Learning how to draw inferences from text is a key reading comprehension skill. Here's a activity that gives readers a chance to practice by offering 20 descriptive sentences and asking kids to identify the inferred character trait,...

Readers of Nineteen Eighty-Four engage in a close reading exercise that directs their focus to the key details Orwell provides in the opening paragraphs to introduce his dystopian society. The included worksheeet is divided into three...

Incorporate technology into a literature lesson with an innovative language arts lesson. Middle schoolers read an electronic version of original stories or fairy tales, and after determining the point of view, rewrite the tale from...

Fred Gipson's Old Yeller tells of a stray yellow dog who becomes the best friend a boy could ever have. While reading the novel, learners complete sentences with new vocabulary words, answer comprehension questions, and create...

Annabelle, a young character in Wolf Hollow, discovers one bully can ruin everything when Betty walkes into her classroom. Betty bullies others and targets a war veteran. Individuals read how one person changed Annabelle's life. They...

The first lesson of a five-lesson unit designed for eighth graders has class members reading and watching a video of Edgar Allen Poe's narrative poem, "The Raven." They then craft their narrative poem, illustrate it, and share their work...

Every neighborhood has its own unique cast of characters, and the crew in the novel Hello Universe is no exception. The characters in Erin Entrada Kelly's novel take center stage in a study guide based on the text....

Many dream of a place of refuge to escape from the harsh world. That is exactly what Redwall is for the creatures of the forest. Redwall is a fantasy novel that tells of the trouble that comes to a quiet and peaceful forest....

The characters in Lois Lowry's The Giver are rich and complex as they weave their way through the plot. Examine the character traits of one chosen person with a biopoem, which enables learners to follow a poetic format in writing a...

When is using someone else's copyrighted material appropriate? Learn about copyright and fair use with a lesson from PBS.org. Scholars read through a reference sheet about authors' rights and users' rights, and then create posters...

Does good fortune lie within the man in the moon? Minli, a young girl in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, sure hopes it does, so she sets out to find the Old Man of the Moon for answers. Along the way, Minli meets several magical...

Some experiences are worth living again. At least, that is how government researchers feel about Brian's survival experience in the woods. The River is a sequel to Brian's adventures in Hatchet. Scholars read about the troubles...

Work with your department or on your own to create organized unit plans that connect to all parts of the Common Core standards. The three-page template includes space to summarize the unit, list standards for each category of the ELA...

Introduce your class to the writing of the indigenous Americans and, even more well known, their story telling. An engaging presentation describes what kinds of texts would be included in the oral stories performed and some common...

Explore how the library or Internet resources function as textual information. Young writers research a chosen topic then read and comprehend the collected information. They structure the information with texts and graphics for a...

Pupils examine and discuss author's purpose and the influence of an author's perspective in his or her writing. In groups, they read scenarios and respond to them from the perspective of a designated character. Materials are attached.

Explore word meanings. Sixth graders identify examples of words with affixes while listening to the story Paul Bunyan by Steven Kellogg. They participate in the game "Pass the Parts" and practice separating given words into their root...

Students read and discuss the book, Who Am I Without Him? In this fluency instructional activity, students practice reading with expression and making text to self connections. Students practice writing expressively in their journals.

Students practice for a poetry slam. In this poetry lesson plan, students select borrowed poems to perform in a poetry slam in order to participate in their own poetry slam competition.

The Odyssey is the core text in this unit study of the hero's journey motif. Along the way, kids research Greek and Roman history, mythology, art, and epic poetry. The 104-page packet is perfect for homeschool or classroom situations and...

Students write two descriptive leads to learn how to reel in readers. After their leads have been written, they will share with a partner to decide which was the most appealing. In this leads lesson, students can also write a reflection...

Middle schoolers employ strategies to increase comprehension while they are reading. In this language arts lesson, students must infer, predict and visualize in order to improve comprehension.

Students practice detailed reading and study holiday vocabulary. They practice comparatives and superlatives.

Students read and view information sent from seven high school students who travel to China. The daily reports that they send back to the weblog section of the site should be of high interest to students in Minnesota.