Using The Life Cycle of an Emperor Penguin by Bobbie Kalman, second graders practice defining unfamilar words with context clues.  They come across new vocabulary words and read the entire sentence and the sentence before...

Second graders use the title and text clues from a poem to determine what the author's voice is. In this author's voice lesson, 2nd graders participate in a directed lesson using the poem "Amazing Bats." They discuss their feelings with...

Sometimes all you need is a good heading to determine the main idea in a block of text. Young readers learn how to use headings to guild them to determining the main idea. They practice as a class, in pairs, and then on their own. The...

Students identify the characteristics of the genre of mystery.  In this genre activity, students discover the elements of a mystery story and begin recording the elements on a class chart of the book entitled Two-Minute Mysteries:...

The poem "The Teller of Tales" by Gabriela Mistral is the subject of a thoughtful lesson that allows scholars to listen to or read the poem, then discuss its meaning. 

Examine the book Stargazers by Gail Gibbons. Young readers will practice reading and interpreting information from diagrams in this informational text. They work together as a class on this skill and then move into independent...

You're as cute as a bug. But are you really as cute as a bug? Bugs aren't cute! Idioms are fun nonliteral phrases that mean something different than the words they contain. Second graders learn about idioms as they read the book, More...

The story Once in a Blue Moon by Nicola Morgan is full of figurative language. Second graders choose one idiom from the story and create an illustration of its meaning. Handouts and structured vocabulary practice is included...

Second graders look at the difference between explicit information and drawing conclusions. In this drawing conclusions lesson, 2nd graders read a passage and find areas where information is given and others where they have to think to...

An important part of reading informational text is being able to discern fact from opinion. The class reads chapter one from the book, Penguins by Lynn M. Stone. They analyze specific sections of the text to determine if what...

Second graders make predictions beyond the text. In this prediction lesson, 2nd graders read a story and predict what happens to the characters after the story is over by using evidence from what they read. They read three different...

The second lesson in a series from ReadWorks.org, this lesson continues to explore the difference between fiction and nonfiction texts. The lesson opens with the teacher reviewing a class Venn diagram started in the last lesson....

Looking for a good lesson that teaches the skill of putting events in a story in the correct sequential order? This lesson could be for you! Learners read the story My Red Balloon and retell the story to a partner. They use text details...

First graders sort pictures of animals into categories. In this sorting lesson plan, learners use the book On The Farm to categorize their animals.

Here is a way for your charges to sort pictures of children into 2 groups and put a title for each group. In this classification lesson plan, learners explain why they chose to separate the children the way they did.

What is the main idea? Interest your young readers with this fun introductory activity! After selecting several items from a paper bag, the teacher leads learners to determine the big idea for those items. This concept is then applied to...

How do a character’s feelings and actions influence the plot of a story? The interaction between character and plot is explored in this lesson that uses When Charlie McButton Lost Power to launch the discussion. Charlie’s love of...

Factual books about animals are great for sparking interest in non-fiction text. Little ones will love learning about the foods animals eat as they practice identifying facts in a text. They chart the information they've learned by...

Introduce young readers to the word of non-fiction. They examine the features found in non-fiction books such as, facts, dates, and realistic pictures. They discuss how the images in the book Your Pet Dog depict real dogs...

The Gunniwolf is a book full of events that get kids asking why and what. They note several events on a chart, and then discuss how they think the instructor is able to determine the causes and effects they find. They continue...

Remember that boy David from the David, No! books? He's back, and youngsters draw a picture of him from a scene in the book David Goes to School. They write a sentence describing his appearance, actions, and feelings...

Second graders sort items into predetermined categories. In this sorting activity, 2nd graders learn the meaning of the word squirt before listening to a reading of the book, Splish! Splash! Animal Baths by April Pulley Sayre. They...

Let's practice substituting pronouns for nouns! In this writing sentences lesson, learners identify nouns and pronouns and replace the underlined examples. They complete a worksheet which are provided by grade level.

Discovering different ways to use a dictionary to find the meaning of unknown words is the focus of this language arts lesson. Everyone reads a story and practices finding unknown words in the dictionary.