Texas Education Agency (TEA)
Gaining Understanding and Information from Introductory Material, Headings, and Other Division Markers in Texts (English III Reading)
All teachers are teachers of reading! The 13-part interactive series ends with a lesson that teaches learners (and their instructors) how to approach reading their textbooks. After learning about several strategies, users test their...
New York State Education Department
English Language Arts Examination: June 2017
Plants prefer classical music to rock and roll. That's one of the claims in an informational passage that makes up part of a set of standardized assessment questions. The set is part of a larger collection of English language arts tests...
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...
Los Angeles Unified School District
Capitalism and Socialism
Capitalism, socialism, communism ... these may seem like a whole bunch of isms to your scholars. High schoolers won't confuse them after completing an informative resource. Your class masters how to use primary sources to critically...
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...
New York State Education Department
English Language Arts Examination: June 2015
Many teachers and districts want to give their pupils test-taking practice before state standardized testing occurs. Here's a resource that features a complete exam with numerous passages, a variety of item types, a conversion chart, and...
Curated OER
Abigail as Letter Writer
The fourth instructional activity in the series of 16 asks researchers to analyze an exchange of letters between John and Abigail Adams for what they each valued in letter writing.
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.10
Assess whether your class members can comprehend complex informational text with a series of drills based on selections from Emerson, Thoreau, and G.K. Chesterton. The exercises could also be used for group work or a full-class discussion.
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.8
It is no easy feat to wade through legal and political documents. And incorporating this type of informational text into a literature class can also be a challenge. Here’s a resource that includes suggestions for how to address this...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
The Columnist Project
Imagine a list that includes Alan Abelson of Baron's, Bob Woodward of the Washington Post, and Mother Jones. High schoolers select a national columnist, read and annotate five columns by this author, noting the rhetorical strategies,...
Curated OER
The Internet of Things: IoT
How has the Internet of Things affected our lives? Scholars examine the massive influence of mobile devices in this analysis activity, which begins with a seven-minute documentary clip. They also read a New York Times article (linked)...
Santa Ana Unified School District
The Giver
Wouldn't it be great to live an a community without pain, without danger? Such a society is the goal of the community in The Giver. Using Lois Lowry's dystopian novel as the core text, class members read primary source materials about...
Curated OER
Get in the Newspaper Habit
Dive into journalism with your high schoolers! The resources provided here will help your learners write unbiased, clear, and succinct newspaper articles. First they spend time sifting through stacks of articles, filling out a graphic...
Curated OER
Performance-Based Assessment Practice Test (Grade 11 ELA/Literacy)
Support your eleventh graders with a practice assessment for the Common Core tests. The practice test features a series of literary and informational passages and related multiple choice and essay questions. An online version is also...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
A Mini lesson on Semicolons
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" serves as an exemplar for a mini-instructional activity on semicolons. Working alone or in small groups, class members first circle all the semicolons in the letter, and then...
Speak Truth to Power
Dalai Lama: Free Expression and Religion
How is religious freedom connected to the conflict between China and Tibet? After reading an online passage of background information, your learners will divide into groups and both read and view an interview with the Dalai Lama. They...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.9
Guided by close-reading questions, groups examine the similarities and differences between the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. In addition, they look at how the principles are presented in these two foundational US...