Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Nonfiction Texts
Explore nonfiction writing by comparing and contrasting two different texts. After reading two nonfiction books, articles, or magazines, young scholars utilize a graphic organizer to record their similarities and differences. They answer...
Curated OER
Identifying Author’s Purpose and Viewpoint in Nonfiction Text
Why do people write books? Pupils discover how to identify the author's viewpoint. They read non-fiction passages their instructor selects (the plan has the class look at nonfiction children's picture books), and then identify the...
Odell Education
Reading Closely for Textual Details: Grades 9-10
Pay close attention! After finding details in a picture, scholars begin to find details in videos and text. They work together in groups, discuss in pairs, and carry out independent reading to answer guiding questions. Organizers, tools,...
Curated OER
Analyzing Nonfiction Text Elements - Editorials
Examine the text features of non-fiction. Start the lesson by reading editorial samples provided by their instructor and analyze the texts for word choice, details, and organization. An editorial example and graphic organizer are...
Curated OER
Reading Non-Fiction: Sentence Structure
Use this worksheet to help make explicit the connection between sentence structure, audience, and author's purpose. Readers track and find patterns in sentence structure in various nonfiction texts, and connect it to the purpose of the...
Curated OER
Reading Study Guide: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
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,...
K20 LEARN
Annotating Nonfiction - Conflicts, Cliques, Stereotypes: What Makes Us Clique?
John Hughes' The Breakfast Club takes center stage in a lesson about annotating nonfiction texts to keep track of evidence that may be used later in discussions and writings. Scholars consider the stereotypes and conflicts presented in...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 8: Nonfiction Close Reading
As part of their study of Things Fall Apart, class members conduct a close reading of a section of Chinua Achebe's essay, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Jigsaw groups then compare the voice in the essay...
Georgia Department of Education
Exploring Poetry and Poets
Combine the study of poetry and non-fiction texts with this complete and ready-to-use six-week unit. After reading numerous poems from local writers and compiling a personal anthology, high schoolers find and read a memoir or biography...
ReadWriteThink
"Three Stones Back": Using Informational Text to Enhance Understanding of Ball Don't Lie
"Three Stones Back," a passage from Matt de la Pena's best-seller, Ball Don't Lie, allows readers to practice their close reading skills as they compare the passage to an information text about wealth inequality.
Curated OER
Irony in Poetry and Prose (Fiction and Non-fiction Texts)
Middle and high schoolers examine the impact of irony in poetry and prose. In this figurative language instructional activity, they read instructor-selected literature and identify uses of irony. Then they discuss how irony enhances...
Curated OER
Comparing Themes Across Texts
Read various texts to compare the themes across each text. Learners write a journal entry describing the most beautiful scenery they've seen and use a map of the United States to locate the Sequoia National Park and Muir Woods. They then...
Prestwick House
Into the Wild
Chris McCandless's life, adventures, and untimely death is the subject of Jon Krakauer's nonfiction work, Into the Wild. A thorough crossword puzzle includes quotes, characters, and key details from the book as clues.
New York State Education Department
English Language Arts Examination: June 2018
Is graffiti art? Writers explore that question as part of a source-based argument within a set of questions from the NY Regents examination. The assessment from June 2018, part of a larger set of standardized tests, consists of three...
Curated OER
Identify Text Features in Nonfiction
What does a non-fiction text look like? Examine the text features of non-fiction. Middle and high schoolers read non-fiction passages provided by their instructor and analyze the texts for word choice, details, and organization.
Curated OER
The Effects of Slavery
The emotional and spiritual oppression of slavery in the African-American experience is the focus of this lesson. Middle schoolers analyze various texts by Frederick Douglass and Maya Angelou related to freedom and oppression. They use...
Curated OER
Is It Fact or Opinion?
Distinguish between fact and opinions in this nonfiction reading lesson. Middle schoolers read 'The Diary of an Early American Boy' and work in groups to analyze the text. They record the facts and opinions for the text.
Curated OER
Apply Post-Reading Skills and Discuss Persuasive Text
Students put their reading comprehension skills to practice. In this interpreting text lesson plan, students read "Chief Red Jacket's Reply," and then respond to questions that require them to reason, infer, and analyze the selection.
Indiana Department of Education
Indiana K-12 Educators’ Resource Toolkit
Imagine a tool that magically engages readers in the classroom. A handbook for Indiana educators doesn't guarantee success, but it does offer a variety of strategies for teachers to try. The handbook opens with research-based theory...
Curated OER
Performance-Based Assessment Practice Test (Grade 9 ELA/Literacy)
Ready your pupils for Common Core testing by providing them with practice. For this assessment, learners read and respond to a variety of different passages in both multiple-choice and essay format. An online version is also included.
Curated OER
End-of-Year Practice Test (Grade 9 ELA/Literacy)
What better way to prepare your class for Common Core testing than with a practice test? The practice test includes several reading passages, both literary and informational, and learners respond to multiple choice questions about these...
Curated OER
Performance-Based Assessment Practice Test (Grade 10 ELA/Literacy)
Get an idea of how your class members might perform on the Common Core tests with a comprehensive practice test. The assessment includes literary and informational passages for learners to read an analyze. Pupils respond to a series of...
Curated OER
The Purpose and Power of Persuasion
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...
Curated OER
Imagine That! Analyzing Imagery
Poems by O. Henry, Marion Dane Bauer, Monty Roberts, and Langston Hughes provide the text for a study of symbolism, hyperbole, and imagery. Employing the “think-pair-share” strategy learners generate definitions of these terms and locate...