That's a double whammy! Scholars read the excerpt Double Whammy from The Exterminator. After identifying the gist of the text, they annotate by marking the author's claim. The group discusses what is meant by double whammy and...

Look for the signal words! Scholars get both instruction and practice comparing and contrasting. Although it is completely scripted, it can also serve as a detailed outline. Demonstrate this as you read a passage (included) and search...

In many places in the world, people go to great lengths to get books to read. This beginning-of-the-year activity uses pictures of people reading in extraordinary situations to stimulate effective listening and speaking using the...

There's no such thing as an unlimited resource. Scholars complete a mid-unit assessment by reading A Limited Supply. They answer text-dependent questions and complete a graphic organizer about key terms in the text.

Character analysis isn't always earth-shattering. Using a graphic organizer, pupils analyze Moon Shadow's point of view following the earthquake in Laurence Yep's Dragonwings. Also, scholars co-create an anchor chart showing the...

The most effective way to support an argument is with clear and relevant evidence. As seventh graders read and listen to Cesar Chavez's California Commonwealth Club Address, they work through five sections of a textual analysis unit,...

Continue on. Scholars continue the research they began in their expert groups in lesson six. They read text and task cards from their research folders and share what they have gathered in research thus far. Individuals then spend the...

Gather some information, print it onto sentence strips, and then have your class physically shuffle the cards to better understand the importance of organizational patterns in writing. Middle school learners examine information for a...

Fifth graders review the characteristics of a nonfiction text. In this language arts lesson, 5th graders understand that one can use a specific graphic organizer to help them in understanding an organizational structure. For example, in...

In this timeline instructional activity, students answer multiple choice questions about texts in timelines. Students complete 10 multiple choice questions.

Get the facts straight. Scholars complete their mid-unit assessment by reading a text, watching a video, and observing a picture about howler monkeys. They take notes about the facts they discover to use in future lessons.

Concept muraling helps learners improve their comprehension of a text by giving them a way to organize their understanding of the key concepts in that text. Introduce readers to this process with a carefully scaffolded lesson that models...

A creative lesson shines a spotlight on Christmas celebrations throughout six different countries. Scholars read an informative text and share their new-found knowledge with their peers. After hearing about each country, pupils choose...

How do pupils relate paired passages to each other? Here's a resource that helps! The lesson includes a short story and a poem as a set of paired reading passages, followed by some analysis questions. It also includes an essay template...

And now for the star witness! Scholars take a look at a model newspaper article and discuss the importance of eyewitness accounts. In groups of three, they take turns underlining text from eyewitnesses. They then regroup to talk about...

Scholars gain an insight into the relative size of planets and distance between inner and outer planets with the help of informational text, a data table, and a series of four questions.  

How do you grow a goal from a dream to reality? You make a plan! After reading chapters two and three of Where the Red Fern Grows, learners map how Billy earns his dogs by completing an organizer in pairs and then discussing answers in...

A K-W-H-L chart is a great way to scaffold prior knowledge. As class members begin their reading of Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse’s 1998 Newbery Medal winning verse novel, they chart what they already know about the Great Depression...

Learners practice writing with sentence fluency in order to make the story more enjoyable for the reader. In this sentence fluency lesson plan, students focus on rhythm and flow.

Learners create tables in a word processing program which helps them organize their text clues when reading a mystery story. They develop reading comprehension strategies while using a computer based graphic organizer in order to solve...

It seems that this presentation was designed for future educators, particularly those teaching a foreign language. Basic reading, writing, and organizational skills are presented, encouraging a discussion of strategies amongst your...

After your class reads Neat People vs. Sloppy People and Batting Clean-up and Striking Out, provide them with this resource. Use it as a quiz or a homework assignment to assess your class's understanding of the author's...

After reading a text, ask your pupils to recall and organize what they've just learned into a blank three-column chart. Class members write the topic and fill in the columns with information. The sheet also prompts students to write a...

Second graders interact with the story of Alexander's horrible day by connecting it to their lives. They practice predicting, writing paragraphs, reading aloud, discussing his problems, making a card to cheer him up, and designing a pair...