A simple activity for young readers, this introduces the idea of author purpose. Learners analyze various types of texts (newspaper articles, magazines, books, advertisements, etc.) and determine if the author's purpose for writing was...

Examine author's purpose in a persuasive text using this scaffolded plan. You essentially have a verbatim script here, but it can definitely be used as an outline instead. Review questions that readers should ask themselves when...

Who knew determining author's purpose could be turned into a game? Four teams compete to correctly identify the author's purpose for writing a series of passages.

After reading The Mitten by Jan Brett, scholars discuss the author's purpose. Small groups compare and contrast a book written to entertain and a book to inform, then create a T-Chart detailing the characteristics of...

President Ronald Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall" speech, delivered on June 12, 1987 before the Berlin Wall, provides class members with an opportunity to examine three key aspects of informational text: author bias, the use of facts and...

Learners practice listening to and reading various types of media and text. In groups, learners use video, newspapers, magazines, and more to compare and contrast different types of information. They identify the differences between fact...

Point of view, purpose, and tone: three concepts readers of primary and secondary source materials must take into account when examining documents. Class members view a PowerPoint presentation and use the SOAPS strategy to identify an...

I came, I saw, I conquered! Parallel structure, employed by writers even before Julius Caesar, is the focus of a lesson that teaches young writers the power of this rhetorical device. Class members analyze speeches by Dr. Martin Luther...

There are so many authors of short stories, and your class can have the chance to study quite a few. This seventh lesson in a series of fourteen continues the decision-making process for the final assessment: a short story author study....

Literally, what's the meaning? Scholars read pages seven through nine of Flush and discuss literal and nonliteral meaning with figurative language. Learners work in triads to identify and define unfamiliar words. They then complete a...

Life science learners read a set of six short Discovery Readings that describe historical events in the field of microbiology. For each, they identify clues about when the event occurred and then they try to arrange events in...

We're halfway there ... what a relief! Scholars read an excerpt from a primary source about the relief camps associated with the1906 San Francisco earthquake. Next, they complete a mid-unit assessment, answering short-answer and...

Get artsy with this WWII group activity, starting with a whole-class assignment. Create a map of Europe, Northern Africa, and the Pacific using geometric shapes cut from construction paper and placed on the floor. Consider splitting the...

Planning is the key to success. Scholars continue planning their essays by adding reasons to their Planning My Argument graphic organizers. Additionally, pupils analyze a body paragraph from a model position paper, identifying the...

Double click that mouse because you just found an amazing lesson! This cross-curricular Ornithology lesson incorporates literature, writing, reading informational text, data collection, scientific inquiry, Internet research, art, and...

Encourage readers to think deeply about text with a reading strategy that promotes active comprehension. Individuals develop questions on four levels (right there, think and search, author and you, and on my own). Step-by-step directions...

Middle schoolers develop a strategy as they read excerpts from Walk Two Moons. Using question and answer relationship strategies class members bolster their reading comprehension as they appropriately identify and create...

The first ten Amendments of the U.S. Constitution are vital for young people to understand. Provide the foundation of the laws that govern our country with this junior high school lesson. Groups use the newspaper to identify rights...

Discuss the definition of parallel structure with your high school class. In small groups, they read a section of "The Declaration of Independence" to identify examples of parallel structure. Each learner writes an essay explaining the...

Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is used to model for readers how to craft four levels of questions that promote comprehension. Questions that can be answered with evidence right there in the text, questions that require readers to think and...

How can opinions slant facts? Workshop participants learn how to examine primary and secondary sources and identify the author's point of view. They also examine how visual art impacts the meaning and rhetoric of sources. Full of...

Fourth and fifth graders define the term media literacy, then come up with examples that they share with the class. The types of media studied are auditory, visual, and written. Learners get together in pairs and perform a media...

Imagine a project that informs and entertains. Replace book reports with a bulletin board that highlights all the important elements of a novel. Readers research the author, create a timeline of events in the story, write a...

Readers of The House of the Scorpion try to stump their teacher in a QAR questioning game. Pairs craft Right There, Think and Search, On Your Own, and the Author and You questions and the class members then take turns responding to...