Curated OER
Selective Underlining Taking Notes
It is so important for learners to become selective and strategic readers. This slide show provides examples and practice exercises that encourage them to read informational text and selectively underline key points or information. Great...
Curated OER
Only the Facts
Practice the strategy of summarizing to gain meaning and knowledge from an informational text. Young readers highlight supporting details and main ideas, and then they use this to summarize two articles: "The Great Quake" and "What is an...
Texas Education Agency (TEA)
Gaining Understanding and Information from Introductory Material, Headings, and Other Division Markers in Texts (English III Reading)
All teachers are teachers of reading! The 13-part interactive series ends with a lesson that teaches learners (and their instructors) how to approach reading their textbooks. After learning about several strategies, users test their...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Plants Tell It Again!™ Read-Aloud Anthology
A 190-page anthology explores the life and parts of plants, flowers, and trees while boosting reading comprehension skills. Literature and informational texts showcase Johnny Appleseed and George Washington Carver. Lessons follow the...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Early World Civilizations Tell It Again!™ Read-Aloud Anthology
Ancient world civilizations are the focus of a read-aloud anthology. First graders explore the early world of Mesopotamia, Babylon, the sphinx, and pyramids, get to know people of the Nile, Hatshepsut, and Tutankhamun, and examine world...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Civil Rights Leaders
A Student Reader focuses on Civil Rights leaders. Scholars read or listen to an informational text about Susuan B. Anthony, Mary McLeod Bethune, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, and...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Civil Rights Leaders
A unit focuses on Civil Rights leaders. Scholars read or listen to an informational text about Susuan B. Anthony, Mary McLeod Bethune, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, and other...
Curated OER
Predicting the Meaning of Unfamiliar Words in a Text
Middle schoolers develop strategies for what to do when they come upon words in a text that they don't know. After a class discussion, pupils are given a selection of text that contains some very difficult words. They are instructed to...
Curated OER
Bias and Crime in Media
Critical thinking and social justice are central themes for this resource on bias and crime in media. The class views and discusses an incisive PSA that highlights assumptions based on race. Small groups read newspaper opinion pieces...
Federal Reserve Bank
Ben Franklin: Highlighting the Printer
By studying Benjamin Franklin's work as a printer, your class will have a fantastic opportunity to learn about the economic concepts of entrepreneurship, human capital, and investment.
Odell Education
Reading Closely for Textual Details: Grades 9-10
Pupils work in small groups to answer guided questions and discuss the details they found. They also read independently, improving strategies they learned to approach and question text.
Curated OER
In Text Citations
What is citation? Why cite? Researchers are introduced to the Modern Language Association (MLA) style guide for research writing. Examples are plentiful and color-coded to highlight specific aspects of the conventions.
Curated OER
Identify and Discuss the Author's Purpose
Examine author's purpose in a persuasive text using this scaffolded plan. You essentially have a verbatim script here, but it can definitely be used as an outline instead. Review questions that readers should ask themselves when...
Planet e-Book
Oliver Twist
"Please, sir. May I have some more?" An eBook version of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens introduces readers to the text that inspired the classic line. An oldie but a goodie, book worms see why this novel is so beloved.
Curated OER
Instill Inherent Reading Strategies
Marking the text can help transform novice readers into experts and enrich the reading experience
Curated OER
The Internet of Things: IoT
How has the Internet of Things affected our lives? Scholars examine the massive influence of mobile devices in this analysis activity, which begins with a seven-minute documentary clip. They also read a New York Times article (linked)...
Curated OER
Una carta a un amigo
Who is Roberto? Give your Spanish speakers the letter from Roberto, detailing what it's like to go to school in Mexico. As they read they letter, they should mark the text, highlight words they don't know, and make clarifications when...
Curated OER
Close Reading of “The Necklace”
Designed for teachers, this 12-page packet uses passages from Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace" to model how to design activities that encourage close reading of complex text.
K5 Learning
Sharks
"Dun dun... dun dun." A shark! After second graders read a four-paragraph passage about sharks, they respond to four reading comprehension questions that use the text as a basis for the answers.
Bantam Books
The Tempest: Think-Aloud Annotation
It can be difficult to refer back to a text when analyzing it, so annotation is a great tool for kids to track what they are reading. A thorough and well-organized lesson guides learners through the process of annotating William...
English Enhanced Scope and Sequence
Differentiate between Formal and Informal Language
The Pledge of Allegiance, the Gettysburg Address, the National Anthem, and the Preamble to the Constitution all get close attention in an exercise that asks learners to rewrite these formally-worded documents into informal language....
Curated OER
The Gospel of Wealth by Andrew Carnegie: A Close Reading
Andrew Carnegie's "The Gospel of Wealth" provides high schoolers an opportunity to engage more complex text. After a close reading of the essay and an analysis of Carnegie's argument that the rich are superior because they earn money,...
EngageNY
Getting the Gist and Tracing an Argument: “Public Fear” Excerpt from “The Exterminator”
Only fear fear itself. Scholars read Public Fear from The Exterminator. Triads work together to annotate and determine the gist of the text. They then complete a Tracing an Argument graphic organizer to identify arguments, claims, and...
T. Smith Publishing
Earth
Young astronomers read an informational text passage and then answer questions based on what they read.