Curated OER
Reading For Information
To help learners better comprehend informational texts, they work through a series of activities. They discuss strategies, make predictions, skim passages, focus on key words, and practice taking notes. This lesson focuses on what to do...
Curated OER
Using Details from Text to Identify Author's Purpose
Explore writing techniques by analyzing newspapers and magazines with middle schoolers. They will collaborate in small groups to read local news stories and identify the main ideas and author's intent. They also utilize an information...
Curated OER
Analyzing Messages in Various Media
Explore communication through media by analyzing different advertisements and artwork. Budding artists view videos, websites, plays, and other artistic endeavors while discussing the true meaning of the work with their classmates. They...
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Analyzing Two or More Nonfiction Texts
How does recognizing the author's purpose help you draw conclusions about a topic? Using two articles (both are attached), learners brainstorm why each author wrote each article. Are their purposes similar or different? Learners use a...
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The Newspaper Article
Have your class participate in an interview activity using an informational text about the Amazon. After reading a Cultural Connections story about a person from the Amazon, middle schoolers write interview questions based on the text....
Curated OER
Fast Fact-Finding
Ever wonder why the sky changes color so often? Readers examine an informational excerpt from John Farndon's How the Earth Works. They underline key points as they read and then answer five response questions. Prompts review main points,...
Curriculum Corner
Academic Reading Vocabulary
From A to Z, learners define, draw, and find examples of specific reading focus skills in an alphabetized reading vocabulary packet. Words include dialogue, theme, text structure, genre, paraphrase, and many more.
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Determining Author's Point of View: The Sneeches
Determine the author's point of view in a text. Young readers read Dr. Seuss' The Sneeches and identify the author's purpose in the story. They identify persuasive techniques in writing, asking and answering questions to better...
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Paraphrasing and Summarizing
Read an article about the migration of our ancestors and write a paragraph. Pupils paraphrase and summarize to restate the information found in a nonfiction text. They write a shortened version of the reading to demonstrate the...
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Lesson Ideas for Comparing and Contrasting Content
Here are three lesson ideas to help students learn how to compare and contrast information in any content area
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Crocodiles Escape in Vietnam
What, there was a crocodile escape? Read, analyze, and examine a newspaper article with your class about the crocodiles that escaped in Vietnam. Your English language learners note the facts and key vocabulary in the story and answer...
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Let's Discuss Current Events
Investigate articles from the daily news and share opinions with classmates. Using current events, learners view a news program without sound and predict what news is being discussed by analyzing the visuals. Then they read news articles...
Scholastic
Making Judgments Practice
Encourage young learners to identify persuasive writing techniques in a text with this resource, which includes two multiple-choice worksheets with advertisements for learners to analyze.
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Alexander Hamilton and the Roots of Federalism
Explore the origin of political parties in the United States. Learners work in groups to read and analyze copies of the "Report on Manufactures" written by Alexander Hamilton. Then, they complete a worksheet comparing the Federalists to...
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The Noughties
Take a look back at a decade your class will actually remember: the noughties. Guide discussion about events your class recalls from those years, and then have them analyze an article (included). Although not specified, learners need to...
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Letter of Complaint
Learners analyze this letter of complaint to the city council by answering nine short-answer questions. They examine author's purpose, word choice, claims, rhetorical questions, and general observations. There is a focus on constructive...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Illustrating Text
Ideas like this are highly effective for helping build better reading comprehension. The class listens to an excerpt from a grade-appropriate text, and they discuss what clues or words helped them visualize the scene. They then read a...
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Organizational Structures of Nonfiction Text/Graphic Organizers
Fifth graders review the characteristics of a nonfiction text. In this language arts lesson, 5th graders understand that one can use a specific graphic organizer to help them in understanding an organizational structure. For example, in...
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Comparing and Contrasting: Fact vs. Opinion
Elementary schoolers investigate nonfiction stories by analyzing facts and opinions. They read nonfiction stories about the Lewis and Clark expedition. Pupils utilize a T-chart to list the facts and opinions on opposite sides, and then...
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Pop Concert in Iran
Read, analyze, and critique a newspaper article about a concert with a Western singer and an Iranian band. Scholars will assess key vocabulary terms within the article, learn how to understand a short news report, and hone in on how the...
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Identify Intended Media Messages
How does media convey different messages? Use this instructional activity to explore media by identifying and analyzing selected images. Middle schoolers analyze a poster and discuss the intended meaning of the imagery and how it makes...
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Summarizing Key Information
Imagine the surprise when small groups present their Evidence Charts to the class and discover that each group has studied a different version of the Cinderella story. Irish, Ojibwa, Egyptian, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Mexican, and...
Curated OER
First Meeting of the Indians and the Europeans
Your class hears a Native American Indian point of view of Europeans' arrival in Louisiana. They assess how cultural perspectives (especially an insider's view) and native language can shape a story. Each pupil identifies the...
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Communities in Crisis Lesson 1: Primary Source? What is That?
Distinguish between primary and secondary source documents using the theme of philanthropy. Middle schoolers discuss Anne Frank: The Diary of Young Girl as a way to study the past using a primary source. Then they investigate how to...