Candide is a dense text. To assist in analyzing Voltaire's satire, groups employ a cubing strategy based on Bloom's taxonomy. Complete directions for the strategy, a template for the cube, a worksheet, and a topic list are included. 

Chapter nine of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath provides the text for an exercise that asks readers to think deeply about the items the Joads left behind and what these items might represent.

To gain a better understanding of characters in Pearl Buck's The Good Earth, kids create a biopoem for one of her characters.

Really challenge your class when they're reading Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. Provide them with this list of six thought-provoking questions to encourage a deeper analysis. The questions are based off of Bloom's Taxonomy, and a list of...

Although this is part of a series, lesson plan nine has your class take a break from their close study of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) text to read the firsthand account “Teaching Nepalis to Read, Plant, and...

How did the founding of the American colonies lead to a revolution? Use the essential question and sample activities to guide learners through a series of history lessons. Additionally, the packet includes effective strategies to...

Students read an informational text passage on Thurgood Marshall and his contribution to African Americans' rights, and then answer questions based on what they read.

Scholars discover who Saint Patrick was with help from a brief informational text followed by a series of challenge worksheets designed to boost reading comprehension and vocabulary. Class members complete a graphic organizer, take...

Young pupils learn about classroom rules as they also practice active reading strategies and reading comprehension skills. This lesson begins with a thorough reading of the story Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?. As the...

Model for your class how to become a better reader through questioning. After conducting a picture walk that introduces prediction strategies, learners play an interactive questioning cube game. Complete directions for the game and...

What is it that makes people keep going when they face challenges in life? Ask your class to consider this question in relation to their own experiences and as they read material from The New York Times. Using personal experiences...

Second graders read an informational text passage on music concerts and then answer questions based on what they read.

Pupils take part in a close reading of the poem, If by Rudyard Kipling, in which they delve deep into its meaning and identify its rules to live by. As the grand discussion progresses, learners then relate the poem's rules with those...

Could you imagine running into a stranger who looked exactly like you? Class members read about identical twins who were separated at birth, and answer three reading comprehension questions to practice comparing and contrasting...

Does Bud use his rules to survive or thrive? That is the driving question of a lesson plan following the reading of Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. In an argument essay prewriting activity, pupils use textual evidence to...

Mathematicians go on a virtual shopping trip in an interactive designed to boost the concept of estimation. Scholars read and answer five questions—multiple-choice, true or false, and a discussion—with help from a drag-and-drop shopping...

Young historians conduct a close reading of the text of an interview with Mary McLeod Bethune, the daughter of former slaves who taught herself to read, grew up to establish schools for other Black women, and went on to become an advisor...

Bud followed a series of rules from Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. The question is, how did he use those rules to thrive or survive? After a grand discussion, class members explore the novel to locate and cite textual...

Would a bluebird be as scary as a vulture? Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" is the central text in a lesson about symbolism. After a close reading of the poem, learners consider what the raven might represent to the narrator. They then...

Students employ strategies to increase comprehension while they are reading. In this language arts lesson, students must infer, predict and visualize in order to improve comprehension.

Pupils explore reading comprehension by completing a graphic organizer. In this journalism technique lesson, students discuss important questions they can ask about stories they read to improve comprehension. Pupils identify keywords...

Dig into chapter 19 of Running Out of Time with questions covering each level of Bloom's Taxonomy. Learners read the text, respond to the questions in paragraph form, and then discuss the answers as a class.

Give reading comprehension a boost with a two-page activity featuring an informational text about ships at sea during stormy weather. After reading, scholars show what they know through four short-answer questions. 

There's more than one way to solve a math problem! Introduce your class to this concept with a reading passage. After reading, learners answer five related questions.