Designed for third graders but appropriate for older learners as well, this packet of materials underscores the necessity of teaching kids how to summarize, how to identify main ideas and supporting details, and how to ask questions...

A key reading comprehension skill is the ability to summarize. Here's a instructional activity that not only explains how to summarize, but also explains why summarizing is important.

Ready to integrate technology into your ELL instruction? Check out this reading lesson that has language learners using the Internet and apps, joining online book clubs, and creating blogs. A fine model of what can be done.

Somebody Wanted But So Then (SWBST)? Yes! Here's a great strategy for teaching young readers how to summarize narrative text. In addition, the packet includes exercises that show kids how to summarize nonfiction text using the classic...

Strap on those backpacks, it's time to travel through history with this literature unit based on the first four books of The Magic Tree House series. While reading through these fun stories, children create story maps, record...

One skill essential to reading comprehension, is learning how to summarize a text. After reading a biography of Abraham Lincoln, readers demonstrate this ability by crafting a brief summary of Lincoln's life.

Support all young learners on their journey to literacy with this five-lesson reading intervention unit. Following a clearly outlined format, each lesson first engages children in practicing their phonemic awareness and phonics...

Guide your class through a reading of the popular children's book, Frindle, with this comprehensive literature unit. Starting with a brief introduction to the guided reading process, the class goes on to read the story two chapters...

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper's poem "Learning to Read" is the focus of a lesson that teaches middle schoolers how to do a close reading of a text. The lesson introduces them to a brief biography of the poet, includes a video reading, and...

Go green! Scholars survey their classmates to determine how green they are and then write a report to summarize their findings. Finally, pupils agree on five changes they can make in their lives to help the environment. 

Sometimes summarizing keeps a writer from going deeper into their analysis—don't fall into that trap. Learn the difference between summarizing and analyzing using an insightful resource. Focusing on introductions, the lesson shares...

Encourage scholars to retell their favorite short story or folktale, adding personal details to make it their own. After reading their book of choice several times, story tellers retell a tale verbally to their classmates. 

How did jazz influence Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man? Class members read some of Ellison's non-fiction writings about blues and jazz, listen to records, watch videos, and engage in student-centered discussions. They then produce podcasts...

What are the effects of one's life experiences? Class members view a slam poetry reading, a speech by President Obama, and read a short story by John Steinbeck about responding to tragedies. They summarize these events and then craft a...

Middle schoolers demonstrate their ability to summarize by crafting a summary of a passage from Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist. Oh that Dickens should be so laconic.

How easy is it to live off the land? Scholars read Minerals and Metals in Your Life and discuss how Canada's natural resources meet the needs of the people. Pupils watch a brief video and discuss the gist of the text and video. They...

Let's work together! Using the collaborative resource, scholars work in triads to begin section two of their storyboards about Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of the television. They then practice using linking words and phrases to...

Scholars watch Developing a Vital Resource for Canadians and the World to learn about the supplement potash that helps plants grow. They watch the video several times, completing a note catcher to record key ideas along the way....

Enhance and extend instruction of "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin with one or all of these ideas. You might want to cover characterization and summary, or improve understanding of context clues and irony. You can cover any...

Making inferences and drawing conclusions is a key component to successful active reading. Encourage your class to use context clues and prior knowledge to infer different elements of a story, including the setting, plot, and character...

Surviving winter. Pupils begin reading on page 18 of The Inuit Thought of It: Amazing Arctic Inventions and sketch how the people used animal skin clothing to survive the winter. Readers complete a main idea graphic organizer...

Breaking barriers is not an easy thing to do. Scholars read a section in Promises to Keep and summarize how Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball. They write the gist of the passage in their journals and then complete...

An activity focused on tolerance encourages class members to consider how they might respond when they or someone else is the target of oppression and discrimination. After researching how some key figures responded to the...

What are the effects of competition in an academic environment? The competition between the main characters in A Separate Peace motivates a series of activities that asks readers to take a stance on competition, and then to develop a...