Research the lives of famous women in this social studies lesson plan. Middle schoolers use various sources to research a famous woman and create a presentation about the accomplishments of the woman. They can find the central idea...

Research the interrelationship between math and science. Search the Internet to discover the history of several branches of mathematics and make text-to-world connections between the concepts covered in each branch with related...

Examine stories with a moral in a character development instructional activity. The class reads a short story written by Benjamin Franklin in which he pays too much for a toy whistle. Individuals then make text-to-self connections and...

To derive an understanding of Egyptian culture and society, pupils read several excerpts from Egyptian texts. They will answer 10 comprehension questions and identify 5 different Egyptians based on the 1st person statement.

Interpreting text is vital. Middle schoolers read a 1 page passage describing why Europe was so interested in colonizing India. After reading, they answer 8 comprehension questions. 

Providing learners with a solid armory of reading strategies is a good way to help them build better reading comprehension. The teacher will model how to use a questioning checklist to better understand what she is reading. Pupils will...

Building fluency in reading informational text is part of the common core. Get learners reading information about past and current issues related to the country of Afghanistan. They read the seven paragraph passage, then answer four...

The New York Times' Learning Network provides great lessons! This one uses articles from the paper to help readers understand homonyms like mail (verb and noun). It also includes an exercise in reading informational text. Links to the...

If you want your class to practice reading informational texts and answering related questions, this short exercise from The New York Times' "Learning Network" might be helpful. It includes an article on Dippin' Dots and uses...

So what about those Beastie Boys? Kids read a New York Times article relating the history of hip-hop and rap icons the Beastie Boys. They then answer eleven who, what, when, where, and why questions about the text they read.

With this New York Times "Learning Network" exercise, high schoolers read an article about the death of Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are and then respond to several prompts that require them to shape their own opinions...

A great resource for informational texts as well as writing topics, the New York Times website provides writing prompts about various news articles through The Learning Network. This particular worksheet provides a very short...

Review MLA format, particularly the 7th Edition and its updates. The slides cover the first page of an essay, section headings, in-text citations, formatting questions, and the Works Cited page. This is a great way to make sure papers...

Written and verbal communication is the topic for today. The class goes over various facets of verbal communication, such as plain English, active voice, passive voice, cliché, and jargon. They then use those devices as they discuss...

Does your class annotate to deepen their understanding of a text? Before they jump into Night by Elie Wiesel, have them practice annotating with a short excerpt. Provided here is a guide to annotation and a two-page excerpt on the...

You scream, I scream! Young learners read this passage about ice cream flavors, then answer 13 questions about details from the reading. The questions address details from the text, vocabulary, and parts of speech. Use this activity to...

Practice literary analysis with your poetry pupils using the mysterious narrative poem "The Listeners." They examine the archaic language and answer 12 comprehension and analysis prompts. Foster creativity with these referential...

Bananas are an important part of a healthy diet - but where do they come from? Third graders write an explanatory text about the origins of bananas. The bottom part of the paper includes necessary information about bananas, as well as a...

Who knew there were so many fun educational opportunities featuring pasta? Scholars read a brief informational text about the history of pasta (note that "macaroni" is spelled two different ways, so address this if kids are reading...

Your special education class can use this simple recipe for more than just cooking. They'll find correctly spelled words, put words from the recipe in ABC order, circle the correct measurement, and identify items that are in recipe by...

Explore the discrepancies in Florida's vote counting process in 2000 and 2002 with this New York Times reading lesson. Middle schoolers study the viewpoints presented in informational text, paying attention to how word choice can...

Third graders examine different types of non-fiction texts. In this non fiction lesson, 3rd graders use different types of texts to gather information. Students work in groups to analyze the texts for author's purpose, common...

Students recognize that science writing is organized in identifiable patterns called text structures. Understanding and using these different text structures help refine students' abilities to read and write in science.

Third graders create a graphic organizer. They draw illustrations that show the beginning, middle and end of a trip they took to visit a friend or a relative. They write age-appropriate text to accompany each drawing. They tell...