Five pages provide thorough coverage of three protozoans: euglena, amoebae, and paramecia. For each, junior biologists read factual text, label the organism, and write answers to several questions. This neatly organized assignment is...

Many informational texts are written as factual, but can your learners determine when an opinion is presented as fact? Have your kids read several articles on the same topic and record the statements that contain either facts or...

Introduce young learners to the read-aloud process with a short biographical passage about Ray Charles. After listening to the passage, class members respond to factual, inferential, and evaluative questions, and then create a timeline...

The courage of Las Mariposas, the Mirabal sisters, is the focus of a series of activities designed to accompany a reading of In the Time of the Butterflies that ask readers to consider what it means to be courageous. Beautifully crafted...

Investigate biographies with your class. Compare autobiographies and biographies of Martin Luther King, Jr. as an example. Learners explore the factual components that make up a biography and locate several biographies of notable...

Use the class textbook to read a full story about Martin Luther King, Jr. The class writes facts about him and outlines his life, then they read the author and illustrator summaries at the end of the story. They compare and contrast the...

It's tough for high schoolers to assess what is a credible resource and what is not. A helpful resource prompts class members to research a particular topic and record two facts—and create one lie—while documenting the sources. They...

Children learn to read and comprehend non-fiction text and explore how to relate non-fiction texts to things they already know. They then examine how to stop and think about what they are reading repeatedly to make sure they understand...

After watching the documentary Dark Water about a traditional Chumash ceremony and reading a Chumash origin story, viewers are asked to create a coat of arms and to craft an essay that details a family tradition or their own origin story.

Victor Martinez's Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida is used in an activity that models how to develop questions to aid in comprehension of a text.

Students examine the process of summarizing text. They participate in a class discussion, and read an assigned passage from their textbook, highlighting the main points of the text. Students then write a short summary of their...

Eleventh graders analyze an advertisement. In this advertisement analysis instructional activity, 11th graders work in learning tiers to complete an analysis of the structure of the advertisement when compared to other text. Students...

In this ancient camel history worksheet, students complete a cloze activity in which 7 words from a word bank are inserted into a factual text. This is to be used with an information handout that is not included here.

Students observe and demonstrate the process of summarizing text. They read and discuss the steps to summarize text, then in small groups read and summarize an article about frogs from "National Geographic" online. Independently they...

Here's a must-have resource for anyone reading To Kill A Mockingbird or using Harper Lee's award-winning novel in a classroom. The packet contains Miss Hollace Ransdall's first-hand, factual account of the trials of the Scottsboro Boys,...

Students explore Vancouver. For this Vancouver geography and English language building lesson, students brainstorm what they know about Vancouver and predict what their text will cover. Students listen to the informational content of...

Mark Twain, the famous American author, is often studied in the school system. Use "The Prince and the Pauper" to analyze the differences between the text and its video version.  This lesson includes several culminating project...

Fifth graders examine note taking skills in order to support opinions. In this language arts activity, 5th graders read several newpaper articles and discuss a current issue. Students explore how to paraphrase so as not to commit...

Learners use context clues to define words with multiple meanings. After extensive practice with their teacher, learners read through six sentences, they then identify a word with a multiple meaning, and determine its meaning based on...

Introduce your class to literary analysis with a series of activities that has them examine book and movie reviews. Groups then draft their own review of a text, select a digital medium, and craft a presentation.

Students, after reading Chapter 1 in the book, "The Southern Colonies: Quest for Prosperity,"begin to analyze the motivation behind European colonization. They convey the setting of the scene into a writing piece to illustrate the...

Students explore birds, their territory, breeding, and seasonal movement. They research and collect information on birds through writing letters to ornithologists, reading in books, comparing web sites, and observing pictures. Students...

In response to reading Pearl Buck's The Good Earth, individuals are asked to complete a multi-genre writing assignment, crafting eight different pieces including a research paper.

A handy TFDC (topic/fact/detail/conclusion) graphic organizer (included) allows young writers to outline and record their main ideas and supporting details in the prewriting phase. They then continue to add details to the topic sentences...