Students study how to summarize a reading passage to improve their comprehension. They read a non-fiction passage and use five steps to summarize it while working in groups of three. Next, as class, they decide which group provided the...

Learners practice summarizing passages which they read silently in order to remember what they read. They follow steps for summarizing by highlighting the important details, removing the less important ones, and retelling they highlights...

Students explore ways to write book summaries. In this summary writing lesson plan, students discover the steps for writing summaries of fictional books.

Eighth graders investigate the concept of main idea and supporting details, and how they are used in the genre of fiction. In this literacy lesson, 8th graders listen to a fictional passage and take notes on the characters, setting,...

Explore how lack of access to water impacts peoples' lives in poor countries. Through text reading and discussion, middle schoolers are presented with the story of a young girl who lives and functions with limited water resources. They...

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...

A thorough lesson introduces learners to Hans Christian Andersen, the nineteenth-century author who created wonderful tales. They read the original texts of several of his stories, including "The Ugly Duckling," "The Little Mermaid,"...

Students recognize the elements needed to create a comic strip. In this comic strip lesson, student understand that comic strips need words and pictures. Students find differences and similarities in comic strips. Students describe how...

Learners use this design as an electronic reading and writing guide to Henry David Thoreau's famous essay, "On Civil Disobedience." They use activities to familiarize students with the political issues of Thoreau's time. Comprehension...

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...

Although the ideas on how to implement the skill RI.9-10.2 are lacking, the assessment would work well for challenging learners to summarize, and identify the main ideas of presidential speeches that are of similar topics. One could use...

Students summarize information. In this language arts lesson, students summarize information from a fictional text. Students read a folktale and summarize the story.

Fifth graders read a book addressing a specific historical time period that was chosen by their working group. They complete journal entries as they read the book. They create a group PowerPoint explaining the personal point of view and...

Learning to recognize the importance of the features of information text (i.e., titles, subtitles, endnotes, sidebars, etc.) is the focus of a reading activity designed for middle schoolers. Learners examine how these text features...

Explore nonfiction writing with your class. They will identify elements in nonfiction by reviewing elements of fiction. Then they use biographies, memoirs, menus, Time for Kids, and text books to identify elements of nonfiction. They...

Use the class textbook to read a full story about Martin Luther King, Jr. The class writes facts about him and outlines his life, then they read the author and illustrator summaries at the end of the story. They compare and contrast the...

Students examine the process of summarizing text. They participate in a class discussion, and read an assigned passage from their textbook, highlighting the main points of the text. Students then write a short summary of their...

Fourth graders summarize a selected piece of fiction text. After completing a summary through guided practice, 4th graders, working in groups read a portion of the novel, "Hatchet." They write a summary paragraph using the process...

Students practice summarization in order to increase their comprehension of non-fiction text. They read and summarize passages by finding the main ideas in passages from a Social Studies textbook. After silently reading the passage they...

Students summarize a selected piece of fiction text. After reviewing the correct way to read silently, students read a chapter in the novel they are currently reading. They write a chapter summary using a story map and the process...

Fourth graders research and write an author report on Roald Dahl, including books written by him, birthplace, family life, and other information on his writing. Students read aloud chapters in the book. Students create a newspaper...

Fifth graders study the Civil War. In this US history lesson, 5th graders simulate what life was like during the Civil War by having two groups with one group given more materials than the other group. Students then draw a...

Useful for literary analysis, citing textual evidence, or summary skills, this lesson about the Kumeyaay Indians would be a good addition to your language arts class. Middle schoolers read novels and summarize the literature in their own...

Students examine the difference between nonfiction and fictional writing. They identify the characteristics of nonfiction literature and examine how a nonfiction textbook organizes information.