The Haitian Revolution takes center stage as class members analyze a passage from Sugar Changed the World and consider how the authors select, present, and organize events to show how the tensions between the concerns for freedom and...

Code red! Learners read an informational article about the Red Cross, discussing the gist of the text in small groups. On a three-column note catcher, pupils take notes to show how the Red Cross functions as a multinational aid...

In this language arts worksheet, students examine a blank spider map which could help organize ideas for a report or book response. Students write their topic in the center circle and the main ideas on the slanted lines that connect to...

Being able to identify the main idea in a text is an essential comprehension skill. After the term is defined, viewers examine a series of paragraphs and are asked to identify the main idea and the supporting details.

What do astronauts eat in outer space? Kids can read an informational passage to learn about space food. The passage includes prompts that have learners identify the main idea and key details, then write a paragraph summarizing the text....

Writers draft paragraphs comparing and contrasting the author's viewpoint in two poems. They also discuss the differences between an informational text and a poem regarding manners. Rubric and assessment are provided.

Create an artifact kit to engage your young learners. Then, assign small groups a section of chapter three. They will identify the main idea and three supporting details for their section. Then, they select one artifact from the kit that...

Writing conventions are the focus of this standardized practice test. Designed for the Georgia Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT), these fifteen questions address grammar (capitalization, parts of speech, homonyms) and writing...

Bright, bold, and engaging, this presentation on elaborated paragraphs is a good way to reinforce your expectations for your class's writing. Each slide presents a simple, straightforward tip to writing complete paragraphs, including...

Learners write a topic sentence to a paragraph and explain that it introduces the main idea. After a whole-class demonstration, students write a complete paragraph with their topic sentence and supporting sentences. There are some...

The skill set required of readers of informational text includes the ability to identify an article’s thesis or main idea, as well as the supporting points. Learners can practice these skills by analyzing an essay about the treatment of...

Do your tenth graders need some extra practice with reading strategies? The great idea here is the detailed explanation provided for why one answer is correct. Not only is the strategy detailed, but the rationale for why the other foils...

Learners research the western movement in order to learn note taking strategies with nonfiction texts. They use the Internet to search for important information about the western movement using the Cornell Notes note-taking system. They...

Read to understand! Sounds great and your third graders will read to understand several interesting facts about Great Britain. They read, identify key details in the text, and write to answer five comprehension questions. Learning to...

The Iditarod Trail and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race are the focus of a comprehension assessment. Readers must identify the main idea of the passage, draw inferences, define words using context clues, and identify the organizational...

A passage about the changing role of home economists provides the text for a reading comprehension strategies worksheet. Learners must summarize, draw inferences, identify the main idea, and use context clues to determine the meaning of...

Are you a friggatriskaidekaphobic? An excerpt from an article about the fear of Friday the 13th is used as the basis of a reading comprehension exercise. The five questions require readers to employ several strategies (drawing...

This detailed overview of a curriculum unit suggests using travel literature to engage and stimulate your third graders’ interest in reading. The suggested reading list includes fiction and non-fiction materials and offers urban children...

Although designed as an assessment, consider using this resource as the basis for a lesson on reading comprehension strategies or as a practice exercise. The five multiple choice questions, based on a short passage about stock market...

Use this reading comprehension exercise at the beginning of the year to assess the reading comprehension level of your class, to remind readers of how to use strategies to decode dense text, or to assess the skills of a new student....

The piranha is the subject of a reading passage that is sure to engage your learners in a reading comprehension exercise. Pupils must employ multiple strategies to answer the questions based on the passage. Of particular value is the...

Make the thought process visible with a handy concept map organizer. As learners develop their main ideas in research, writing, or creative development, they can add details and like ideas to the worksheet as needed.

Here’s a reading comprehension assessment that will capture the interest of your learners. Stink bugs and the danger they pose to farmers is the subject of the passage, while the eight questions ask readers to infer, predict, summarize...

Need a quick but comprehensive reading strategies exercise? Even your most reluctant readers will be engaged by the story of a nuclear reactor explosion at a top-secret Idaho base. After reading the short passage, learners answer nine...