A story about feral girls raised by werewolves will have some interesting character development! Track how the girls and their teachers act, speak, and change with a lesson focused on Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by...

Fifth graders compare and contrast an informational article with a fictional story. They read the story "The Contest" as a class, and discuss the different types of literature genres. Next, they complete a vocabulary worksheet and a...

Fourth graders work individually or in a small group to (1) read a fictional passage, (2) practice test-taking strategies, and (3) practice using context clues to increase their vocabulary. Reading passage and comprehension questions...

It is much easier for kids to know they have reached a goal when that goal is clearly defined. By providing sixth graders with a checklist of Common Core reading standards written in "I can" format, each child can keep track of his own...

Imagine 28 instructional strategies, appropriate for all subject areas and all grade levels. Directed Reading-Thinking Activities (DRTA), Question-Answer Relationship (QAR) activities, KWL charts, comparison matrixes, classification...

Good discussion questions, quizzes, and tests teach as well as assess. Readers of The Great Gatsby will learn much from the materials in a 36-page packet designed to help students prepare for the AP Literature exam. Included in the...

"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," from The Jungle Book, offers young readers a chance to examine how Rudyard Kipling uses setting and personification to bring to life the brave mongoose who battles cobras to protect his family. Class members...

Students read historical fiction.  In this drawing conclusions lesson, students learn how to draw conclusions from text, specifically historical fiction.  Students read Molly's Pilgrim and complete a graphic organizer where...

Do your sixth graders like science fiction? Learn to identify elements of  the science fiction genre with a literature instructional activity. They read from Only You Can Save Mankind and identify the objects, words, and...

The story of Abe Lincoln serves as the backdrop to this vocabulary-in-context activity as you read David Adler's A Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln. Scholars learn these politically themed words before listening to you read the story...

If you are reading Jane Yolen's fun story How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?, use these strategies to enhance the experience for budding readers. What new words will they learn? Find detailed comprehension questions for these...

The African plains come alive as scholars learn vocabulary in context through Verna Aardema's story Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain (tip: this strategy can be applied to any book). Precede reading by...

Combine counting and vocabulary using Francine Bassede's book George's Store at the Shore, which has learners exploring new words and numbers 1-10. Suggested words for this text are: arrange, assortment, customers,...

Ask budding readers, "How do you make an apple pie?" You may get many answers, but Marjorie Priceman takes the cake with her idea in How to Make an Apply Pie and See the World, an adventurous tale full of wonder and new vocabulary....

Lilly is jealous when her new little brother is born; explore vocabulary in context through Kenvin Kenkes' story Julius the Baby of the World. Suggested words for this text are: constantly, disguise, disgusting,...

Beautiful illustrations and tender memories of cultural identity make Kam Mak's story My Chinatown an ideal resource for budding readers learning four vocabulary words in context: fortune, scraps,...

Lisa Peters presents macroevolution as a large-scale family tree in her book Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story. She suggests the process from single-celled organisms to modern-day humans, and learners explore new vocabulary...

Scholars explore the animal kingdom with help from two texts, Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey and A Bed for the Winter by Karen Wallace. The literature and informational text set the learning stage for thoughtful discussion and...

May the comprehension skills be with you! Focus on context clues, vocabulary words, and analysis questions with an article about Star Wars: The Force Awakens and its record-breaking ticket sales.  

Calling all Star Wars® fanatics! A set of activity-based worksheets is centered around Star Wars®. From mazes to matching to cutting and coloring, young padawans engage in multiple activities that add a little fun to...

Discern your readers' knowledge of the novel Burned. Ten multiple choice questions focus on reading comprehension. As an online quiz, the resource allows students to submit their answers and receive automatic feedback.

For this reading comprehension worksheet, students read a selection about dirt and soil characteristics. They answer 10 matching questions and 5 multiple choice questions based on the information given in the non-fiction article.

For this soil formation reading comprehension worksheet, students read a 2 page non-fiction article. They answer 19 questions including fill in the blank, multiple choice, and true or false about weathering of the Earth as soil is renewed.

Here's a fun way to incorporate technology into your curriculum. E-mail each of your class members a picture and 10 questions about the photo. Individuals then imagine the story behind the image and e-mail back their responses. Although...