To prepare for a reading of Robert Cormier's Tunes for Bears to Dance to, kids research vocabulary drawn from the novel and share their findings with their groups.

Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is used to model for readers how to craft four levels of questions that promote comprehension. Questions that can be answered with evidence right there in the text, questions that require readers to think and...

Step into the hopeful and tragic world of Anne Frank with this lesson on reading in context. After complete a variety of activities related to the first two scenes of The Diary of Anne Frank, eighth graders participate in a read...

Begin your unit on Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and The Sea with an anticipation guide. As kids read 12 statements that relate to the novel's themes, they decide whether each is true or false in their own opinion.

A think aloud activity is a great way for readers to develop critical thinking skills. This resource models for readers how to use this strategy to think critically about a passage from Victor Martinez's Parrot in the Oven.

A scripted instructional activity can be a big help for new teachers. This fully scripted three-day learning activity provides teachers with the means to demonstrate how to compare and contrast two topics in two texts. Learners will work...

Third graders and their teacher work together to understand cause and effect relationships in texts. The I do, we do, you do method is used as learners discuss and determine the cause and effect relationships found in several short...

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...

Readers of The Joy Luck Club, use a double-0entry journal to record and reflect on passages from Amy Tan's novel.

Sometimes it's easier to read one part of a novel when focusing on discussion points. Partners work together to read a few paragraphs of Chapter 5 from Gary Paulsen's Hatchet and discuss the plot and theme of the book.

Learners identify that comprehension is the main goal in reading. Then they read the words in a text, but also draw information from what they read. Students also identify and practice summarization. They read a piece of text and...

Learners read for detail. In this reading comprehension lesson, students read a passage and share their thoughts with a small group. Learners reflect upon the passage and develop an oral summary of the text.

Making inferences about what you read is an important skill for both elementary, middle, and high school learners. Focusing on events which occurred during World War II, they answer a series of questions related to what we can infer as...

In this Regents High School Examination Comprehensive Examination in English worksheet, young scholars listen to a passage and answer reading comprehension questions.  Students then write an essay using information from the passage.

Invite your advanced ESL learners to explore the US national holiday Martin Luther King day. Play the attached mp3 which is a description of this important holiday and facilitate the phrase match and listening gap activities...

Known as one of the most iconic advertisements of the 20th century, Macintosh's "1984" commercial has become more of a social statement. Present the ad to a new audience of viewers with a instructional activity focused on...

Second graders read Ronald Morgan Goes To Bat and answer comprehension questions.  In this problem solving lesson, 2nd graders recognize that Ronald has a problem and find a solution. Students predict the outcome of the story.

Learners explore author's voice. In this literary elements and reading comprehension lesson, students listen to two poems about snakes (included) and identify adjectives and other descriptive words and phrases that help them determine...

Students increase fluency through repeated reading exercises. In groups, they practice reading sentences prior to reading the book, "Jane and Bob." Individually, students read parts to the teacher who notes expression, smoothness, and...

Students practice rereading selected passages to improve their reading fluency. Working in pairs, students read and reread decodable, leveled passages. They are timed during each reading and graph and compare their results.

Young scholars explore subtext by reading sample paragraphs in class. For this cause and effect lesson, students read several different paragraphs and practice identifying the relationship between cause and effect within the short...

Students use fluency checklists in this lesson to improve oral reading ability. The teacher models fluent and timed reading while reading the story "Fuzz and the Buzz." The students work with a partner to time each others oral reading...

Students explore the sport of lacrosse to improve their reading and grammar skills. In this reading and grammar lesson, students read and discuss the sport of Lacrosse. Students complete a Cloze activity, a grammar activity, and a...

Here's resource that presents step-by-step directions for three different activities that ask kids to read a short passage, listen for the main points, and then to summarize the passage in their own words.