Curated OER
"Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" by Rod Serling
These questions ask learners to think about the text "Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" in a variety of ways. In addition to practicing reading comprehension, class members work on interpreting, making inferences and connections,...
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Strong Convictions
How can the rhetorical structure of an editorial help to develop its argument? Use this New York Times editorial to emphasize the importance of structure in a piece of informational text. Adolescent writers then use the editorial as a...
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Comprehension Questions: "Papa's Parrot"
Readers demonstrate comprehension and reflect on their reading of Cynthia Rylant's short story "Papa's Parrot." They recall, infer, analyze, speculate, synthesize, and make judgments about the content of the text.
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Whittle, Whittle it Down: Summarizing
Middle schoolers summarize a one to two page article of informational text. They compose a summary according to the guidelines on the "Five Rules for Writing a Summary" chart. They take turns reading their summary to the group, and...
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Directed Reading Thinking Activity: "A Raisin in the Sun"
Students predict outcomes of a text. In this comprehension strategy lesson, students read a poem and compare it to the play A Raisin in the Sun. Students discuss their similarities and the power of dreams.
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Jim Murphy, The Great Fire - Grade 6
The Great Fire by Jim Murphy provides the text for a study of the Chicago fire of 1871. The plan is designed as a close reading activity so that all learners have the same background information require for writing. Richly detailed, the...
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Measure for Measure: DRTA Strategy
“The tempter or the tempted, who sins most?” Prediction, verification, judgment, and extensions of thought are all part of a
Directed ReadingThinking Activity (DRTA) developed for Measure for Measure. The rationale, assessments...
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Learning Inference
Making inferences can be a tricky proposition for middle schoolers. In the lesson plan presented here, pupils practice the skill of drawing a conclusion and making a judgment - which are what making an inference is all about! There are...
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DR-TA Reading Strategy
Foster critical thinking skills by using the DR-TA Strategy with Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.” Class members read portions of the essay, stop and discuss what is happening, make predictions based on evidence from the text, and...
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That Is Not My Opinion!
Being an informed citizen requires distinguishing fact from opinion and understanding persuasion methods. Secondary learners evaluate newspaper editorials. They read opinion pieces, identify the writer's purpose and position on an issue,...
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QAR for The Color Purple
Have you heard of the QAR strategy? If your class is reading The Color Purple, provide them with this two-page worksheet to get them thinking. With the strategy, readers are introduced to four types of questions (right there, think and...
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Dig A Little Deeper
Here is a great lesson on recognizing events and themes in a story. Students read chapters from a chosen book and then fill out a graphic organizer to further explore the purpose of the chapter. They write the events, themes, author's...
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Evaluating Your Sources
Students practice making critical judgments about the sources sited when researching a topic on the internet and in real-life situations. They assess how sources vary in reliability and accuracy while reviewing a variety of source...
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My Brother Sam is Dead: A study of the Revolutionary War
Fifth graders complete an analysis of the Revolutionary War through literature. After "My Brother Sam Is Dead," students create a time capsule containing items that would be relevant during the Revolutionary War. They identify key...
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Open Sesame: A Magical World of Reading
Third graders, through six lessons, study tales of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and Aladdin and the Lamp from The Arabian Nights.
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Cloze Activity
Students brainstorm possible replacements for blanks in a cloze activity. They work in groups to decide which of their possible replacements are prefered for each blank. They then prepare to present their ideas of the text to the class...
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Distinguishing Fact and Opinion
Learners pick up clues in the wordage of a sentence to determine if it is factual and give reasons for their feelings. They explain difference between statements of hard fact as found on the front page of a newspaper from that of an...
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Inquiring Minds
Students review examples of questions that represent different levels of thinking. They then focus on the contributions of leaders from different eras and generate interview questions that a contemporary leader might ask of a...
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Yaba "Data" Cereal
Fifth graders create and modify a database using information from cereal labels.
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That Reminds Me
Students investigate various forms of literature using drawings, sentences, and class discussion. They pick the text to look at to keep student interest. The teacher helps the students use appropriate reading level books. They complete a...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Drawing Conclusions Based on Literary Elements
Students compare versions of Cinderella and draw conclusions based on the story elements identified. In this literacy comprehension and story elements lesson, students read several versions of Cinderella, complete a "Comparing Folklore"...
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It's All Part of the Story
Students explore storytelling through pantomime, improvisation, and dramatization. They watch an online video, discuss Native American earth stories, role-play various situations, explore websites, and present an oral story to the class.
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Rent To Own
Reading can be a good way to learn about many different things, like rent-to-own housing programs. Learners read informational resources about rent-to-own programs and how they work. They complete graphic organizers using the facts they...
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"My Side of the Mountain"
Pupils demonstrate comprehension skills be retelling 6-8 significant events. They identify new vocabulary words and determine the meaning by using context clues.
They contribute to group discussion by sharing at least 1 idea/reflection...