Turn your passive readers into active readers with an engaging lesson on reading informational text. Focused on compare and contrast structured essays, the activity prompts elementary learners to jot down questions and think-aloud...

As teachers, it is our job to encourage learners to stand up for what they believe in and help them learn lessons from life's events. A set of practice questions designed for the ELA MCAS assessment features passages that teach positive...

Encourage readers to compare and contrast the information that they find in informational text with a variety of reading passages and worksheets. Learners read all about subjects in science, social studies, and literature...

Eighth graders demonstrate the steps needed for a compare and contrast essay by writing a paper comparing and contrasting two selected pictures.

Young scholars discuss how a five paragraph essay has five basic parts. They compare this to a well-made hamburger. They create a mind map of a five paragraph essay using the graphic of a tasty hamburger sandwich.

Young scholars compare theme and plot in two short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In this theme and plot analysis activity, students read Young Goodman Brown and The Minister's Black Veil  as well as take notes about the...

Young writers compare writing a paper to building a barn. They write a thesis statement using parallel construction and use transitions to hold the paper (walls of the barn) together. A barn raising video link is included; great for...

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. 

Explore ethnicity and identity with a research and writing assignment. Class members conduct online research, looking in particular at images and carefully noting down their sources on notecards. They read about identity and compose...

Conclude a study of Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning with a research project that asks readers to investigate what various religions and philosophies believe is the meaning of life. The resource packet includes a list of...

It's time to make a claim. Scholars learn what it means to make a claim by first looking at a model analytical mini-essay to determine how the author relayed ideas. Pupils then work with partners to discuss how the author might have...

Pupils compare cultures. In this writing skills instructional activity, students collaborate to chart the tradition and cultural beliefs of their classmates. Pupils use their finding to write comparative essays regarding the similarities...

In this literature learning exercise, students respond to 26 short answer and essay questions about Cervantes's Don Quixote. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the novel at the bottom of the page.

After viewing two documentaries about the history of the Channel islands, individuals craft an essay in which they compare the lives of Juana Maria, the Lone Woman San Nicolar Island, to Lester Holt and his family featured in the...

Tackle Transcendentalist literature with these questions. This resource provides 14 essay questions that cover different works by Thoreau and Emerson. Class members may also access an online quiz on the selection using the link at the...

Ready your pupils for Common Core testing by providing them with practice. For this assessment, learners read and respond to a variety of different passages in both multiple-choice and essay format. An online version is also included.

Get an idea of how your class members might perform on the Common Core tests with a comprehensive practice test. The assessment includes literary and informational passages for learners to read an analyze. Pupils respond to a series of...

Support your eleventh graders with a practice assessment for the Common Core tests. The practice test features a series of literary and informational passages and related multiple choice and essay questions. An online version is also...

Keep an eye on the growth of your sixth graders' reading and writing skills with the help of this practice Common Core assessment. Working their way through the six included fiction and nonfiction reading passages, learners answer a...

Although the work Americans do has changed over time, the plight of the American worker has largely remained the same. Facilitate a class discussion aboutAmerican workers using Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "The Village Blacksmith" and...

Does more power make you more important? Test takers ponder the question as the 2005 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B asks scholars to take a close look at power by writing thoughtful essays. Writers...

How much would you give up for others? The last prompt in 2014 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions asks scholars to write essays about a character in a piece of work that has sacrificed and what the...

Is it better to ask for permission or for forgiveness? Compare and contrast these choices with a reading comprehension activity, which focuses on a script about a girl asking each of her parents if she can attend a concert with her friend.

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...