[Free Registration/Login Required] A series of three lesson plans designed to teach students to identify author's purpose including to entertain, to inform, and to persuade. Lessons are based on the books The Adventures of Taxi Dog by...

This lesson engages students in using a two-column graphic organizer to take notes. Students will record titles and subtitles and list questions that will correspond with each one.

ACT has developed this list of activities to help middle-school students improve their reading ability. Parents and educators can use this information to help ensure that these students are on target for college and career readiness.

"Pioneer Families" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about pioneers who traveled west in wagon trains, the hardships they faced, and how they worked together to build communities. It is followed by questions which require...

This site contains links to two graphic organizers to guide and assess the understanding of nonfiction text in science and social studies.

[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage provides two stories about slaves in America with question sets. This passage uses primary source documents to teach reading skills including comparing and contrasting.

Content area lessons require specific techniques and knowledge that help students navigate different types of texts. Here you will find articles, videos, teaching strategies, webcasts, and research reports.

[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson, you will learn to recognize hyperbole and understatement in nonfiction.

[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson, you will learn to evaluate the role of irony, paradox, and sarcasm in literary nonfiction such as speeches and essays. Take a look at the chart; it contains...

"Changing the Ecosystem: Q & A" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about how the loss of the prairie to farming and population growth impacts the ecosystem. It is followed by questions which require students to provide...

"Prairie Ecology Questions and Activities" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about prairie ecology the interdependence of its plants and animals. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the...

"Prairie Keepers with Questions/Activities" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about the efforts to restore the praire. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes:...

"Settlement with Multiple Choice Questions" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about the hardships of life of the prairie for the early settlers. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the...

"The First Flyers" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about the Wright brothers and their obsession with flying. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes: determining main...

"Illinois Pioneers and Prairies" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about life in the prairies of Illinois for the early settlers including their hard work, setting up governments, building schools, and making laws. It is...

This is an essay about Anzia Yezierska, an immigrant from the Russian-Polish border, and her struggles adapting to living in America. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary notes are provided. This site offers links to paired...

A nonfiction graphic organizer is available to help students evaluate decisions of people. Students will analyze how characters interact and develop throughout the course of a nonfiction text.

A printable pyramid for use with nonfiction texts while students identify the main ideas and supporting details within a text. Students also determine author's purpose and key vocabulary words. Directions on how to use this type of...

This is a lesson plan to help elementary students connect to nonfiction text as they read.

A learning module with twenty-one links to images, websites, texts, slideshows, and videos about nonfiction and informational text reading skills.

A fourteen-part learning module with links to texts, videos, and websites that demonstrate text connections through various texts about Pompeii.

This unit focuses on reading comprehension and structure. It includes lessons on the main idea and supporting details, theme, sequence, fact and opinion, literary devices, character, text features, inferences, organization of nonfiction,...

A complete reading comprehension activity with the nonfiction text, and several interactive questions as follow up. Press the "play" button to access the material.

From Just-Right Reading Response Activity Sheets for Young Learners, this graphic organizer can be used when students read informational texts. As responses to nonfiction, students will write the following on each notepad response:...