Assessment and documentation is a huge part of special education. Intended for use with an Autistic class, but appropriate for any audience, this assessment focuses on letter recognition. Each letter is shown at the head of a train, this...

Remember the song, "One of These Things is not Like The Other?" Well, this phonemic awareness activity is just like that. The only difference is that learners work to determine which initial phoneme is not like the others on the...

Prior to reading Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen, present your class with a KWHL. Although the actual chart isn't included here, you can easily find or create one on your own. Give your class a specific topic and start by brainstorming...

“Be glad that all things sort so well.” To make text-to-self connections to Shakespeare’s play, class members engage in a guided imagery exercise prior to reading Act IV, scene i of Much Ado About Nothing (the wedding of Claudio and...

More of a worksheet than a complete lesson plan, this resource includes several pre-reading and post-reading discussion prompts for The Bernstein Bears and Too Much Teasing. The prompts on this worksheet are designed to help...

Learning by example is always effective if it's paired with independent practice opportunities! Model good reading practices for your class. Learners listen to the teacher model examples of reading with voice, expression, and tone...

What do Ebenezer Scrooge, the Grinch, and Frosty the Snowman have in common? They're all characters from beloved holiday movies that viewers revisit in the play Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!). Scholars conduct research...

Students access the internet for current news articles; increase awareness of issues in world news; to read critically; and to write critical reactions.

Read a short book with your first graders! Anansi and the Tug O' War is the focus of this lesson. After reading the African story together, they complete language arts activities to practice reading comprehension. A stellar...

Reading, writing, and rings! A lesson plan from NASA combines space science with authentic reading and writing tasks. Included in this lesson plan are pre-reading activities, four mini informational booklets on Saturn, a...

Use the Visual Thesaurus to predict the subject matter of Rick Riordan's book The Lightning Thief. A pre-reading activity encourages middle schoolers to use context clues and word meaning to discover what the book is about. After...

Why did Vietnam POWs and their families receive more media attention than POWs in previous wars?  To answer this question, class members view artifacts, read articles, and engage in class discussion. Individuals then assume the...

Students, in pre-selected groups, read and visit with senior citizen "buddies." They write letters to their buddies and discuss "the olden days."

In this reading comprehension worksheet, learners cut apart cards and put them in order. There are three sets of three cards, each set of cards depicts a block construction. The first shows the individual blocks, then most blocks in the...

In this story structure activity, young scholars read the book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and identify the characters, setting and main themes of the book. They answer a list of study questions about the book.

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...

Reporting the news is easy, right? Think again! Show young scholars the difficult choices journalists make every day through a lesson that includes reading, writing, and discussion elements. Individuals compare the language and sources...

An assessment designed to examine scholars' reading comprehension skills takes place over three days. Starting with a read-aloud of My Five Senses by Aliki, learners then take notes and discuss their most memorable moments with...

An assessment sheds light on scholars' ability to read, gather evidence, and draft an original written composition. Learners read an informative text twice before taking notes and discussing their thoughts and textual evidence with a...

A three-part assessment tests scholars' reading and writing capabilities. Young readers listen to and read an excerpt from Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel. After drawing pictures of what is memorable, learners discuss...

Here is a nice set of activities and discussion questions to accompany your class reading of No Pretty Pictures, a memoir of a young girl's experiences and struggle for survival during the Holocaust.

A three-day assessment challenges scholars to read a passage from an informational text then complete two activities that lead to a writing assignment. Day one and two begin as readers independently read a passage and tag the most...

Over three days, scholars listen to and read the poem, "Covers" by Nikki Giovanni. Learners complete a graphic organizer by sketching their visualizations from each stanza then discuss their pictures with a peer. Pupils answer...

You can prevent bullying in your classroom by addressing kindness, empathy, and acceptance with your littlest learners early on. After reading Don't Laugh at Me by Steve Seskin and Allen Shamblin, kids discuss the ways that words...