Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Jumping Bodies

For Students 6th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read a story about a boy named Charles who has the ability to switch bodies. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: See if I Care

For Students 8th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] A literary text about a newspaper editor who is tricked into following a false lead. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Fuels of the Future

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read about renewable energy sources that may replace fossil fuel in the future. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in comparing and contrasting.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Finger Food

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This passage is sharing information about the implementation of finger scanning technology in a school cafeteria. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills...
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: About You How Music Affects Your Mood

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction piece discusses how music influences mood. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and establishes scaffolding for...
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: The History of Planet Earth

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This informational text passage shares information about the history of the earth and its landforms. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and...
Primary
Other

New York State Library: Student Activity: Primary Versus Secondary Sources

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Read about the Railroad Strike of 1877 using three excerpts from textbooks and three original newspaper articles. Compare and contrast the information in the primary and secondary sources.
Lesson Plan
Education Development Center

Education Development Center: Tv411: Reading Structure of a News Story

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Interactive lesson explains the content and organization of newspaper articles. Includes self-scoring exercises for practicing identifying the five W's (who, what, when, where, and why) in a series of brief news articles and a...
Lesson Plan
Education Development Center

Education Development Center: Tv411: Parts of a Newspaper

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Students click through a lesson about the parts of a newspaper and answer questions about the types of articles found in each section, headlines, and captions that would go with photographs. Links to related videos are also provided.
Interactive
Education Development Center

Tv411: Reading: Parts of a Newspaper

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
A series of three activities help readers become familiar with parts of a newspaper, from sections to headlines and captions.
Primary
Other

Primary Research Through the History of Beverly

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
At Beverly High School in Massachusetts, students learn history through their own primary research on local history topics. This article and links from it explain how it's done.
Graphic
Scholastic

Scholastic Teaching Resources: Informational Reading Response [Pdf]

For Teachers 1st - 9th Standards
This graphic organizer can be used with students when they read informational text. Students will write three facts they learned, two questions they still have after reading, and one interesting fact that they want to share.
Unit Plan
Texas Education Agency

Texas Gateway: Compare Narrative and Informational Texts: Practice 1

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Evaluate changes in audience, purpose, and tone in two different texts.
Handout
Other

Mine Safety and Health Administration: How a Bill Becomes a Law

For Students 4th - 8th Standards
This website provides a very simple walk-through of how a bill becomes a law, with minimal explanation.
Activity
iCivics

I Civics: Three Branches: Laws in Action

For Students 5th - 8th Standards
Embark on his WebQuest to follow the path an idea takes to eventually become a law. Read a short description regarding the role of each branch of government and then answer a follow-up question using the link provided.
Unit Plan
Other

Learning Farm: Compare and Contrast Informational Texts

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
In this narrated tutorial, students are presented with information about first and third points of view, then read two passages about the same event and answer questions that compare how the topic is presented. After completing the...
Website
US Government Publishing Office

Ben's Guide to u.s. Government: Learning Adventures: Branches of Government

For Students Pre-K - 1st Standards
Introduction to a learning adventure on the Constitution and branches of government. Students click on their age group icon to find information on which part of the Constitution spells out the powers of legislative, executive and...
Website
US Government Publishing Office

Ben's Guide to u.s. Government: Judicial Branch (6 8)

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This site from Ben's Guide to U.S. Government provides a brief overview of the judicial branch of the federal government. Discusses the origin of the judicial branch, the concept of judicial review, and functions of the judicial branch....
Activity
The Dirksen Congressional Center

Congress for Kids: Legislative Branch, the Senate

For Students 3rd - 6th Standards
Activities that students can use to understand the job of the US Senate, and become more engaged in the legislative process.
Activity
The Dirksen Congressional Center

Congress for Kids: The Legislative Branch: Making Laws

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Discover how laws are made in the United States, and then complete the trivia questions as a follow-up activity.
Activity
The Dirksen Congressional Center

Congress for Kids: The Legislative Branch: House of Representatives

For Students 3rd - 6th Standards
Read a brief synopsis of the House of Representatives in the Legislative Branch, and then complete the short quiz to check for understanding.
Unit Plan
Harry S. Truman Library and Museum

Harry S. Truman Library & Museum: Three Branches of Our Government

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This slide and the six that follow it (use the advance button near the bottom of the screen) offer an explanation of each of the three branches of government and the duties they perform, including discussion of the tensions arising from...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Text Sets

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This is a collection of 35 Grade-Leveled text sets (4-11). They are great for social studies teachers or for building background knowledge in reading class, CommonLit's text sets cover a range of historical, cultural, and political...
Activity
US Government Publishing Office

Ben's Guide to u.s. Government: The Senate

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Information about the qualifications and duties of the United States Senate.