Phrases such as "This paper is going to be about" and "I am going to tell you about" do not make for effective thesis statements. A handout from the UNC Writing Center helps writers break from those phrases to craft effective thesis...

What would it be like to sell your eggs to a couple who can't have children on their own? Could you even imagine it? As most of us have never been in this position, this descriptive essay is really quite interesting. The reading itself...

The proof is in the reading. Scholars read an article, "Attached to Technology and Paying the Price," and answer text-dependent questions. Next, they complete a Venn diagram to contrast two authors' use of evidence on the topic of screen...

Analyze the significance of George Washington's letter to his cabinet in which he sets forth a tradition of neutrality in wartime for the United States.

Ancient Hebrew history comes to life through this online western civilizations tool, which follows history in detail from ancient origins to modern-day. Chapter two covers ancient eastern cultures, including beginnings of Hebrew...

After reading an informational text detailing the ins and outs of snowflakes, scholars draw their own special design then work cooperatively to role play a snowman building scenario. 

Armstrong Sperry's Newbery Medal winning Call It Courage, the story of the journey of Mafatu, a young Pacific Islander, is the core text of a 26-page resource guide.

Discuss how political postcards affected everyday people's thoughts and beliefs. Pupils continue a unit on the Dreyfus Affair as they engage in class discussion, watch a video, view a PowerPoint presentation, and fill out worksheets to...

Beginning with anticipation guide strategies is a powerful method for improving reading comprehension. First, list initial ideas for a topic the class will be reading about. These ideas are formulated into statements, some of which are...

Develop and strengthen reading comprehension strategies through this comprehensive teaching guide. Your learners will practice making text connections, inferences, predictions, and more using reading passages from the teen-appropriate...

Learn how to summarize by identifying main ideas and supporting details. Readers cross out unimportant information as they read through a text. Is it a random detail? Cross it out! They then draw a concept map, placing the main idea in...

Students investigate syllabic metre and rhyming techniques by analyzing poetry.  In this language arts lesson, students read the poem Considering the Snail and discuss the nature and mood of the poem with their classmates....

Help your learners build their reading comprehension by setting up the suggested learning stations. First, hold up a detailed picture of your choosing. Give your class 30 seconds before turning the picture over. How much of the image can...

Learn about wastewater and recycled water with a science reading activity. After learners finish a two-page passage about conserving the water supply, they answer six comprehension questions about what they have read.

California's water supply is not always stable. Learn about the ways that California weathers a drought with a reading activity about water usage and agriculture. Once kids finish the reading passage, they answer a series of...

Discover the five main elements political cartoonists use—symbolism, captioning and labels, analogy, irony, and exaggeration—to convey their point of view.

Help young readers learn to read and interpret complex text independently. Teach young children to ask interpretive questions and use the text itself to answer them. Use art, word play and drama to provide a deeper understanding of...

Whether or not your school/state has adopted the Common Core standards, you will want to add this resource to your Of Mice and Men curriculum materials. The chapter-by-chapter activities ask readers to provide evidence from the novella...

The ability to use text features effectively can translate to many texts and purposes. Show your class these tools while working with the biography Lost Star: The Story of Amelia Earhart. Explore the different text features within the...

Is graffiti art? Writers explore that question as part of a source-based argument within a set of questions from the NY Regents examination. The assessment from June 2018, part of a larger set of standardized tests, consists of three...

Delve into Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan with close reading and evidence-based, text-dependent questions. Part of a unit series, this well-sequenced, Common Core designed instructional activity draws on material from the...

Set a purpose for reading informational texts with this reading lesson. To find the central idea of a text, young readers turn titles and subtitles into questions to help them understand the text. They complete a T-chart for the lesson,...

Scholars investigate the Holocaust through the eyes of an Auschwitz survivor. They analyze and research a firsthand account of events inside the gas chambers moments before hundreds died. Using Holocaust Reading Passages and...

The time has come to find out what your fourth grade readers have learned after another year of hard work. This Common Core-designed practice assessment provides two reading passages, one narrative and one expository, that children must...