Curated OER
Comprehension: Create a Summary from an Expository Text
Children can learn to analyze expository or informational texts at nearly any age. This scaffolded and scripted resource provides teachers with the support needed to facilitate a thoughtful instructional activity on summarizing...
Curated OER
Identifying Important Ideas in Expository Text
Students identify the main ideas from expository text. In this main ideas lesson, students read a piece of text and practice identifying what is most important. Students complete another sample reading with a group then discuss as a class.
Syracuse City School District
Summary of Fiction and Non-Fiction Text
Somebody Wanted But So Then (SWBST)? Yes! Here's a great strategy for teaching young readers how to summarize narrative text. In addition, the packet includes exercises that show kids how to summarize nonfiction text using the classic...
Curated OER
Short and Sweet
Students examine how to summarize information from expository text. They read an expository text and identify the important information from the reading. Students identify the topic sentence and write their own topic sentences.
Curated OER
Read All About it
Learners create and publish a newspaper that reflects and explains pioneer and medieval societies. They become newspaper writers for a specific time period. They adopt a holistic approach to exploring community life in medieval and...
Teachers.net
How to Write a Movie Review from a Pet's Perspective
When would two paws up denote a blockbuster film in your classroom? Only when young writers create movie reviews from a pet's perspective in this imaginative expository writing practice. This engaging topic begins with a class discussion...
Curated OER
Determining Ideas and Adding Details
A handy TFDC (topic/fact/detail/conclusion) graphic organizer (included) allows young writers to outline and record their main ideas and supporting details in the prewriting phase. They then continue to add details to the topic sentences...
Curated OER
Classifying Information About Main Idea
In this reading for understanding lesson, students underline information in a text that is important in identifying the main idea. This lesson provides good practice for students who usually have difficulty in finding the main idea in...
Curated OER
Mountain Magic: Identifying the Basic Physical Characteristics of Mountains
Students read about and identify on maps the physical characteristics of mountains. In this mountains lesson plan, students also write about the characteristics using personification.
Curated OER
Understanding Clues from the Past: School Days
Third graders read primary and secondary sources as the study about schools in the early years of Kansas. In this primary and secondary source lesson, 3rd graders examine how historians use primary source documents to tell about the past...
Curated OER
Summing it all Up...In Your Own Words
Students observe and demonstrate the steps to identifying the main ideas of a text. They listen to the teacher read a paragraph and model the steps of summarizing the main idea. Students then independently read a different paragraph...
Curated OER
Poetic Justice: Understanding the Life of a Tethered Dog
The Humane Society provides a activity in which class members explore the issue of tethering dogs. Through the resources used -- a comic, a poem, and narrative and expository writings -- class members realize that messages can be...
Curated OER
Writing a Character Sketch
Combining descriptive and expository writing skills, middle schoolers create a character sketch about someone they know well. They use a graphic organizer to help them discuss a model character sketch and organize/write one of their own....
Curated OER
Introducing Nonfiction
Students are introduced to nonfiction text. In this five esson unti, students explore nonfiction as a genre. They identify the components and text structure of text structure of nonfiction text. Students read a nonfiction passage and...
Curated OER
Venerable Inventors
Young scholars discuss important historic inventors and read their biographical information. In this world history lesson, students describe Alexander Bell, Thomas Edison, and Guglielmo Marconi using vocabulary terms used in their text....
Curated OER
Reading to Learn
Students participate in a instructional activity that reinforces reading skills. Specifically, this instructional activity focuses on the skill of summarization. This strategy teaches students how to better comprehend written text.
Curated OER
Let's Sum It Up
Students summarize a selected piece of nonfiction text as a group. After reviewing the instructors preferred method for summarizing information by identifying the main idea and supporting details, groups write a summary paragraph of a...
Curated OER
Whooz-z-z Can Summarize
Young scholars summarize an article by reading fast for details and reading slow for important facts. They practice outlining an article. They identify parts of an article such as the title and subheading. They write a short and concise...
Curated OER
Inspector Readers: The 002 Book Club
This unit introduces book clubs/literature circles to lower elementary classes, but could be adapted to higher grades. It outlines the anticipatory activity that includes a WebQuest, a discussion to clarify questions about the unit,...
Curated OER
Enemy Pie
Third graders pair up with a partner via an online classroom. They analyze half of the story "Enemy Pie" and communicate with their online peer to predict the outcome of the story.
Curated OER
Sticks, Stones, Sinews and Stuff: How Early People Used the Environment to Meet Basic Needs
Students create an artifact. In this early survival lesson, students use found objects to create an artifact that could have been used to help early people meet their basic needs.
Curated OER
Life Cycle of the Monarch Butterfly
Third graders access prior knowledge of the monarch butterfly and discuss what they would like to know. In this Monarch Butterfly lesson,students read Monarch Butterfly and discuss the life cycle of the butterfly. Students gather...
Curated OER
Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Map for Me: An Original Story
Students read Blackbeard and brainstorm their knowledge of maps. In this language arts and geography lesson, students use landmarks on their playground to review north, south, east and west and discuss the compass rose. Students read...
Curated OER
Which Way is Up? The Tree of Life in Africa
Students read a book titled This is the Tree about a baobab tree and draw a picture and label the tree. In this tree lesson plan, students also write a paragraph explaining why they drew that tree.