Does the picture tell the story? Learners continue their work in The Inuit Thought of It by creating a visual gist of pages 16 and 17. They then complete a main idea graphic organizer and discuss key supporting details.

Surviving winter. Pupils begin reading on page 18 of The Inuit Thought of It: Amazing Arctic Inventions and sketch how the people used animal skin clothing to survive the winter. Readers complete a main idea graphic organizer...

Improve class understanding of colonial times by reading an informational text and filling out the accompanying graphic organizer. Class members work with a partner to read, take notes, make inferences, and synthesize information.The...

In instructional activity 13 of this unit on colonial trade, young researchers learn about apprentices as they prepare to write help-wanted ads for the specific trade they have been researching. To begin, the class listens closely as the...

Fourth graders view examples of help-wanted ads as they plan and create their own writing in the fourteenth instructional activity of this unit on colonial trade. The engagement of the class is captured when the teacher shares an actual...

Then and now. Scholars complete an end of unit assessment covering The Inuit Thought of It by comparing past and modern day life for the Inuit. They complete a main idea graphic organizer, analyze key terms, and write a summary...

What was life like in colonial America? Follow this lesson and your pupils will find out what people in colonial times did for work and for fun. Ask learners to compare and contrast the two texts and explain what the reading helped them...

Scholars examine an excerpt from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and determine how the author builds up smaller details to create the larger idea of the main passage. To finish the lesson plan, learners discuss in pairs, answer...

What is your perspective? Scholars read Florida: A Paradise of Scandals Excerpt 2 and look for unfamiliar words. They determine author perspective by completing Gathering Evidence of Hiaasen’s Perspective: Part three graphic organizer...

What is a dynamic character? Using an interesting resource, scholars set out to answer the question. They create graphic organizers to collect details about character development as they read the novel Inside Out & Back Again. They...

What's this all about? Scholars learn the importance of summarizing skills using a summary writing graphic organizer. They work with an elbow partner to discuss summaries and complete the organizer using Middle Ages Excerpt 1. Learners...

How does one use a graphic organizer to plan writing? Introduce your writers to different types of graphic organizers by dividing the class into groups and assigning each group a particular organizer. Then, as they research chocolate...

Let's take the big W. Scholars analyze the model newspaper article Sandy wreaks havoc across Northeast; at least 11 dead and look to answer who, what, when, where, and why. They work in groups of three to complete a Five W’s web...

Sixth graders use short reading passages to identify, explain, and discuss the author's purpose for writing. After a lecture/demo, they utilize a graphic organizer embedded in this plan to organize their writing ideas.

Students read given information and identify the main ideas and specific detail of the story. In groups, they read a historical title and create a "book talk" for each one, summarizing the story. In addition, students create a...

What is the big idea? Scholars use Middle Ages Excerpt 2 to complete a summary graphic organizer. They then use the information from the organizer to write a summary of the text on lined paper. Learners share summaries with the class.

Acquaint your class with informational text through a close reading. First, examine a couple of pages together, looking at text features and content. The whole class focuses on marking down a brief summary of each paragraph before...

Explore expository writing and using precise language in this descriptive paragraph writing lesson plan. Learners brainstorm prior knowledge about the changing seasons in Ohio. They describe seasonal items, view seasonal pictures from...

Fifth graders demonstrate research techniques in addition to endeavoring to display focus and stay on topic. Using books and stories, they gather, organize, and share information about a topic. Additionally, they explain to the class...

A mid-unit assessment challenges scholars to use their close reading skills to identify the main idea and key details. After reading a brief excerpt, learners answer a series of questions—multiple-choice, short answer—complete a graphic...

Just like instant replay, it's time to take a closer look! Pupils work together to add ideas to a Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart. They then put their knowledge to the test as they read an informational article about the...

It's all in the details. Scholars read acts two and three of The Hero's Journey and collect important details from the text. They share their notes with their peers and listen for key words from the story. They then turn their attention...

Walk through the pictures to understand the text. Scholars analyze The Boy Who Invented TV: The Story of Philo Farnsworth by taking a book walk and looking at the pictures. They then do a first read of Life before Philo to...

Students explore note taking. For this study skills and nonfiction comprehension lesson, students complete a two column main idea chart while reading a nonfiction passage.