Here is a way to build your pupils' public speaking abilities. The lesson describes a reader's report chair, which is used each week by a student who has just finished reading a book. The featured reader sits in the chair and talks about...

Create a graphic organizer to review parts and systems of the body, then present a new topic. Special education students grades 3-5 learn about the sense of hearing. They draw parts of the ear, sign a song, read Perk Up Your Ears, and...

What makes writing literary? What comprises analysis? A 15-slide PowerPoint presentation, created by the Purdue University Writing Lab, tackles these questions. The explanations of what makes writing literary and what comprises analysis...

Read to learn! Here is a one-page informational passage about inhabitants of Phoenix, Arizona. Learners will read to make logical inferences and determine the central idea or theme. Prompts ask the class to identify the main idea and...

If you'd like to quickly access a simple graphic organizer designed for a class to divide and conquer a larger subject, then check out this resource. Assign class members to study a specific topic within a historical theme or event, and...

After analyzing and evaluating news summaries found in the New York Times "Week in Review" section, middle schoolers study the steps for summarizing a news article briefly and accurately. They write two news summaries: one on a newspaper...

A lovely guided reading lesson awaits you and your students. They read the book,Corn is Maize: The Gift of the Indians, by Aliki, summarize the important events of the story, and describe how corn has helped develop culture in America.

Students research the US Presidential election of 1824. They explain why the election of 1824 was decided in the House of Representatives. They summarize relevant portions of the Constitution on presidential election procedures.

Live Strong! High schoolers will discuss some of the reasons behind Lance Armstrong's success in cycling and chart those reasons into four categories: Physiology, Psychology, Equipment, Training/Strategy. They will then choose one sport...

Students get rid of unnecessary information. They pick out the most important information. Students write a sentence that covers everything that is important information from the passage. They fill out a check list to check behind...

Third graders summarize information.  In this Hall of Fame activity, 3rd graders gather information on inductees and paraphrase the information.  Students use this to create decorate and create a sample plaque.  

In this summarizing a story worksheet, students tell a family member about the story and write a short summary. Students answer two questions.

Middle schoolers complete this journalism/language arts worksheet to improve their writing. They work in partners interviewing each other, then write key facts in a table, summarizing what, who, where, when, why. They make their...

Scholars learn about the Hero's Journey as they read Ray Bradbury's "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh." They analyze the story's structure and narrative techniques. Finally, they write summaries of the text's central idea and use their...

Students, while in the computer lab visiting the National Geographic Kids website, fill out a checklist of unimportant/redundant information, look for important events and ideas and search for the author's main idea and supporting...

Dive into journalism with your high schoolers! The resources provided here will help your learners write unbiased, clear, and succinct newspaper articles. First they spend time sifting through stacks of articles, filling out a graphic...

Many educators focus on the civil rights movement as it occurred after Rosa Parks incited the bus boycott. Extend the understanding of the fight for civil rights in the United States with this post-WWII lesson. Learners examine and...

Building on the previous activity in this unit on colonial trade, the ninth activity has young experts continuing their research and writing summaries of the information they find. To begin, children participate in guided practice where...

The fourth in a five-lesson unit examining human rights and personal responsibility asks class groups to investigate a current rights issue, and using the provided graphic organizer, summarize the issue, consider which rights are being...

It is key to the learning process to make everything a child with visual impairments does as tactile as possible. After reading Anne of Green Gables, the class discusses her life events in order to make a tactile time line. They...

Use this exceptional resource to examine the discourse and debate that occurred at the start of the War of 1812 with your class. Learners will first consider their own position on the war in a silent journal writing activity. Then after...

Discover the fascinating history of the Equal Rights Amendment and discuss the major implications and considerations associated with it today. Here you will find background information on the topic, a graphic organizer summarizing...

Vocabulary finder, question writer, story mapper and summarizer. Book circle groups spin the role finder wheel to determine their task when the group meets. The template and directions are included on the resource.

The secret to a successful literature circle discussion is preparation. Readers prepare for such a discussion by completing a two-page worksheet that asks them to summarize the text, record new words, ask and answer questions, and...