Lesson 10 in a series of human rights lessons focuses on the skills of finding evidence and summarizing. Your young readers work to compare the two texts they have read in this unit: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights...

Ease into informational text with the lesson suggested here. Part of a unit series, the lesson draws from previous lessons and acts as a natural moment to add in informational text. Class members read one section of My Librarian is a...

To get to the heart of a writer's purpose, remember to have some PIE (Persuade, Inform, or Entertain)! And, appropriately, here is a PIE chart that leaves room for pupils to identify each letter of the acronym and any other ideas or...

How do writers introduce and develop the central ideas in a text? To answer this question, ninth graders closely examine "The Age of Honey," the opening chapter in Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos' Sugar Changed the World: A Story of...

Frogs are the theme of a lesson plan that challenges scholars to examine photographs, read informational texts, then ask and answer questions. Scholars work collaboratelively as they rotate through stations, discuss their observations,...

According to Machiavelli, a good ruler does whatever it takes. Using the resource, scholars work in small groups to analyze quotes from The Prince and then participate in a whole-class discussion. To finish, pupils select a phrase and...

What's the difference between men and princes? Machiavelli discusses this distinction in chapter 18 of The Prince. Scholars first listen to a masterful reading of the chapter. Then, they write about how the author develops a central idea...

How do rhetorical devices advance an author's point of view? Scholars consider this question as they continue exploring Machiavelli's The Prince. They work in small groups, annotating the text for evidence of rhetoric before engaging in...

Simon Schama's article "The Shakespeare Shakedown" allows young writers to see how authors respond to conflicting viewpoints. Class members participate in discussion appointments with five peers to explore the author's point of view.

Pupils conduct a close reading of "The Shakespeare Shakedown" by Simon Schama, and identify evidence the author uses to support his claims. Finally, they discuss and answer text-dependent questions before completing a Quick Write about...

Class members participate in a gallery walk, viewing images of Shakespeare and his plays. Additionally, pupils complete a T-chart to consider the advantages and disadvantages of learning about Shakespeare with images and text.

William Shakespeare: a writer, a poet, a fake? For their mid-unit assessments, scholars read an excerpt from the article "The Top Ten Reasons Shakespeare Did Not Write Shakespeare" by Keir Cutler. Next, they analyze the author's argument...

Which of Michael Pollan's four food chains from his book The Omnivore's Dilemma would best feed everyone in the United States? Using a thought-provoking resource, scholars learn how to create a Cascading Consequences chart to answer the...

Using an informative resource, pupils discover how to write research questions that are focused, answerable, and relevant. Scholars evaluate resources about the industrial food chain from Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and then...

What are the consequences of the local, sustainable food chain? Research teams explore the question as they review Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. The teams complete Cascading Consequences charts and then choose research topics...

Help scholars comprehend a challenging text. Using the resource, pupils read excerpts from an article about the digital revolution and adolescent brain development. As they read, they answer text-dependent questions and complete a close...

Is it possible to judge a book by its cover? Scholars analyze and make predictions using various cover images of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. They then discuss the difference between autobiographies and biographies....

Piece by piece ... Scholars read the text World without Fish by breaking the text into pieces. They identify challenging words and determine the gist of each section as they read. They then work together in triads to answer...

Students consider how cause and effect translate into sequencing in literary works. In this sequencing lesson plan, students read non-fiction passages about Eleanor Roosevelt and Clara Barton. Students complete graphic organizers based...

Fourth graders explore the information of the index of the Constitution. In this Constitution and Bill of Rights lesson plan, 4th graders complete a worksheet by locating keywords in the index. Students understand the importance of using...

Students develop a comparison worksheet using one non fiction book and one fiction book they have read to be put into a class scrapbook. In their comparison students must have title, author, point of view, setting, characters, and other...

Students listen to a power point presentation to distinguish between fiction and nonfiction text. In this what's the difference instructional activity, students identify fact from opinion within a text. Students listen critically and...

In this book report worksheet, students write information about a nonfiction book. Students include the book topic, 4-5 facts they already know about it, and 6 new words learned. Students also complete a graphic organizer and write about...

In this book report worksheet, students fill in information about a nonfiction book. Students include the topic, 4-5 facts already know, 6 new words learned, and 5-6 things they learned about the topic. Students also write about the...