Curated OER
Solid Foundation
Young community members explore philanthropic foundations. They discuss the work of community foundations, and then they listen to a guest speaker describe the vision and activities of a local foundation. Is there a way they can join the...
Curated OER
Bill Pickett, Bulldoggin' Cowboy
Who was Bill Picket? Interested readers work through an informational passage to find out about a famous "bulldogger" from the old West. They answer several reading comprehension questions and use a seven step process to decode new...
Center for History Education
This Land is Whose Land?
Whose land is it, anyway? Young scholars debate the question using primary sources from a case where Maryland indigenous people petitioned for land rights after they lost their original tribal lands. An included chart helps organize...
K5 Learning
A Ship in a Storm
Give reading comprehension a boost with a two-page instructional activity featuring an informational text about ships at sea during stormy weather. After reading, scholars show what they know through four short-answer questions.
Curated OER
Lesson 2 : First and Last Sentences (Passage)
Remember that old skimming technique, where you'd read the first and last sentence of a paragraph to glean the main idea? That tried and true college trick is taught to third graders as a way to gather information while they read....
Curated OER
The Fable of Franny And Her Fabulous Fainting Goat
Mix the art of reading comprehension with the skill of telling time. Children in grades two and three will discuss the importance of goats throughout history based on the provided background information. They'll create cute goat...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Do You Have a Babushka?
Young scholars retrieve information about Patricia Polacco from selected sources. They classify information into prescribed categories on a concept map.
Curated OER
Facts and Opinions in a Variety of Genres
Here is a lesson dedicated to helping learners understand the differences between facts and opinions. They examine the first page of several books from the class library to determine if the book is fact or opinion based. A Venn diagram...
Curated OER
Baby Peanut Plants
Science is a subject ripe with opportunities to read informational text. Kids read to learn about peanuts! They read an informational passage, fill out two comprehension worksheets, and then conduct a lab experiment on a peanut. The...
Curated OER
Dinosaur Reading Comprehension
What is more interesting than a dinosaur; three dinosaurs! Second graders hone their reading comprehension skills by learning about the T-Rex, Pachycephalosaurus, and diplodocus. They read three short paragraphs and answer three...
Curated OER
The Peanut Wizard
Peanuts inspire this lesson about George Washington Carver, called The Peanut Wizard in the included informational text. Class members read about peanuts and George Washington Carver and create a timeline of his life. In addition, pupils...
Curated OER
Bread in a Bag
This lesson focuses on making bread, but also spends some time on the origins of wheat. In order to make the bread, each class member receives a kit full of the materials they will need. Included here is a detailed list of instructions...
Curated OER
Mighty Earth Movers
Note that although the publisher lists almost all of the Common Core standards for both math and language arts, you will most likely want to take the general topic and choose which area to focus on. Regarding math, pupils measure worms...
Curated OER
Back to the Farm
Read up on farming and ranching and connect this information to your learners' lives. After reading, send class members home to fill out a family tree and trace their family history, focusing on farming and ranching backgrounds. Once...
Scholastic
Scholastic: Writing With Scientists With the American Museum of Natural History
Follow this six-step method and you'll have a good understanding of what a good scientific research paper involves and how it is organized. There are plenty of samples for you to look at. This explanation is also very helpful for...
University of South Florida
Fcat Reading Grade 4: Teaching Strategies
This is a great resource that concentrates strategies and student activities in one place in an easy to use format, and can be navigated easily. Find great examples of probable passage, selective underlining, and semantic feature...
Read Works
Read Works: Passages: Forgetting the Words
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read a fiction text about a boy named Andy who has a part in the school play and answer questions about comprehension, conflict, inferencing, main idea, literary devices, and more. Links to a...
Read Works
Read Works: Passages: Lessons From Fishing
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read a fiction text about a boy named Morgan who loved to fish and answer questions about comprehension, comparing details, supporting details, main idea, vocabulary, and more. Links to a...
Read Works
Read Works: Water Woes
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction piece includes information about the world's water shortage. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and establishes...
Read Works
Read Works: Passages: The Campanile
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read a nonfiction text about the Campanile bell tower in Berkeley, California and answer questions about comprehension, supporting details, main ideas, transitions, and more. Links to a paired...
Education.com
Education.com: Compare and Contrast Non Fiction Stories: Extinct Birds
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students will compare two informational texts about two extinct birds, the Great Auk and the Dodo. A Venn Diagram is provided to be used when comparing an contrasting tests.
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Reading Basics: Comprehension
Provides articles, parent tips, research briefs, and a video on how to teach reading comprehension.
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Using Collaborative Strategic Reading
In this article, the Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) technique is explained, along with research to support the use. The technique teaches students to use comprehension strategies, while working cooperatively, as they engage in the...
Utah Education Network
Uen: Cool Tools for Finding Information (Grade 3 4)
Identify text structures in various informational sources.