SRI International
Performance Assessment Links in Science: Follow Those Tracks
This lesson plan requires students to make an inference (hypothesis) about two animals based on the tracks they leave behind. Students are asked to write a story explaining their inference.
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Unit: Reading Comprehension and Structure
This unit focuses on reading comprehension and structure. It includes lessons on the main idea and supporting details, theme, sequence, fact and opinion, literary devices, character, text features, inferences, organization of nonfiction,...
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Mfc Do Animals Think?
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart contains the story on MP3, inferences, vocabulary activities, comprehension questions, distinguishing between thoughts and instincts, Activote, and web extensions.
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Learning Lab: Every Picture Has a Story
Smithsonian Education presents "Every Picture Has a Story". Teachers can download this comprehensive teaching package in which students examine some of the millions of photographs in the Smithsonian. This amazing teaching package comes...
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...
Other
The Critical Thinking Consortium: A Teacher's Guide to the Three Questions [Pdf]
A study of The Three Questions by Jon J. Muth will have students critically examining the text as they exercise their higher order thinking skills. This excellent teacher's giide comes with blackline masters and an assessment rubric.
University of California
University of California at Berkeley: Understanding Science: Mystery Boxes
An interesting instructional activity where students collaborate to create a visual image of what the inside of a sealed box looks like. The box has a marble or other type of sphere inside it, as well as partitions and/or ramps. Students...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Community Meeting [Pdf]
"Community Meeting" is a one page, fictional reading passage about the needs of a community and how they need to work together to meet those needs. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide...
Library of Congress
Loc: Political Cartoons: Finding Point of View
A careful analysis of political cartoons can provide a glimpse into key moments of U.S. political history. In this activity, students will closely examine political cartoons about the Stamp Act; make inferences about the political,...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Determining Bird Populations Through Counting
Young scholars participate in a bird count to determine the number of birds sighted in four different sites. Students draw inferences from recorded data on a bar graph in regard to the number of species in the area and relative...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Floating Foods and Underwater Eruptions: An Exploration of Density
Students explore the concept of density by investigating how several solids and liquids interact. Through hands-on activities and a teacher demonstration, they develop a greater understanding of density by using their observational...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: A Better Community [Pdf]
"A Better Community" is a one page, fictional reading passage that focuses on recycling. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes skills such as sequencing,...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Changing Our Street [Pdf]
"Changing Our Street" is a one page, realistic fiction, reading passage about how the problem of people driving too fast in a neighborhood was solved. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Community Progress [Pdf]
"Community Progress" is a one page, realistic fiction passage about how students created a mural for their school, which generated lots of attention from the press, parents, and other schools. It is followed by constructed-response...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Flying [Pdf]
"Flying" is a one page, realistic fiction, reading passage about someone set a goal to be a pilot and worked hard to accomplish that goal. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: I Like Plants [Pdf]
"I Like Plants" is a one page, realistic fiction, reading passage about a person who loves plants and became a botanist; now she teaches her college students about plants and ecology. It is followed by constructed-response questions...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Making Progress [Pdf]
"Making Progress" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about students clearing the trash from a vacant lot near the school and planting a garden to beautify the neighborhood and show they care. It is followed by constructed-response...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: More Trees [Pdf]
"More Trees" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a student and his mother getting trees from the city and planting them in their neighborhood. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My Community [Pdf]
"My Community" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a child talking about how his community has changed since his grandmother moved into that neighborhood 50 years earlier. It is followed by constructed-response questions...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My Job [Pdf]
"My Job" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about the job as department of streets and sanitation worker including the work involved. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My New Brother [Pdf]
"My New Brother" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about child whose mother has just had new baby boy. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes:...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My Sister, the Soldier [Pdf]
"My Sister, the Soldier" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a boy and his mother who are worried about his sister who was a soldier in Iraq. [Contains some mechanical errors; students could find and correct.] It is followed...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My Summer [Pdf]
"My Summer" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a child who visited his grandmother in Phoenix for the summer. He was surprised at how hot it was there. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: See Our Progress [Pdf]
"See Our Progress" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about students planting a prairie garden in a vacant lot close to the school. TV reporters interviewed the students and took pictures of the garden for the news that evening....