Curated OER
"As You Like It" by William Shakespeare
Jacque's soliloquy from Act II, scene ii of As You Like It sets the stage for a close reading exercise that models how to approach difficult, dense text and enables readers to practice reading comprehension and analysis skills. Learners...
Student Achievement Partners
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm - "The Fisherman and his Wife"
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...
Curated OER
Chrysanthemum
Our uniqueness should be celebrated, not teased. The story Chrysanthemum addresses having a distinct name and dealing with different perceptions. Pre- and post-reading questions are listed to help your learners understand and make...
Curated OER
The Tone Map
Poems are meant to be heard. Hearing a poem being read enriches one’s understanding of the tone and mood of the piece. Introduce your class to the sounds of poetry with a packet that not only details how to use poetry recordings in the...
New York Public Library
What's for Lunch?: New York City Restaurant Menus
Do you remember the days when a cup of coffee cost five cents? At A.W. Dennett restaurant in 1894, you could buy a five-cent cup of coffee and as well as a five-cent slice of pie to accompany it. The menu from that year is a primary...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: George's Store at the Shore (Bassede)
Combine counting and vocabulary using Francine Bassede's book George's Store at the Shore, which has learners exploring new words and numbers 1-10. Suggested words for this text are: arrange, assortment, customers,...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Comprehension: Text Analysis, Persuade, Inform, and Entertain Sort
Why do authors write? Practice determining the author's purpose with a categorizing activity. Learners sort twelve short passages into three categories: persuade, inform, and entertain.
ReadWriteThink
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Me: Identifying with a Hero
Here, young historians compare their early lives to that of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s. They listen to a read aloud of a story by Dr. King's sister, and then write in the provided reflective journal template. Lastly, they share their...
Curated OER
Sharing African Culture
Students investigate African American culture by reading aloud an African folk tale and illustrating the tale. They use their illustrations to create a book or a bulletin board that retells the folk tale.
New York State Education Department
English Language Arts Examination: June 2016
The English Language Arts Examination handout contains a variety of multiple-choice questions to assess reading comprehension, in addition to a source-based argument essay and text-analysis response prompts.
ProCon
President Ronald Reagan
At 69 years old, Ronald Reagan was the oldest man ever to be elected president in the United States. After reviewing a thorough history of Reagan's presidency, pupils read the main pro and con arguments to determine if he was a good...
Class Antics
Leap Year
What is a Leap Year and why do we have it? Find out with this Leap Day/Leap Year response to reading worksheet in which scholars read a short passage and use their new-found knowledge to answer five questions with short answers.
Curated OER
Giraffe Comprehension using Eric Carle as the Feature Author
Students demonstrate reading comprehension by drawing a picture and writing a sentence about giraffes. In this early reading comprehension instructional activity, students listen to a read aloud and watch a video about giraffes before...
Curated OER
The Secret School: chapters 2 and 3
Second graders read chapters 2 and 3 of The Secret School and answer discussion questions as they read. In this reading lesson plan, 2nd graders also read aloud in pairs and complete a worksheet.
Scholastic
A House for Hermit Crab
Engage young marine biologists in a reading of Eric Carle's A House for Hermit Crab with a fun hands-on activity. Given a set of clipart images of the different aquatic animals that appear in the book, children identify each one during a...
Curated OER
Active Reading: Finding a Conversation Voice
Young scholars practice reading for comprehension and understanding. In groups, students read, out loud, using a conversation voice. They predict and discuss the story as it unfolds.
Curated OER
Mental Images in Reading Comprehension
Students use textual clues to create mental images and interpret characters moods and actions. They visualize the setting, characters and events.
Curated OER
The 5 W's of Reading
Primary students will use the five "W" questions for reading comprehension as they read silently to themselves so that they can understand and remember what they have read. They then read The Velveteen Rabbit aloud, discussing the five...
Curated OER
Interpersonal Communication
Middle schoolers identify and practice the skills necessary for effective communication including reading, listening, and non-verbal. They read aloud and discuss, "They Water Closet Story" to determine which characters did not adequately...
Curated OER
Not Just Words
Students work to improve their oral expression while reading aloud. They read and record an entire story with a partner and listen to the playback of the readings. They evaluate their expressive language using a given checklist.
Curated OER
Literal Meaning of Reading
Young scholars demonstrate literal meaning of a fiction book. In this reading comprehension lesson, students listen to the book, If You Give a Mouse a Muffin and practice the "m" sound during the read aloud. Young scholars answer...
Curated OER
Using a Title to Determine Main Idea (Nonfiction)
Young readers explore a nonfiction text for its main idea. They will listen to the book Animal Sight by Kirsten Hall, and then observe as the teacher models a main idea think-aloud. Later, for independent practice, they listen to the...
Curated OER
Journey to Topaz: Directed Reading Thinking Activity
Have you used the directed reading thinking activity in your classroom? Doubling as either a prereading strategy, or a during reading strategy, it helps readers connect the historical background of the text to the text itself. As the...
Curated OER
Get ready, get set? READ!!!
Students participate in reading exercises to improve speed, fluency, and comprehension. As a class, students practice reading skills to increase their speed and comprehension. Partners take turns competing in a reading race while reading...