Close up your unit of study with an examination of one of the guiding or essential questions as it relates to what your class has studied and other research. Class members first write down the question. Then they note down information...

Could you go without your cell phone for 48 hours? Pose this question to your class and then read the article provided here. Pupils mark the text and and complete a graphic organizer that requires the use of textual evidence.

If you build it they can come. After reading a short article about the impact of western expansion, middle schoolers cite evidence from the article to explain how this expansion forced changes in transportation.

Expect great things from this reading comprehension exercise that asks readers to cite evidence from the provided passages of Great Expectations to support the inference that Charles Dickens' Miss Havisham, and her room, are indeed strange.

Making inferences is a skill that goes beyond the comprehension of written text. In this simple exercise, young learners are provided with a photograph and asked to answer a series of inference questions using only on the...

The national epidemic of opioid addiction is making its way into high school populations. Educate the students in your class about the ways prescription opioids can both block pain and deliver large amounts of dopamine that make it very...

Show your class what poem the famous line "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways" comes from. Class members read Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem and respond to one question with a short paragraph. The question asks learners to use...

After reading a very brief excerpt from Frederick Douglass' autobiography, learners cite textual evidence to support a main idea of the primary source about Douglass' humiliating experience with slavery. This is a brief exercise that...

Perfect for a unit on characterization and simple enough to use with any text. Your class will practice the Common Core standard of citing textual evidence to support their analysis by first making an assertion about a character from a...

Introduce your class to the personal essay with this worksheet. Learners identify the subject of an essay and then record examples from the essay that represent the author's thoughts and feelings regarding the subject. While this...

From A to Z, learners define, draw, and find examples of specific reading focus skills in an alphabetized reading vocabulary packet. Words include dialogue, theme, text structure, genre, paraphrase, and many more.

Check in on the development of your fifth graders' reading and writing skills with this Common Core-designed assessment. Given a series of six reading passages ranging from narrative stories to informational texts, young...

Coyotes in Chicago? Yip. Middle schoolers demonstrate their ability to identify details that support the idea that coyotes are adaptable creatures.

What is thunder? After reading a short article about extreme weather, middle schoolers must use information in the text to explain this weather phenomenon.

The memoir A Long Way Gone tells the story of a child soldier during the civil war in Sierra Leone. A crossword puzzle helps reinforce key ideas found in the memoir. The puzzle addresses characters, key events, and other details...

What do police and detectives do to keep their community safe? Six short-answer questions make up a instructional activity designed to reinforce reading comprehensions skills while providing information about police officers and...

Although designed for a foods lab, the information in this resource might be just the thing for your own recipe notebook. Illustrated, step-by-step directions for making the perfect omelet, egg-citing puzzles, games, and even...

An effective lesson plan truly can make all the difference. Seventh graders read, analyze, and annotate Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" before writing an essay about what they believe to be the theme of the iconic poem.

Rain gauges, thermometers, and wind vanes. After reading a short article about weather forecasting, readers identify the tools meteorologists use to predict the weather.

Early settlers in the American Midwest experienced constant struggle. This reading passage describes for young learners the hardships of homesteaders as they journeyed west and sought to start a new life. When finished, students identify...

After reading a text, ask your pupils to recall and organize what they've just learned into a blank three-column chart. Class members write the topic and fill in the columns with information. The sheet also prompts students to write a...

Find out how much your class understood of the listed chapters of Wilson Rawls' novel. Class members respond to eight plot and character questions before looking closely at an instance of personification from the text. The resource is...

Write what you know, sound advice for any writer and something many famous authors are known to have done. Use these materials to explore how Shakespeare's life influenced his plays. This resource is packed with readings, video segments,...

Should Americans provide compensation to those whose ancestors suffered from slavery? Read and analyze the arguments of two modern-day journalists on the topic. Then, have a discussion on both the merits of the arguments as well as what...