Novelinks
The Hobbit: Problematic Situation
As part of a unit study of The Hobbit, class members engage in an activity that asks group to practice the skills needed to reach consensus in a discussion.
Harper Collins
Parrot in the Oven: Response Journal
After completing Chapter 5 of Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida, readers make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections to Victor Martinez's novel by crafting journal entries addressing comments and questions to characters in...
Novelinks
Words By Heart: Anticipation Guide
The anticipation guide for Words by Heart is the first of a series of six, contains lesson plans for the activity as well as a handout to be completed individually, in pairs, or as a class. It sparks interest for the text...
E Reading Worksheets
Poetic Devices Finder
Track the poetic elements in any text with a guided reading instructional activity. Kids note examples of consonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia, repetition, rhyme, and rhythm when reading a poem or story, and provide a short...
New York State Education Department
English Language Arts Examination: January 2018
Excerpts from classic novels make great material for standardized tests. A sample English language arts examination, part of a larger set of assessments, mixes excerpts from classic novels and more modern texts. The test includes three...
Great Books Foundation
Discussion Guide for Little Women
Start with the question in mind with a discussion activity on Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. With four focus questions, note-taking prompts, and discussion points, readers practice answering thematic questions based on textual evidence.
Curated OER
Tangerine: K-W-H-L Strategy
As part of the introduction to Edward Bloor's Tangerine, class members generate a KWHL chart listing what they know, what they want find out, how they plan to find this information, and what they have learned or still want to learn.
Curated OER
Unwind: Anticipation Guide
After responding to a series of prompts on an anticipation guide, readers of Unwind craft five predictions about what will happen in Neal Shusterman's young adult science fiction novel.
Curated OER
The Last Lecture: Exit Slip
Here's an exit slip activity that asks readers of The Last Lecture to identify three lessons from "Part III: Adventures and Lessons Learned" that resonated for them.
Curated OER
The Glass Menagerie: K‐W‐H‐L Strategy
Readers of Tennessee Williams' award winning memory play, The Grass Menagerie, will be neither disappointed nor discouraged by this prereading strategy that asks learners to consider what they know about Williams and his play, what they...
Curated OER
Parrot in the Oven: Think Aloud
A think aloud activity is a great way for readers to develop critical thinking skills. This resource models for readers how to use this strategy to think critically about a passage from Victor Martinez's Parrot in the Oven.
Novelinks
The Joy Luck Club: Writing Strategy
Readers of The Joy Luck Club, use a double-0entry journal to record and reflect on passages from Amy Tan's novel.
Mathed Up!
Negative Numbers
Eight independent worksheet pages challenge scholars to solve 12 problems that focus on negative numbers in the context of temperature in degrees of celsius.
Curated OER
Unwind: Discussion Strategy, Chalk Talk
Readers of Neal Shusterman's young adult science fiction novel, Unwind, engage in a silent discussion, posting their responses to a series of statements about characters in the story.
Curated OER
Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban: KWHL Strategy
J.K. Rowling's world of wizards and magic focuses on some topics that relate to our own society, especially in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Have kids complete a KWHL chart (what they know, what they want to know, how...
Curated OER
Shizuko’s Daughter: Story Impression
Craft your own fairy tale based on Momotaro, a Japanese story referenced in Kyoko Mori's Shuzuko's Daughter. A list of nouns guide learners in writing their own story, and predicting what might happen in the novel.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Family Time: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 5)
Support English language development with a family-themed unit consisting of a series of lessons designed to get your scholars moving, looking, speaking, writing, and listening. Conversation topics...
Curated OER
Predicting the Meaning of Unfamiliar Words in a Text
Middle schoolers develop strategies for what to do when they come upon words in a text that they don't know. After a class discussion, pupils are given a selection of text that contains some very difficult words. They are instructed to...
Curated OER
Shizuko's Daughter: Concept of Definition Word Map
Help your class use critical thinking when it comes to unfamiliar words. With vocabulary from Kyoko Mori's Shizuko's Daughter, kids write the word in the center of a graphic organizer, and find its category, comparisons,...
Curated OER
My Antonia: Body Biography Book Report
Examine the characters in Willa Cather's My Antonia with a group project. Small groups illustrate their chosen character on a large piece of paper and choose quotes from the text that tell about the character. Where learners choose...
Novelinks
The Hobbit: Vocabulary in the Round
Blundering, audacious, obscurest. Class members develop strategies for teaching each other vocabulary words drawn from The Hobbit.
E Reading Worksheets
Fact and Opinion - Worksheet: 4
Instruct pupils to determine if a statement is a fact or an opinion with a language arts worksheet. After reading the sentence and circling the answer, learners explain how they know their answer is correct.
Curated OER
Parrot in the Oven: Socratic Seminar
To conclude a study of Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida, class members sharpen their critical thinking skills by engaging in a Socratic seminar discussion of Martinez's novel.
Missouri Department of Elementary
The Successful Student: Let’s Review for Better Achievement
Study skills, time management skills, and test taking-skills are important attributes for both the classroom and the real world. Focus on these learning skills in a lesson that reviews how to be a good student and make better grades.