US Department of Education
A Close Reading of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address provides the text for a series of close reading exercises that model for instructors how carefully crafted guiding questions can help readers think critically about what they read, thus developing...
Novelinks
The Graveyard Book: Student Questioning For Learning Strategy
Questioning a text is a very effective way for kids to develop their reading comprehension skills. Designed to engage all class members, a reading activity prompts pairs to develop and share their own questions about the ending of Neil...
Teaching Tolerance
Social Media for Social Action
Engage in activism, not slacktivism! Scholars discuss social media and the Internet as tools for social change. Next, they engage in a close reading strategy called Thinking Notes as they read an article about social media activism.
Curated OER
Active Reading
In this active reading worksheet, students develop strategies to make text relevant to their own lives and experiences. Students make a list of active reading objectives and then list strategies to use to reach the objectives.
Core Knowledge Foundation
Native Americans Tell It Again!™ Read-Aloud Anthology
A 154-page anthology explores the life, culture, and history of Native Americans. Eight lessons follow the routine of introducing the reading, conducting the reading, discussing it, doing word work, then taking part in an extension...
Curated OER
Reading Comprehension
After listening to a story learners engage in a kinesthetic activity to answer comprehension and critical thinking questions. Finally, the students identify three main facts about the story. Extensions include a fact and opinion...
Curated OER
Regarding the Fountain: Questioning Strategy—Cubing
Look deeper into the text with a reading strategy based on asking critical thinking questions. While reading Reading the Fountain by Kate Klise, learners think of questions that help them describe, compare, associate, analyze, apply, and...
Curated OER
Maniac Magee: The Cloze Procedure
Fill in the blanks with a Cloze activity based on Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. After listening to a passage read out loud, kids complete the worksheet by using their memories and context clues.
Education Foundation of Sarasota County
Self-Calming Strategies to Manage Emotions
Tweens and teens learn coping skills to help manage strong emotions such as anger, fear, and sadness with a lesson plan that asks them to generate a list of self-calming strategies they use and to consider the suggestions in a short...
Illinois State Board of Education
Common Core Teaching and Learning Strategies
Here's a resource that deserves a place in your curriculum library, whether or not your school has adopted the Common Core. Designed for middle and high school language arts classes, the packet is packed with teaching tips, materials,...
Curated OER
Gettin' Through Thursday
Have your class explore active reading strategies! In this guided reading lesson, learners make personal connections to characters having a bad day as a prior knowledge activation discussion. After reading Gettin' Through Thursday, class...
Novelinks
The Giver: Reading Road Map
Sometimes it's helpful to read certain passages in a novel slowly and carefully, and to read other parts more quickly to move the plot along. Learners tread carefully through Chapter 20 of Lois Lowry's The Giver, noting which parts need...
College Board
AP® English Language: Reading and Writing Analytically
How can teachers ensure their pupils are well prepared for the AP® English exam? The reference material is a good place to start! Educators read seven essays detailing best practices for teaching scholars to read critically and write...
Teach-nology
Language Arts Activity - Cloze
Using context clues is an important skill when mastering reading comprehension. A cloze activity prompts learners to read each sentence in a short passage and fill in the blanks, based on what the rest of the sentence says.
Mr. Nussbaum
Martin Luther King Reading Comprehension
Boost reading comprehension with an interactive website featuring an informational passage about Martin Luther King Jr. Scholars read, or listen to, several paragraphs detailing MLK's life in order to answer seven multiple choice...
Curated OER
On Target: Strategies to Help Readers Make Meaning through Inferences
Here's a resource that explicitly teaches, models, and provides readers with opportunities to practice the process of drawing inferences from text. Packed with strategies elementary, middle, and high school teachers can use, the resource...
Mr. Nussbaum
Abraham Lincoln Reading Comprehension—The Middle Years (Part 2)
Abraham Lincoln's face may only be worth one cent, but the online reading passage and questions about his life are an invaluable resource. Pupils read a passage about Lincoln's experience with the Illinois Legislature, earning his law...
Curated OER
The Old Man and the Sea: The K-W-H-L Strategy
Make note of what readers know, what to know, and have learned during a unit on Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. As class members read the book, they jot down their ideas on a KWHL chart, and consider what they have learned at...
Curated OER
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: Questioning Strategy
Asking questions about the text is a great way for kids to become self-sufficient readers. Use the question-and-response strategy (QAR) to get them thinking about John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. After they read select...
Lesson Plansos
Guided Reading Activities with Pizzazz
Get the most out of your guided reading lessons with this collection of literacy materials. Offering a system for using color-coded tags to mark pages while reading books, as well as an assortment of comprehension and grammar worksheets,...
Novelinks
Touching Spirit Bear: Directed Thinking Activity
Can you guess what is going to happen in a story just by looking at the cover? Readers engage in a directed-reading activity in which they preview the text from Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen, read to find an answer, and re-read...
Curated OER
My Antonia: During Reading Strategy
Home in on the quote on this page to explore setting, the author's and character's voices, and plot in Willa Cather's My Antonia. Pupils draw a picture of what is described in the quote, discuss the content, and make connections to their...
Ideas From Suzi
Guided Reading: Beyond the Basics
Elevate children's reading comprehension skills with this collection of guided reading resources. From paper dice with basic comprehension questions printed on them to a system for using sticky notes to identify key parts of a story,...
Curated OER
8th Grade Reading Comprehension Success
Augment your eighth grade language arts curriculum with a thorough set of reading comprehension activities and assessments. Focusing on a variety of skills, including vocabulary in context, text structure, main idea, and author's style,...