Curated OER
"It's All About Grandma Chic": Reading Informational Text
This New York Times "Learning Network" exercise on reading informational text poses 6 questions about a high-interest article on teen fashion. The article meant to be review with is resource, "More than meets the iPhone Lens", is rather...
Curated OER
The Violence in Syria
Several New York Times articles were used to create informative reading material. Kids click on each of the embedded links to access a resource related to Syria and the Middle East conflict. They then answer the nine questions. Note:...
Media Smarts
Looking at Newspapers: Introduction
A scavenger hunt introduces class groups to the different sections of newspapers and the different types of articles found in each section.
Curated OER
"Every Block, Every Borough"
From the New York Times Learning Network series, this worksheet poses 10 questions on an article entitled, "Leaving His Footprint on the City" about a man planning to walk every street in all five New York boroughs. The prompts...
Breaking News English
The Force Awakens Breaks Pre-Sales Ticket Records
May the comprehension skills be with you! Focus on context clues, vocabulary words, and analysis questions with an article about Star Wars: The Force Awakens and its record-breaking ticket sales.
Energy for Keeps
The Energy Times
Extra! Extra! Read all about past and present energy use in a classroom-made historical newspaper. Useful as a cross-curricular assignment between science, history, and language arts, the project is sure to get young journalists...
Roald Dahl
The Twits - The Twits Get the Shrinks
Turn readers into investigative journalists. The 11th and final lesson that accompanies The Twits by Roald Dahl asks the question "What happened to Mr. and Mrs. Twit?" The lesson uses mind maps and group discussion to help answer...
Curated OER
Introduction to Ozone Reading Activity
Simple, but suitable, this lesson gives mini-meteorologists a glimpse at ozone in the atmosphere. By reading an article, they find that ozone in the stratosphere is vital to life, but ozone in the troposphere is problematic. A reading...
ReadMagazine
Nineteen Eight-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four is a perfect text for an age of fake news and alternative facts. And what better way to introduce a new generation of readers to George Orwell's dystopian classic than with a reader's theatre version of the tale. The...
Scholastic
Dear Miss Breed
This compelling plan based on the letters in the book Dear Miss Breed engages readers in learning what it was like for Japanese Americans following the attacks at Pearl Harbor. After reading the letters, young scholars will...
Great Books Foundation
Discussion Guide for 1984
George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, published in 1949, can seem strangely prophetic when compared to modern news events and politics. Readers of Orwell's dystopian classic sharpen their critical thinking skills by engaging in...
Curated OER
News From Home
Students investigate the feelings of Iranian immigrants in California by reading an online article. They write an article on immigrants' thoughts on current events in their home countries.
Curated OER
Haiti: Still in Crisis, but No Longer in the News
Young scholars study the Haitian crisis and learn about the needs and ways to help the situation. In this Haitian crisis lesson, students study the Maslow's "Needs Pyramid". Young scholars study the media coverage of the earthquake and...
Curated OER
Today's News, Tomorrow's History
Young scholars read and analyze the historic New York Times front pages, and read an article that focuses on the current housing slump and the effect on state budgets. They answer comprehension questions, then in small groups answer...
Curated OER
Ethnic Stereotypes in the Media
Students examine the existence of stereotypes and how various forms of media help to reinforce them. Groups discuss common stereotypes on a list of popular television shows. Student groups design a storyboard for an autobiographical...
TV411
How Do You Read Your News?
Words carry baggage. Class members are asked to consider the weight of words in an exercise that contrasts the word choices in two versions of the same event. Consider following the exercise with an activity in which pairs craft positive...
Curated OER
Words in the News: India EU Trade
Students discuss what they know about world leaders. In groups, they work together to complete an exercise on the board. They practice using new vocabulary words and match them with their definitions.
Curated OER
Words in the News: Education Bill Backs India's Poor
Learners discuss different groups of people who have been discriminated in the history of the world. They practice using new vocabulary words. In groups, they match the word with its definition.
BBC
Words In The News: Japan Textbook Back In Spotlight
High-interest articles are a great way to get struggling readers to tackle difficult vocabulary. Here is a lesson plan that includes such an article. It is focused around a very interesting and controversial article about the teaching of...
Curated OER
Reading the Coyote School News: Lives of Ranchers in Southern Arizona
Fourth graders examine the effects of Mexican-American ranching on life today.
Curated OER
Newspaper Unit: Reading Lesson Plan
Work on identifying the different parts of a newspaper with your English learners. After reviewing newspaper terminology, pupils pair up and complete a scavenger hunt, looking for specific things in the newspaper and recording their...
Curated OER
Grab a Winning Book to Read on March 3
Students identify periods of history and read a news article about a librarian who wrote an award winning book. In this current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a class challenge and a vocabulary activity, then...
Curated OER
Press-ing Freedom
Learners consider how free speech applies to journalistic practices in light of a legal case involving two reporters. They participate in a fishbowl discussion about journalism codes of ethics and write response papers.
Curated OER
All the News That's Fit to Blog
Students critique three Web logs, each of which offers first-hand accounts, but reflect different points-of-view, on the war in Iraq; students write a response to one of the entries and analyze what they learned about the war from the...