GED Testing Service
A Close Look at Close Reading
Take a close look at this 14-page resource that contains everything you want to know about close reading, from what it is and is not, to suggestions for how to choose a text and craft text-dependent questions that encourage readers to...
Texas Education Agency (TEA)
Diction and Tone (English II Reading)
Words carry baggage. In addition to their literal, denotative meaning, words also carry the weight of the associations and connotations attached to the word—the connotations of words writers use to create the tone of a piece. An...
Texas Center for Learning Disabilities
Chapter 5 Teacher Guide and Student Log
As part of their reading of the fifth chapter of Francesco D’Adamo’s historical novel, Iqbal, class members work in pairs to create Level 1 and Level 2 questions, engage in prediction activities, and use a Frayer Model worksheet to...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 6
Guided by the provided questions, readers of David Mitchell's "Hangman" examine the author's figurative language to develop the constant struggle in Jason and Hangman's relationship.
Pearson Longman
Back Talk: A Summarizing Activity
Here's resource that presents step-by-step directions for three different activities that ask kids to read a short passage, listen for the main points, and then to summarize the passage in their own words.
Lawrence Virtual School
Context Clues
Considering a lesson on using context clues to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words? This packet includes a brief reading passage about strategies readers can use and 12 very different graphic organizers, including a template for a...
Ontario
Reading Informational Text
Learning to recognize the importance of the features of information text (i.e., titles, subtitles, endnotes, sidebars, etc.) is the focus of a reading activity designed for middle schoolers. Learners examine how these text features help...
National Woman's History Museum
Inventive Women - Part 2
The Declaration of Independence was published in 1776. The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, modeled after the Declaration of Independence, was drafted and read by Elizabeth Cady Stanton at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848....
Prestwick House
New (March 2016) SAT Reading Test Practice
The SAT. The ACT. AP exams. The very mention of these exams can cause the college bound to feel anxious. One way to combat Test Anxiety is to provide high schoolers with models of these tests and give them opportunities to analyze the...
Curated OER
Hitchhikers in the Bathroom
Young scientists will go buggy over this resource. After reading a passage that describes the pseudoscorpion, individuals respond to questions about this clever arachnid and use a Venn diagram to compare the pseudoscorpion to a real...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Introduction to Short Story Writers Say
There are so many authors of short stories, and your class can have the chance to study quite a few. This seventh instructional activity in a series of fourteen continues the decision-making process for the final assessment: a short...
ESL Library
Mardi Gras
Learn about the festivity of Mardi Gras with a series of reading and writing assignments. As class members read a passage about the history of Mardi Gras and the way it's celebrated around the world, they answer comprehension questions,...
UnboundEd Learning
Rosa Parks: The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement
Class members listen to a passage on Rosa Parks, examine images of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and respond to questions based on the text. They then craft a free-verse poem that recounts her achievements and reveals why she is considered...
Novelinks
The House of the Scorpion: Request Strategy
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...
K12 Reader
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Washington Irving's description of Ichabod Crane provides young readers with an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to identify the main idea of a passage.
Texas Education Agency (TEA)
Annotate and Analyze a Paired Passage: Practice 1 (English II Reading)
What do a colt and a boy in a tree have in common? More than might be first apparent. The fourth interactive in a series of ten introduces readers to intertextuality, the process of using abstract thinking to consider how one text...
Curated OER
How Do Adjectives Improve Writing?
Using adjectives to create vivid descriptions is the focus of exercises in this resource. A cloze reading activity asks class members to add missing adjectives to passages from Mark Teague's The Lost and Found. They then read Teague's...
EngageNY
Real-World Positive and Negative Numbers and Zero
Class members investigate how positive and negative numbers are useful in the real world. Individuals first read a short passage and identify terms indicating positive and negative numbers. They consider situations involving positive...
Curated OER
The Use of Language in "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"
Readers of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings are asked to craft an essay in which they compare how Maya Angelou uses figurative language to depict herself and Mrs. Flowers.
National Woman's History Museum
The Equal Rights Amendment
The debate over the Equal Rights Amendment continues. To better understand the controversy, class members research the history of attempts to get the amendment ratified. In addition, pairs engage in a structured academic conversation...
ReadWriteThink
Exploring Plagiarism, Copyright, and Paraphrasing
Plagiarism, copyright, and fair use are the focus of a three-part instructional activity designed to inform scholars of how to properly cite others' work. First, pupils use a KWL chart to begin thinking and discussing plagiarism. They...
Achieve3000
Figurative Language
Similes and metaphors make writing more beautiful and detailed, but can be a little harder to decipher during a first reading. Use a passage from The Man Who Loved Words to show young readers how to think through passages that contain...
Maryland Department of Education
A Raisin in the Sun and Dreams Deferred
To conclude a study of A Raisin in the Sun and to prepare for a visit to the Lewis Museum, class members analyze Langston Hughes' poem "Harlem." Learners then draw connections to characters in the play and to their own experiences by...
Prestwick House
The Great Gatsby
Here's a fresh twist on a comprehension quiz. Readers of The Great Gatsby use their answers to questions about the story to complete a crossword puzzle.