Curated OER
Aiming For Fluency
Student increase their reading fluency through the use of various strategies. After reviewing good reader strategies, 3rd graders complete an initial read of a novel text. After recording a baseline words per minute, students complete...
Curated OER
Directed Reading Thinking Activity: "A Raisin in the Sun"
Students predict outcomes of a text. In this comprehension strategy lesson, students read a poem and compare it to the play A Raisin in the Sun. Students discuss their similarities and the power of dreams.
Curated OER
Up, Up and Away With Fluency
Students practice their reading fluency through the use of various strategies. After reviewing decoding and rereading, students complete an initial read of a novel text. Working with a partner, they complete a timed assessment of their...
Curated OER
Fly Away Into Reading
Students complete repeated readings of the same passage in order to increase their reading fluency and comprehension. They listen as the teacher reads both with and without fluency to hear the difference. Working in small groups, they...
Curated OER
Get on the Fluency Boat
Students increase their reading fluency through the use of various strategies. After reviewing chunking, decoding, and rereading, students complete an initial read of a novel text. Working with a partner, they read complete a timed...
Curated OER
SBRR Strategies to Teach Vocabulary
First graders use principles for learning useful, interesting and sophisticated words based on scientifically-based reading research. They expand their vocabulary knowledge of Tier 2 words through explicit, direct instruction.
Curated OER
I Can Answer That!
Enhance reader comprehension! Examine different comprehension strategies with your second, third, and fourth graders. They discuss the strategy of questioning by developing their own comprehension questions to help improve their memory...
Curated OER
Comprehending Through Questioning
Elementary schoolers observe and apply a variety of reading comprehension strategies. They silently read a passage out of their science textbook, and discuss answering the who, what, where, when, and how of the text. In small groups they...
Curated OER
Mapping Out the Story
Discuss the reading comprehension strategy of summarization with your elementary schoolers! They read a chapter from their social studies textbook, Regions Near and Far, and create a map, or word web, for the chapter. They identify...
Curated OER
Icky Insect Is In Icky Sticky Ink
Practice the strategy of letter-sound correspondence when identifying the short vowel /i/ sound in written and spoken words. The teacher recites the tongue twister "Icky insect is in icky sticky ink," while listeners repeat. Letter boxes...
Curated OER
Two Greedy Bears
Improving listening comprehension skills is the goal of this language arts lesson. Young readers listen to the story Two Greedy Bears, stopping to have discussions with a partner. They predict outcomes and make inferences based on...
EngageNY
Choosing a Book That Interests Me: Seeking the Superhero Reader in Me
Selecting a "power book" and engaging in a structured class discussion are the learning targets for this fourth instructional activity in a larger unit. It is designed as a beginning of the year unit for establishing norms and routines...
EngageNY
Launching the Novel: Character Analysis of Ha
Scholars receive numbers as they work in groups to read Inside Out & Back Again. The instructor calls out specific numbers for readers to share the group's thoughts. Then, they use a model passage to demonstrate the effective actions...
Curated OER
Directed Reading Thinking Activity: Cold Sassy Tree
Lots of questions arise when reading Cold Sassy Tree. As your class encounters the twentieth chapter, encourage a rich discussion with some of the questions provided here. Then, either independently, or for homework, ask your readers to...
Bantam Books
The Tempest: Chalk Talk
Discussion doesn't always need to be spoken. Before you begin The Tempest by William Shakespeare, have kids connect their ideas and experiences to central questions of the play with a silent discussion activity. Once they have...
Curated OER
Hatchet: Vocabulary Strategy
Want your class to use critical thinking when discussing vocabulary? Go beyond the dictionary with a vocabulary activity based on Gary Paulsen's Hatchet. Kids write the word in the center of a graphic organizer that also provides places...
Curated OER
Exploring Owls
What can young scientists discover from dissecting an owl pellet? Explore the owl food chain, beginning with an introduction to these predatory birds. Suggested strategies here include creating a podcast and purchasing a poster, however...
Curated OER
The Miracle of the First Poinsettia
Connecting to literature and learning how to infer are two great reading strategies everyone needs to know. Here, the class will read along with the story The Miracle of the First Poinsettia, review folktales as a genre, and make...
Facing History and Ourselves
Literature Circles: Preparing for Literature Circles through a Fishbowl Discussion
Students examine the attributes of productive conversations. For this fishbowl discussion lesson, students observe a modeled discussion of a literature circle. Students watch a discussion of "The Bear That Wasn't" and note how...
For the Teachers
Cause and Effect Matrix
Study cause and effect in both literature and informational text with a lesson designed for several different reading levels. After kids review the concept of cause and effect, they read an article or story and note the causes and...
Curated OER
Just the Facts, Ma'am
Elementary learners identify the main elements of story structure and form questions to summarize their reading. They listen as the teacher reads a story and then write questions to determine (1) main characters, (2) setting, (3)...
Northeast Georgia Regional Educational Service Agency
Who Were the Tired, the Poor, the Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe Free?
Elvira Woodruff's The Orphan of Ellis Island: A Time Travel Adventure is the core text in a interdisciplinary unit study of immigration at the turn of the century.
Curated OER
Literature Circles
Pupils respond aesthetically to a piece of text. They give book talks about a picture book their small group read and rate it. Each student has a different job in the literature cirlce during the discussions. Finally, the students...
Curated OER
Introducing Literature Circle Roles to Students
Students read a narrative selection and select a literature circle role. In this reading comprehension instructional activity, students work in groups to identify vocabulary, make text connections, or other reading comprehension...