Have your middle schoolers define the terms outline, summary, paraphrase, plagiarism, citation, reference, and bibliography. They identify the main ideas, topic sentence, supporting ideas in technical writing and create note cards using...

In this pre-reading activity worksheet, students respond to 3 questions that require them to list main ideas, generate questions, and clarify unclear items prior to reading a selection.

As a practice writing test, fourth graders use the West of the West's documentary Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island and two print resources as source materials for an informative article that identifies information that is...

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...

Fourth graders listen to the teacher discuss the definition of "Summary." They read a story aloud with their classmates. After finishing the story, 4th graders are asked to choose the best summary statement.

High schoolers research the structure of the Declaration: introduction, main political/philosophical ideas, grievances and assertion of sovereignty. They analyze the ideological/political origins of the ideas in the Declaration. Students...

Having pupils use a rubric to score a piece of writing is an excellent practice. They read a passage titled, "Firefighters," and discuss different summaries that were written about it. They evaluate several summaries then score them...

Gravity is just one consideration when determining human habitability on a new planet. The lesson connects four different units and starts with connecting the various systems: planetary systems, human body systems, etc. After scholars...

Students practice summarization in order to increase their comprehension of non-fiction text. They read and summarize passages by finding the main ideas in passages from a Social Studies textbook. After silently reading the passage they...

Twelfth graders discover the ideas of our government by reading the Mayflower Compact.  In this U.S. Government lesson, 12th graders identify the main ideas of the Mayflower Compact, how it came to be and who was affected the most...

“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” Readers not only identify aphorisms in Emerson's "Self Reliance," but also find evidence of transcendental elements contained in the essay. They also demonstrate consistency...

Should the excavation of what is believed to be the cave of the Lone Woman of San Nicholas Island be allowed to continue? As a practice exercise designed to prepare pupils for a timed writing exam, individuals read two Los Angeles...

Middle schoolers summarize a one to two page article of informational text. They compose a summary according to the guidelines on the "Five Rules for Writing a Summary" chart. They take turns reading their summary to the group, and...

I Have A Dream ... that after the lesson, all individuals master the reading, writing, researching, listening, and speaking skills the biography project helps them develop. Martin Luther King, Jr. serves as a topic example for a model...

Phrenology, the belief that parts of your brain control certain aspects of your personality, is described in Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science. While we now know much more about the brain, learners use this...

This scripted lesson suggests using the journalist’s five W’s (who, what, when, where, why) to teach readers how to summarize a story and to how to distinguish between significant and supporting details. A template and rubric are...

Middle schoolers read a poem and complete a TPCASTT chart. They make a prediction about the title (T) , paraphrase each line (P), identify poetic devices and nuances (C-connotation), explore mood and tone (A-attitude), point out shifts...

Students practice several techniques and strategies to become better at summarizing a piece of writing. They emphasize the five "W's: who, what, where, when and why. A book of Earthquakes is read and then summarized by each of the students.

Students summarize a selected piece od nonfiction text. After reviewing the correct way to read silently, students read a nonfiction article concerning Thanksgiving. They write a summary paragraph using the five step process outlined by...

Third graders summarize a piece of nonfiction text. After reviewing the correct way to read for important information and summarize that information, students independently read a nonfiction article. They write a summary paragraph using...

Students analyze one way to help in comprehending information from text is summarization. They encounter that summarizing includes instruction on how to delete trivial details and redundancies, place items and events in order, and create...

Young scholars summarize a selected piece of text nonfiction text. After reviewing the correct way to read silently, students read a nonfiction article. Working in groups, they write a summary paragraph using the five step process...

Fifth graders investigate biomes of the earth. For this biomes lesson, 5th graders explore eight different biomes which include the tropical rain forest, deciduous forest, grasslands, and taiga. They design an artistic scrapbook that...

In this cloning instructional activity, students will read a paragraph about how cloning has been a benefit to medicine and agriculture. Students will underline the main idea in the paragraph and write down three supporting details. Then...