EngageNY
Making Character Inferences: Analyzing How Words and Actions Reveal Character in To Kill a Mockingbird
Partner up! After an I have/who has activity, readers partner with one of their discussion appointments to add evidence from chapters 11-13 in To Kill a Mockingbird to the Atticus Note-catcher. Partners then share with the class and add...
Ontario
Reading Graphic Text
Do students really need to be taught how to read cartoons, comic books, and comic strips? Yes. Just as they need to learn how to read other forms of graphic text such as diagrams, photos, timetables, maps, charts, and tables. Young...
National Endowment for the Humanities
“Every Day We Get More Illegal” by Juan Felipe Herrera
A study of Jan Felipe Herrera's poem "Every Day We Get More Illegal" opens the door for a discussion on immigration. To begin, class members examine the photograph "Desert Survival," record their observations of the image, and then...
Curated OER
Foreshadowing and Making Predictions
"What happens next?" Using real-life scenarios, movies, images, and other prompts, pupils practice making predictions based on inferences from clues. A SMART board activity takes them from making predictions to writing a prediction...
Curated OER
Reading Examples
Young writers read excerpts from Gary Paulsen's memoir to identify figurative and literal language that contain sensory details. They determine which selections are examples of sensory language and fi the language is used literally or...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Characterization in Lord of the Flies
Readers of Lord of the Flies hunt down direct and indirect examples of how William Golding brings his characters to life. After instructors guide learners through the process of collecting evidence of these two types of characterization...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "In the Next Galaxy" by Ruth Stone
Imagine what life might be like in a different galaxy. That's the challenge young scientists take on in a warm-up activity designed to prepare them for a close reading of Ruth Stone's poem "In the Next Galaxy." After class members share...
Curated OER
Inference By Analogy
Learners infer the use or meaning of items recovered from a North Carolina Native American site based on 17th-century European settlers' accounts and illustration.
Scholastic
Lesson 2: Values and Barriers
Scholars investigate and discuss the importance of values and how they can be used to break barriers. Small groups work collaboratively to examine the text and draw inferences to answer questions. A writing assignment challenges pupils...
Prestwick House
Vocabulary in Context: Inside the World of Wizards
Enter the world of Harry Potter and learn new vocabulary at the same time. A high-interest reading passage provides insight into the history of Harry Potter. Follow-up activities incorporate key vocabulary strategies, such as using...
K20 LEARN
Slay the Slang! Summarizing Informational Texts
Middle schoolers get hip to the jive with a lesson about slang. They closely examine examples of slang and use context clues to infer the meaning of the terms. Groups read and summarize an article about a teacher who created a Gen Z...
EngageNY
Launching the Novel: Character Analysis of Ha
Scholars receive numbers as they work in groups to read Inside Out & Back Again. The instructor calls out specific numbers for readers to share the group's thoughts. Then, they use a model passage to demonstrate the effective actions...
Curated OER
Colors, Characters, & Clues
Middle schoolers investigate inferences. They define inference, view a Powerpoint presentation, answer questions about a picture book, and identify clues throughout the story as examples of inferences.
Novelinks
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Picture Book Strategy
Picture books aren't just for primary learners. Your scholars compare and contrast literary themes between the novel, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, and the children's book, The Dream Tree by Winfried Wolf through...
Curated OER
Two Views of the Slave Ship Brookes
Actual ship diagrams and a table of voyage data gives young historians an authentic glimpse of on-board experiences during the Atlantic Slave Trade. The class examines a projected diagram of the slave ship Brooks, recording thoughts....
Curated OER
Kumeyaay Indians
Useful for literary analysis, citing textual evidence, or summary skills, this instructional activity about the Kumeyaay Indians would be a good addition to your language arts class. Middle schoolers read novels and summarize the...
Curated OER
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Explore Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" in this literature analysis lesson. Middle schoolers read and summarize the plot of the story. They then adapt passages for a contemporary audience and analyze the...
Teaching Tolerance
Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice | Legal Action: The Supreme Court
A social justice instructional activity focuses on the Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia which struck down laws that prohibited marriages between African Americans and white Americans. The instructional activity begins with class...
Curated OER
Endangered Animals
Students listen to a teacher led lecture on jaguars, their habitats, and how they became endangered. Using a specified web site, they choose an endangered animal to research. After gathering information, students participate in...
Curated OER
Getting Ready to Become An Adult
Students participate in a problem solving activity and discuss how effective their solution was. In this getting ready to become an adult lesson, students read Ta-ne-e-ka and use guiding questions to address the relationships in the...
Curated OER
How Africans Became Slaves for the Colonists
Students complete a t-chart identifying the advantages and disadvantages of having indentured servants. In groups, they research the use of serfs and slaves in various cultures and share their responses. To end the lesson, they...
Curated OER
Go Jump In The Lake!
Middle schoolers experiment with local lake water to determine the health of the lake waters. They explore the human impact on the lake water, hypothesize and share inferences in a scientific report.
Curated OER
Teaching Imagery with Gary Paulsen
Middle schoolers read excerpts from memoirs written by Gary Paulsen as examples of how to write a narrative piece. They identify figurative language used and then they write a memoir of their own that contains imagery and figurative...
Curated OER
The Seasons of the Year
Students learn about the four seasons. They collaborate in pairs, publish a book, and share with the class. They also brainstorm and collaborate with each other providing literacy skills through listening, speaking and writing activities.