Great literature discussions are a consequence of carefully crafted questions, interpretative questions that permit more than one response, and responses supported by specific evidence from the text. The discussion questions in a guide...

How skilled are your class members at summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting from a text? Find out with this assessment that asks readers to identify the thesis statement, the summary, the paraphrases, and the quoted material in an...

What's the difference between summarizing and paraphrasing? Show class members how to find the main ideas from informational text and condense it, restate it, or quote it directly with a series of educational activities based...

"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union..." These familiar lines begin the Preamble to the Constitution, but do learners know what they mean? A close reading exercise takes a look at the language of the...

Are you introducing your class to the horrors of eating unhealthy? This lesson contains 24 reading comprehension questions relating to the non-fiction book. Readers are encouraged to copy these and answer them in their reading...

What do George Harrison, Vanilla Ice, and Steven Ambrose all have in common? The Warner Brothers’ films Batman Forever and The Devil’s Advocate? All are guilty of plagiarism. And if you are considering a research project and want to...

Middle schoolers are likely very familiar with the concept of bullying and cliques. Discuss their experiences and brainstorm ways to handle peer conflict and feelings of exclusion with a poem that focuses on bullying, and a second lesson...

Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...

Take a close look at a few paragraphs of Martin Luther King, Jr.s' famous speech, "I Have a Dream." Class members fill in the missing words using the bank of words provided and then respond to a question about the speech and modern day...

To prepare for a study of intellectual property rights, (or an assessment) introduce your learners to the legal concepts and key vocabulary associated with the debate. After defining intellectual property, copyright, fair use, and...

Employ this resource to expand efficient ideas on how to present and organize activities that describe how researchers can implement their research by using direct quotes, paraphrasing, and summarizing—without plagiarizing. Activities...

This is a great activity! Upper elementary learners read a dialogue-driven passage. Then, they rewrite lines of dialogue by removing the quotation marks and shifting the verb tense to past. Grammar and great writing skills all in one. An...

Beware! (not only the Ides of March). Warn your researchers of the dangers of plagiarism! After defining the term, viewers are introduced to the consequences of and forms of plagiarism, as well as tips on how to avoid plagiarism....

As you read a story or novel, have your class members put together and fill out a journal. They will have the chance to illustrate a cover page, draw and write about various topics, respond to a focus questions, and draft a paragraph.

Harriet Beecher Stowe's groundbreaking work Uncle Tom's Cabin is both historically and literarily relevant today. Read the entire text in an easily navigated site that allows learners to select their chapters and easily move to the...

During or after reading Catch-22, have your high school scholars complete this research project. First they'll brainstorm a list of people they might like to research, then they'll dive into your library's resources! There are...

Students examine the use of persuasive arguments to varying audiences. They define persuasion, read and discuss an article on whether P.E. should be optional, summarize the pros and cons of P.E., and write a letter or a speech.

Students demonstrate a working knowledge of how to produce bibliography cards using MLA Documentation. They organize information from a variety of sources and credit sources for both quoted and paraphrased ideas.

Students practice their critical thinking skills. In this media awareness instructional activity, students read articles about media overload and interpretation of media. Students respond to discussion questions and discuss how...

Students compare versions of Cinderella and draw conclusions based on the story elements identified. In this literacy comprehension and story elements instructional activity, students read several versions of Cinderella, complete a...

Focusing on the lyrics of Aaliyah's music, learners can practice research skills to answer the questions in this resource. This 10-question quiz could be a great way to have learners use the Internet to find answers.

Designed as a resource for teachers who use Man's Search for Meaning, this seven-page packet includes a list of related informational texts, research issues and project ideas, central questions, background information on World...

Third graders listen to a lecture on how to take notes and discuss the skills of paraphrasing and correctly citing resources. They prepare note cards according to the format presented in class.

Students work through the steps of writing a research paper in this lesson. They define their problem and decide what sources of information to use. They read, take notes, and organize the collected data. Finally, they write the...