author bias, the use of facts and...
Curated OER
Reading the Play
Students read the play "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare. In groups, they identify the instances of similes, metaphors and personification. They use the Internet to compare and contrast the events in the play with historical facts....
Curated OER
Fair Judgment
Students consider the demands of the judicial process and work in small groups to write editorials in response to the one that is read in class. For homework, they grade a television judge and write reflective essays.
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 17: Obituary
The Cay has been criticized by groups such as the Council on Interracial Books for Children because of the way race is portrayed. Explore the argument against the book while taking the author's perspective into account. Class members...
California Education Partners
Telescopes
An assessment challenges scholars to read an informative text then respond with an explanatory essay. The exam begins as participants read a text passage twice then take notes, making sure to jot down key details. Following the...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Practical Criticism
As an introduction to literary criticism, class members recreate I.A. Richards' close reading experiment. Individuals select a poem, paraphrase the story, focus on the imagery used, consider what the imagery adds to the tale, and...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Yellow Journalism
What role did yellow journalism play in bringing the United States into war with Spain? As part of their study of the Spanish-American War, class groups examine newspapers of the times and other texts and then produce their own...
Curated OER
TELL THE SEQUENCE IN AN ORAL REPORT
Second graders survey a favorite story he/she has read or heard read aloud. They use the graphic organizer to draw illustrations that show the beginning, middle and end of the story. They tell the title of the story, whether it is...
Curated OER
Role Playing in North America: Mid 1600s-Mid 1700s
Eighth graders apply their knowledge of North American history from the mid 1600's through the mid 1700's to a role-playing scenario. In small groups they plan, write, and perform a dramatic skit of a group that was affected by events in...