Curated OER
Letters from Lincoln
Fourth graders explore the childhood of Lincoln and pioneer life in early Indiana. Students respond to literature and write a story using historical fiction. Students explore the writings of President Lincoln and the pioneer community...
Curated OER
If a Picture's Worth a Thousand Words...
Students examine the debate between the preservation of and access to historical artifacts. They explore the notion of ownership and commodification of historical artifacts and come up with a plan for compromise.
Curated OER
Pulse
Learners determine a baseline pulse rate then chart the changes in rate with exercise. They describe the changes and develop a rationale for their observations. The task assesses students' abilities to make simple observations, determine...
Curated OER
Tell Me a Whopper!
Sixth graders investigate tall tales as a literary genre. They listen to a number of tall tales to discover how exaggeration is used as a story element. They write and publish a tall tale using word processing software. They illustrate...
Curated OER
Creating a Multimedia Presentation
Students are divided into teams to make a presentation about their state. Each team is responsible for making one part of the presentation. At the end, all parts are combined to make one complete presentation. While creating the...
Curated OER
Whodunit? Creating Mysterious Plays
Students examine mystery plays by reading a number of five-minute mysteries. They write and perform their own plays.
Curated OER
Identifying Science Fiction
Students discuss works of science fiction that they read, highlight aspects that made each a part of science fiction genre, identify formal literary elements, and discuss ways each can be developed through science fiction.
Curated OER
There's a World of Science to Read Today!
Students read a current science article. They write a summary of the article, take notes, write and edit a summary, and print their work.
Curated OER
Out of the Dust (High School)
Fourth graders read Hesse's "Out of the Dust". They respond to questions about the novel and write a free-verse poem modeled after the author's.
Curated OER
Millennium Scrapbook
Third graders create a millennium scrapbook, collecting stories about the past millennium and including photos of local, national and international events.
Curated OER
Descriptive Essay
Students review previously written essays, draw pictures of shapes, and write descriptive essays.
Curated OER
Predictions, Predictions, and More Predictions
Third graders pose questions about the subject of a short story based on the title and cover illustration; then read the story and determine if their questions actually pertained to the story line, and, if so, how the story answered the...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
Depaul University: Center for Urban Education: Organize an Argument [Pdf]
This site provides a nonfiction graphic organizer that will help students organize an argument.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Informational Text: Reading Response: Compare Contrast [Pdf]
This graphic organizer can be use with students when they read an informational text. Using a Venn diagram to organize content, students will write important similarities and differences after reading an informational text and analyzing...
Lumen Learning
Lumen: Writing Process: Organizing
This lesson focuses on the organization of your paper including how to write a thesis statement, the elements of an effective paragraph, patterns of organization, transitions, and conclusions. It also provides a video of the Toulmin...
Curated OER
Mc Graw Hill: Informational Text: Compare Text Structures
This learning module focuses on comparing organizational patterns in informational texts including chronological order, compare and contrast, cause and effect, and problem and solutions. Click on each text structure for an explanation.
Read Works
Read Works: Scales
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about how the human brain organized past memories. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Read Works
Read Works: u.s. Presidents John Adams
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about John Adams, the second president of the United States. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Other
Interacting Texts Directed Activities Related to Texts (Darts)
Want to improve your students' reading skills? This is a good place to find the types of directed activities, using a definition text, reconstruction/analysis activities, and advantages of using DARTs.
Department of Defense
Do Dea: Real Survival Skills
Learn about process analysis, writing procedurals texts, the steps of the writing process, and cause and effect in this unit. Also, examine patterns of organization in writing. A handy chart shows common organizational patterns which...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Unit: The Author's Point Is
Middle schoolers will focus on Main Idea, Author's Purpose, Identifying supporting details and Organizing details. Students will read a variety of Informational Text (non-fiction) to understand how stated and implied main idea effect the...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Organization Appropriate to Purpose, Audience, and Context
[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] This lesson will teach you how to write and organize an essay so that it addresses different purposes, different audiences, and different contexts.
Read Works
Read Works: Classify and Categorize 4th Grade Unit
[Free Registration/Login Required] A three-lesson unit on classifying and categorizing through which learners learn how to organize research into an outline, use text features to locate information, and write a research report. Lessons...
Other
Reading Comprehension: Question Answer Relationships
If you need help working with your students on questioning a text or if you are working on higher-level questioning skills, this is a simple and helpful site. Printable resources available from site.