To better understand how to compose a clear and well-organized paper, learners read short passages, write summaries, and make colored graphic organizers. This is a fully developed three-day lesson with suggested assessments.

After viewing slides and reading about child labor, young authors compose an original narrative story. They practice note-taking skills and work to effectively engage a reader by incorporating plot, logical order, complex characters,...

In this writing paragraphs learning exercise, students review the importance of a clear main idea within a paragraph. Students practice defining a clear main idea by using the ideas in the idea box and matching them with the list of...

Fourth graders read about Rose Freedman, a famous American woman. In this famous women in American history instructional activity, 4th graders read a story about Rose Freedman, answer comprehension questions, and complete an associated...

Accompany informational text reading—independent or whole class—with a learning exercise that challenges scholars to examine the text's main idea, details, take notes, and record vocabulary words and their meanings.

As part of a group of lessons, your class will return to the primary text for this unit, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Key vocabulary as well as close reading strategies continue to be the focus skills; however, this lesson...

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...

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...

The last instructional activity in this unit about human rights consists of a final assessment. To demonstrate the skills your class has acquired throughout this unit, they will work with a new article entitled "From Kosovo to the United...

Your class continues to explore the history of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In addition to learning about the background of this text, learners work on the skill of identifying and understanding key academic vocabulary....

Enhance and extend instruction of "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin with one or all of these ideas. You might want to cover characterization and summary, or improve understanding of context clues and irony. You can cover any...

Emergencies happen. Be prepared the next time you have to call in a substitute with a lesson plan designed to meet the needs of a kindergarten class. Throughout the day, class members work with number and alphabet cards, identify numbers...

In this literacy worksheet, 5th graders find the main idea, put the words into the correct sentences, and read the paragraph to increase reading comprehension.

Need a quick assessment of your middle schoolers' reading comprehension skills? The four questions on this quiz ask readers to identify the likely source of the article, define words based on context, and identify the main idea of the...

Car For sale! In this GED prep instructional activity, writers develop a classified advertisement to sell a car. After a discussion of precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language, sellers draft their ad for review,...

Here is a great way to explore narrative writing! Learners review a previously constructed story map and identify the characters, setting, and main events in the book Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock retold by Eric A. Kimmel. They...

How does media convey different messages? Use this lesson to explore media by identifying and analyzing selected images. Middle schoolers analyze a poster and discuss the intended meaning of the imagery and how it makes them feel. They...

Students examine a variety of historical cartoons. They recognize a political cartoon and identify the main idea, symbolism, exaggeration and caricature in political cartoons. Students analyze a political cartoon by Benjamin Franklin.

Third graders read several nonfiction texts and practice finding the main idea for the text as well as learn about various habitats. For this main idea lesson, 3rd graders read several nonfiction texts and make habitat cards. Students...

Third graders examine how to summarize the most important details in a reading passage in order to increase their comprehension. They design a story web using the summarization skills. Before class, they complete a reading assignment...

Students organize facts into categories and list the structure of a five-paragraph essay. They identify the main idea and outline the supporting details. In the class, students discuss how they organized their ideas and begin drafting...

In this comprehension review for grade 1 worksheet, 1st graders answer 15 multiple choice questions in standardized test format about the main idea and details in 4 passages.

In this comprehension review for grade 2 activity, 2nd graders answer 13 multiple choice questions in standardized test format about main idea and details of 2 passages.

In this comprehension review for fifth grade worksheet, 5th graders answer 9 multiple choice questions in standardized test format about the main idea and details of two passages.