ReadWriteThink
What is Poetry? Contrasting Poetry and Prose
Introduce middle schoolers to the different strategies used when reading prose versus poetry. Groups use a Venn diagram and a poetry analysis handout to compare the characteristics of an informational text and a poem on the same...
K20 LEARN
Street Cred: Evaluating Sources
A lesson on evaluating sources of information teaches scholars to "think twice" before using a source. Researchers examine a resource's home page, author, and sponsor, as well as the date published and the documentation provided.
Novelinks
The Tempest: List-Group-Label (After Reading)
Collaborate with your class after reading William Shakespeare's The Tempest with a group labeling activity. As you note key concepts or words from the play on the board, class members suggest associations and connections...
Simon & Schuster
Curriculum Guide to: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Eight lessons and worksheets comprise a curriculum guide for Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. Class members create a timeline that includes world-historical events as well as events in the novel. They analyze the speaking styles of...
Novelinks
The Martian Chronicles: Double-Entry Journals
Teach learners to reflect on their reading with a lesson about double-entry journals. As they read Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, class members note interesting passages from the text on the left side of their...
Student Handouts
Logical Fallacies
Help your learners grow their critical thinking and analytical skills by asking them to examine logical fallacies. After reading an example, pupils determine if two sets of premises and conclusions are logical fallacies or not and...
Writing Educators Symposium
Asking the Right Questions
It can be difficult to find the theme of a book or story if you don't know the questions to ask. Teach your kids to discern the universal theme in works of literature with a set of activities that promote critical thinking and...
EngageNY
End-of-Module Assessment Task - Algebra 1 (Module 4)
Critical thinking is an important aspect of mathematics — it's time to put your brain to work! Use this assessment to challenge pupils and test their skills. Concepts assessed include function notation, factoring, completing the square,...
K20 LEARN
Lord of the Flies Unit, Lesson 4: Bad to the Bone
Is the nature of humans inherently good or evil? That is the question scholars consider in the fourth instructional activity of the Lord of the Flies unit. In a Four Corners activity, they examine statements about human nature and stand...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "The Shapes of Leaves" by Arthur Sze
Arthur Sze's poem, "The Shapes of Leaves," encourages young scholars to notice and speak for others who "do not speak." The instructional activity begins with pupils writing about a tree that they really like. The class then examines an...
Simon & Schuster
Classroom Activities for The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
An 11-page packet includes three activities to engage pupils in reading Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth. To understand the historical context, class members research a list of topics related to Chinese history and culture. They then...
University of Kansas
Newspaper in the Classroom
Newspapers aren't only for reading—they're for learning skills, too! A journalism unit provides three lessons each for primary, intermediate, and secondary grades. Lessons include objectives, materials, vocabulary, and procedure, and...
Curated OER
SIGHT READING RHYTHM PATTERNS
The perception of rhythms by reading and the ability to auditorily discriminate these rhythm patterns by listening to them performed by the teacher is practiced here. your students will work to create an eight-beat long rhythm pattern.
Curated OER
Lessons in Drama: Learning About American Political Thought
Students develop critical thinking skills so that they may produce their own written plays or music from their thoughts and feelings. They express their thoughts based on what has been presented to them over the duration of the course.
Curated OER
Family Stories
Students use dance to better understand the writing process. In this interdisciplinary lesson, students use their critical thinking skills to connect dance with writing. Students use thinking maps to follow the writing process, write a...
Curated OER
Critical Reading: Intelligence Augmentation
In this critical reading worksheet, students read a short passage regarding intelligence augmentation and then answer five questions based on the reading.
Curated OER
Imagining Back Story: Creating an Artifact for an Extra-Extended Text
Students create a "back story" for a character from Measure for Measure. In this Measure for Measure lesson, students read the text closely as they look for clues about where the character came from and how he or she became what...
Curated OER
Reading Miss Lady Bird's Wildflowers
Students discover the impact "Lady Bird" Johnson had on America by reading a short biography. In this historical persons lesson, students read a multi page biography of the former first lady and write a summary of her life's work....
Curated OER
Jump Ship To Freedom: A Mindwing Lesson
Focusing on chapters 1-4 from the book, Jump Ship to Freedom, this helpful resource outlines critical thinking questions using evidence from the text to deepen overall reading comprehension. Note: Familiarity with mindwing concepts is...
Curated OER
Reading and Responding -- Lesson 12
Fourth graders work independently or in a small group to (1) practice test taking strategies, (2) practice using story details, and (3) use critical thinking skills. Reading passage, comprehension questions, and teacher script are...
Curated OER
Famous Quotes Interpretation
In this quote interpretation worksheet, students must use critical thinking skills to respond to a prompt regarding a quote by Charles Dickens.
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 11: The Historical/Biographical Approach to Literature
How affected is Thinks Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe's personal biography? Using a four corners strategy, and evidence from their readings, class members debate the degree of biographical influence in Achebe's novel.
Museum of Disability
Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon
Help to create the next generation of friends with a lesson about accepting people who are different. As kids read Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon, they answer a series of discussion questions and activities about making friends...
Nemours KidsHealth
Online Safety: Grades 6-8
Recognize risky behaviors and avoid them! That's the big idea behind two activities designed to teach middle schoolers to think critically about online safety. After reading background articles about protecting online identity,...