The most famous climbers of Mount Everest could never have made it to the summit without the assistance of the local Sherpa. Christine Taylor-Butler's nonfiction children's book Sacred Mountain: Everest is the focus of an extensive...

Elevate children's reading comprehension skills with this collection of guided reading resources. From paper dice with basic comprehension questions printed on them to a system for using sticky notes to identify key...

Get the most out of your guided reading lessons with this collection of literacy materials. Offering a system for using color-coded tags to mark pages while reading books, as well as an assortment of comprehension and grammar...

A Reading Adventure Pack takes a close look at birds. After reading a fiction and nonfiction book, scholars craft a thaumatrope, begin a birding journal using their sense of sight and hearing, and build a model bird using supplies from...

Two activities work with a fiction and nonfiction book about robots‚—Robot Dreams by Sara Varon and Robot by Roger Bridgman. Scholars read each story, then build a robot out of found objects, examine robot sensors, and search for...

Make a study of the First Amendment and its relationship to freedom. Pupils rewrite the amendment and discuss the central idea before focusing on a specific phrase. After discussing, class members write a journal entry about the included...

Guide your class through a text with resources for before and after reading. Learners ask questions, discuss characters and plot points, point out elements of the reading that stood out, and compose brief summaries.

Make sure that your pupils have mastered complex literary nonfiction by the end of the year and use this resource to help get them to that point. After a brief description of the Common Core standard, a list of age-appropriate...

A project-based lesson has pupils create a bulletin board to share artwork, nonfiction articles, and messages based on social justice themes. The finished board is displayed in the community to create a place for discussion. 

Crispin: the End of Time is the core text for this teaching guide, a valuable resource for those who use Avi's trilogy as whole-class reading, in book circles, or as independent reading.

If you're looking to set your class up for writing effective arguments, try out this idea. While originally created with freedom as a guiding idea, the activity could easily be adapted for other themes. As a class, create a chart of...

Guided by close-reading questions, groups examine the similarities and differences between the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. In addition, they look at how the principles are presented in these two foundational US...

What does it take to develop and publish a newsletter? Young academics create a newsletter with original artwork for their school or community. They explore social justice themes and spread messages of tolerance and inclusion. Scholars...

Study heart health and math in one activity. After measuring their resting heart rates by finding the pulse in their wrists, learners build a stethoscope to listen to their heart rate, and note the differences between the two methods.

Encourage your pupils to support their claims with textual evidence, whether is is from literary texts or informational texts. You might use the assignment example, which suggests an assignment on what it's like to be an immigrant in...

Although the ideas on how to implement the skill RI.9-10.2 are lacking, the assessment would work well for challenging learners to summarize, and identify the main ideas of presidential speeches that are of similar topics. One could use...

With a nice description of what the standard means, an idea for a class activity, and a quiz with answers, this resource should deepen your (and your pupils') understanding of the targeted Common Core standard. The provided activity is...

Short summary of different skills involved in reading fiction vs. non-fiction. Includes study tips and an organizational guide to use when reading.

[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage discusses the world problem of unsafe drinking water. This passage is intended for guided practice and is designed to reinforce essential reading comprehension skills.

[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage discusses the soaring Hispanic population in the United States. This passage is intended for guided practice and is designed to reinforce essential reading comprehension skills.

[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about a tour of the Johnson Space Center's Mission Control room. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.

[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage discusses the role of honeybees in producing honey. This passage is intended for guided practice and is designed to reinforce essential reading comprehension skills.

[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage discusses the skeletonThis passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and establishes scaffolding for vocabulary learning....

[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage shares information about the topic of shells. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and establishes scaffolding...