Scholars examine the strategy of making a story map or outline to identify the main elements of a story. They discuss the who, what, where, when, why, and how of a story, in an outline form. As a class they read a short story, answer the...

There are so many great reading strategies. In this lesson, learners practice decoding. They break down two paragraphs to analyze and determine main ideas and details. They each observes ways to model as they map their paragraphs.

Readers of Robert Cormier's Tunes for Bears to Dance to are asked to consider the morality of the central character's actions

What will happen in Hatchet by Gary Paulsen? Kids read a series of possible events that will occur in the novel and mark whether they agree or disagree with the probability of each event happening.

Here is a reading comprehension lesson in which learners predict the story plot of Annie and the Wild Animals, by Jan Brett, after viewing the cover. They listen to the story, and answer story structure questions during and after...

Sometimes it's easier to read one part of a novel when focusing on discussion points. Partners work together to read a few paragraphs of Chapter 5 from Gary Paulsen's Hatchet and discuss the plot and theme of the book.

Learners practice their fluency skills. In this fluency lesson, students read aloud stories to their peers and they help to coach one another on their fluency, pronunciation, phrasing, and inflection. They discuss what makes a good...

Third graders explore language arts by answering study questions about a book they read. In this reading summary lesson, 3rd graders read the book Verdi by Janell Cannon and identify the plot, characters and sequence of the story....

Students decode words as they construct meaning. In this writing lesson plan, students create a story using the software program Bailey's Book House. They listen to their story on the computer, print it out, and read it aloud....

What three readily available things would you grab in case of an emergency? That's the question that launches a unit study of William Golding's The Lord of the Flies. After sharing their choices, class members read Golding's rationale...

Enthusiastic readers take part in a book club unit that focuses on genre, particularly historical fiction, fantasy, and adventure. Over the course of 10 days, groups read a variety of stories and choose leveled activities from a learning...

Discovering the main idea in fiction is like uncovering buried treasure; one must persevere to locate it, and the reward is priceless. Scholars delve deep into leveled stories using three questions to aid in identifying the main idea. 

After sketching an essential person and reading an article, scholars read the poem "In a Neighborhood in Los Angeles" by Francisco X. Alarcón. They listen to the poem in English and Spanish and record lines that stand out to them. Small...

The poem "The Teller of Tales" by Gabriela Mistral is the subject of a thoughtful lesson that allows scholars to listen to or read the poem, then discuss its meaning. 

Scholars examine a colorful and detailed picture, then view an engaging video in preparation for reading the poem "November 2: Día De Los Muertos" by Alberto Ríos. Learners discuss their observations, feelings conveyed, and the...

After reading background information about Kate Chopin, pupils complete their shared reading of her short story, "The Story of an Hour."  Participants then consider the irony of the ending.

Good literature can be much like an iceberg requiring readers to presume that the bulk of the meaning may be inferred to be found below the surface. Here's a lesson that asks scholars to conduct a close reading of passages from The...

Find the main idea in an informational text with a versatile lesson. Three levels of differentiation help you implement the strategy in any age or class level, based on the ability and objectives of your learners.

Jane Eyre offers scholars an opportunity to practice reading comprehension skills. Pairs are assigned a word from the text, use their prior knowledge, and consider the context, connotation, and denotation of the word to posit a...

To prepare for a reading of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, kids must prioritize a list of items to take with them on a journey to Texas.

Students read for detail. In this reading comprehension lesson, students read a passage and share their thoughts with a small group. Students reflect upon the passage and develop an oral summary of the text.

With What Do You See at the Pond?, young readers explore pond life and practice reading strategies. Learners first make predictions and then read the simple story independently. After a second read-through with a partner, kids come...

A lovely guided reading lesson plan awaits you and your students. They read the book,Corn is Maize: The Gift of the Indians, by Aliki, summarize the important events of the story, and describe how corn has helped develop culture in America.

Learners participate in pre-reading activities, journal keeping, vocabulary lists and other reading comprehension boosters. These activities can be applied to many genres.