+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Compare and Contrast Nonfiction Texts

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Explore nonfiction writing by comparing and contrasting two different texts. After reading two nonfiction books, articles, or magazines, students utilize a graphic organizer to record their similarities and differences. They answer study...
+
Organizer
Polk Bros Foundation

How to Summarize a Non-Fiction Passage

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
After reading a text, one way to find out how much your class comprehended is to ask your pupils to summarize. This worksheet helps class members prepare for writing a summary of a nonfiction text. They note down the topic, up to eight...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using a Magazine/Non-Fiction Texts

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Working with magazine articles and other informational texts, learners identify the parts of a non-fiction work. The learners use SMART board files to guide instruction, as well as a transition to writing their own non-fiction article in...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Writing Process-- Revision and Editing

For Teachers 8th - 12th
As guided practice, class members work together to revise a model persuasive paragraph. Then they practice independently with their own writing. The included rubric looks at prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, nonfiction text...
+
Unit Plan
1
1
Madison Public Schools

Journalism

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Whether you are teaching a newspaper unit in language arts, covering the First Amendment and censorship in social studies, or focusing on writing ethics in journalism, a unit based on the foundations of journalism would be an excellent...
+
Organizer
3
3
Polk Bros Foundation

I Can Identify a Nonfiction Writer's Main Idea and Supporting Examples

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Use this page to quickly identify the central idea of a text and organize ideas for writing an informational or explanatory text. The worksheet is split into two parts. In the first part, pupils note down the main idea and supporting...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Short and Sweet Science

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Readers learn how to summarize scientific text and evaluate the advantages, disadvantages, and challenges in writing summaries. They select science-related articles you've pulled and collected from the New York Times and, with a partner,...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Personal Narrative

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students explore personal stories by investigating narrative writing. In this nonfiction writing lesson, students participate in a workshop in which they write three events from their own life. Students write first drafts of these...
+
Printables
Polk Bros Foundation

Comprehensive Nonfiction Reading Questions

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Analyze any nonfiction text with the set of questions on this sheet. Class members practice inferring by noting the main idea and purpose of a passage. They also analyze an opinion in the passage and write a brief summary. See the...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Brochure Writing

For Teachers 8th - 12th
What do you use a brochure for? Middle schoolers or underperforming high schoolers identify the attributes of informative brochures. Either bring in a few brochures you've collected or use the sample brochures attached here. While...
+
Writing
Curated OER

Student Opinion: Do You Spend Too Much Time on Smart Phones Playing 'Stupid Games'?

For Students 7th - 12th
This versatile resource from The New York Times website provides a short opinion piece on smart phones and the amount of time we spend playing games on them as well as several possible writing prompts pupils could consider in response to...
+
Organizer
Curated OER

Reading Study Guide: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

For Students 8th - 11th
Meant for use with Maya Angelou's first autobiographical volume I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the materials here are designed for a homeschool setting, but they'd suit any classroom or text. Graphic organizers, chapter summary guides,...
+
Writing
Curated OER

Student Opinion: What Are You Afraid Of?

For Students 7th - 12th
A great resource for informational texts as well as writing topics, the New York Times website provides writing prompts about various news articles through The Learning Network. This particular worksheet provides a very short reading...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Effects of Slavery

For Teachers 7th - 12th
The emotional and spiritual oppression of slavery in the African-American experience is the focus of this instructional activity. Middle schoolers analyze various texts by Frederick Douglass and Maya Angelou related to freedom and...
+
Organizer
1
1
Polk Bros Foundation

Meet the Nonfiction Main Idea Challenge

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Help your class develop the ability to determine a main idea with a packet of materials that you can introduce and use over a period of time. The packet includes some information for the teacher and rationale for the exercises. There are...
+
Interactive
Curated OER

Student Opinion: What Small Things Have You Seen and Taken Note of Today?

For Students 7th - 12th
An interesting and unusual topic for a news article, this resource from the New York Times website asks learners to take a moment and consider all the things they notice during a typical day. Based of the editorial piece "Things I Saw"...
+
Unit Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Women in History: Research for Expository Writing

For Teachers 6th - 8th
After reading an excerpt from Amelia Earhart's autobiography, The Fun of It, learners explore various nonfiction resources about her life and write a short newspaper article on a specific event. They then develop a longer piece of...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Review Steps in the Writing Process and Explore a Poem

For Teachers 8th - 11th
Students practice their persuasive writing skills. In this writing process instructional activity, students write essays that meet the requirements of the included text element worksheets and analyze poetry of their choosing.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Purpose and Power of Persuasion

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Examine the power of persuasion and have learners consider how it influences events in their own lives. After reading and analyzing informational texts to understand the author's purpose, class members take a written test and craft a...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson Plan 3: Great Book, Gross Book

For Teachers 6th - 9th
It's time for your scholars to become book reviewers! Start with a fun review of foods: are they good or gross? Learners apply these evaluation techniques to books, recording their thoughts on large pieces of butcher paper. Simply have...
+
Lesson Plan
2
2
Curated OER

Search Warranted?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young readers work on evaluating claims in a piece of informational text with the article "In New York, It's Open Bag or Find Exits" from the New York Times. They analyze current search procedures implemented to fight terrorism and...
+
Writing
Curated OER

The Learning Network: The First Middle School Chess Champs

For Students 7th - 8th
Introduce some nonfiction reading into your classroom! This resource contains seven comprehension questions pertaining to an article from The New York Times website about the first middle schoolers to ever win the United States Chess...
+
Worksheet
Curated OER

Nonfiction Text: Comprehension Practice

For Students 7th - 10th
A New York Times article about a 15-year-old style maven who in 2011 launched the fashion magazine "Rookie," based on her blog, makes high-interest nonfiction reading for secondary learners. This page asks 9 comprehension questions...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Author's Purpose: Research Process/Narrative Writing Techniques

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Determine the author's purpose in writing a memoir. Eighth graders work in groups  to elicit author's purpose in memoirs, taking care to note how subtle the message can be hidden throughout the work. This lesson is a good way to...

Other popular searches