Curated OER
Building Reading Skills: Fluency
Young scholars practice their fluency skills. In this fluency lesson, students read aloud stories to their peers and they help to coach one another on their fluency, pronunciation, phrasing, and inflection. They discuss what makes a good...
Curated OER
Rewording the Main Idea
In this story idea worksheet, students read 6 one-sentence stories that are illustrated. From two choices, students pick the word that best tells the idea of the story.
Curated OER
Finding the Main Idea and Supporting Details
Twelfth graders examine how to identify the main idea and supporting details in a reading passage. They read an article, answer who, what, when, where, and how, discuss the answers, and identify the main idea and supporting details.
Curated OER
Reciprocal Teaching Strategies Worksheet
In this pre-reading activity worksheet, students respond to 3 questions that require them to list main ideas, generate questions, and clarify unclear items prior to reading a selection.
Curated OER
Poetry Walk
Explore with your class the purposes and author's intents for poetry titles. First you read several brief poems to the class and discuss how the authors may have chosen the titles. Then small groups read title-less poems posted around...
Curated OER
Paragraph Building
Build the skills your budding authors need to develop to compose well-structured paragraphs. Give them the topic sheet (included here), and have them write a cohesive paragraph using the ideas listed. Consider having them include two...
Westford Academy
Universal Themes in Literature
Although dated in appearance, this PowerPoint presents current content in how learners can identity a theme, main idea, subject, and topic. The information is formatted for easy note taking, but offers no explanation of the themes...
Curated OER
Little Red Hen
First graders listen to the story "The Little Red Hen". They buddy read the story and then illustrate their own interpretation of the story on story paper. Students then use AlphaSmart to type their stories in sequential order.
Curated OER
WWI for World History Honors
Using a textbook, learners will examine various aspects related to the Triple Alliance of WWI. They complete a series of handouts, engage in a class discussion, and interpret a map showing both the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente....
Curated OER
Article Analysis
One way for ESL students to improve their English skills is through reading articles in the newspaper. This worksheet serves as a guide that learners could use when reporting on the article they read. There seven questions asked about...
Curated OER
Identifying Author’s Purpose and Viewpoint in Nonfiction Text
Why do people write books? Pupils discover how to identify the author's viewpoint. They read non-fiction passages their instructor selects (the plan has the class look at nonfiction children's picture books), and then identify the...
Curated OER
When the Fly Flew In by Lisa Westberg Peters
The students will listen to the story When the Fly Flew In, and be able to identify the main idea of the story and many of the (supporting) details. Students will also develop an appreciation for the humor and illustrations. After...
Curated OER
Media Literacy
Elementary learners observe and discuss advertisements for tobacco and alcohol. They identify how advertisers place information in strategic spots and make their product look good. They choose an ad and fill out the attached form on...
Curated OER
Shizuko’s Daughter: Graphic Organizer
Help young readers align character relationships in an activity for Kyoko Mori's Shizuko's Daughter. After kids discuss the characters and how they relate to each other, they use index cards and a graphic organizer to outline the...
Curated OER
Mini-Lesson Planning for Inferences
Making inferences and drawing conclusions is a key component to successful active reading. Encourage your class to use context clues and prior knowledge to infer different elements of a story, including the setting, plot, and character...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment: Answering Text-Dependent Questions About Librarians and Organizations Around the World
This is a skills-based assessment that asks test takers to use textual evidence to determine the main idea of an excerpt from an informational text as well as respond to text-dependent questions. The assessment is the middle point...
EngageNY
Identifying Main Ideas and Supporting Details: What’s Going On in the Teenage Brain?
What's going on in the teen brain? Pupils consider the question as they continue reading an informational article about the topic. While reading, they use a Thinking Log worksheet and an anchor chart to track their understanding of...
Smekens Education Solutions, Inc.
Introducing the 6 Traits to Students
Put together an English language arts unit on the six traits of writing with this helpful collection of resources. From fun songs to differentiated writing exercises reinforcing each of the traits, great ideas are provided for...
Curated OER
Descriptive Writing Using the Book Rumpelstiltskin
Use the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin to teach your third grade class about descriptive writing. Following a teacher read-aloud of the story, the class brainstorms a list of adjectives describing the main character. Students use this list...
Curated OER
The Lightning Thief: During Reading Strategy
After reading up to page 371 of Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, get insight into how Percy felt making a major decision through active discussion strategies that enable both academic...
EngageNY
Determining Main Ideas and Details to Write a Summary Paragraph: “Food”
Let's eat! Scholars read pages 24-25 of The Inuit Thought of It to discover the foods eaten by the Inuit. They sketch a visual gist of the section in their journals and write a summary paragraph about the text.
National Endowment for the Humanities
A Defense of the Electoral College
Each presidential election year, the debate about the electoral college rages. Michael C. Maibach's "A Defense of the Electoral College" offers young political scientists an opportunity to examine a reasoned argument for why the...
EngageNY
Launching Frightful’s Mountain: Building Background Knowledge and Establishing Reading Routines
Welcome to Frightful's Mountain. The teacher introduces scholars to the text Frightful’s Mountain by reading the first chapter aloud. Learners then talk with a partner about the text. The instructor models answering focus questions...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Comprehension: Narrative Text Structure, Character Consideration
An activity work alongside a narrative text of your choice. With reading comprehension at its focus, readers complete worksheets covering character descriptions.