After watching an excerpt from a video of Fannie Lou Hamer's testimony before Congress, pupils do a close reading of Mahogany L. Browne's poem "When Fannie Lou Hamer Said," annotate words and phrases that draw their attention and list...

Lesson five in the series asks scholars to examine letters Abigail Adams wrote about her experiences during American Revolutionary War battles, her thoughts on slavery, and her concerns for her husband.

Early readers use words with short vowels to complete sentences, referencing a word bank. They choose four and five letter words from a word bank like wish, sun, and fast to complete 10 simple sentences. 

Students build connections between census information and community decision-making by reading a reader's theater script. In this reader's theater instructional activity, students practice reading fluently and learn about the government....

Students act as reporters to develop interview skills. In this interview lessons, students develop the skills needed to use anecdotes and quotes to make an interview interesting. They practice asking questions over and above the 5 W's so...

Political cartoons are primary source documents and learning to read them can be a challenge. Challenge the reading skills of your class with a political cartoon featuring rough and ready, Teddy Roosevelt. 

"Equal opportunity . . . is not enough." Johnson's 1965 commencement address to the students at Howard University provides an opportunity for participants to see how education was a key element in his vision for civil rights.

A Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) strategy for Great Expectations scaffolds and guides readers as they begin Dicken's novel. Step-by-step directions are provided, as are chapter one pair-share questions, a prediction worksheet,...

Imagine listening in on a conversation between President Lyndon B. Johnson and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as Johnson outlines the support he needs from King to pass the legislation required for programs essential for "The Great...

What were the driving forces behind American expansion in the nineteenth century, and what were its effects? Scholars watch a video, read biographies, engage in discussion, write journals and poetry, draw, and create a multimedia...

Poetry is a very personal and introspective art form. Give your class the opportunity to understand how a poet's voice can speak to them on a personal level, and that every reader can respond to an author differently. After a poetic...

What fun! As part of a vocabulary exercise designed for Victor Martinez's Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida readers create word trees with the trunk representing the root word and the branches representing prefixes that can be added to the...

There's a lot riding on good writing! Often, an application essay is the difference between acceptance and rejection. As part of a series on specific writing assignments and contexts, a handout helps scholars craft the perfect personal...

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is always a favorite for middle and high school readers because it addresses issues that hit home to them, decades after the book is set. Have learners fill out an anticipation guide that encourages them to...

How do you rise above your challenges? This is a question the anticipation guide for Where the Red Fern Grows answers. Full of questions and direct statements about themes of the text, pupils investigate whether or not the writer would...

Chapter six of In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez's historical novel about the Mirabal sisters, is the focus of a worksheet that asks readers to define a list of vocabulary words and respond to a series of comprehension...

Introduce Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner with an anticipation guide that asks class members to consider their opinions on a series of statements related to themes presented in the novel.

Enhance a reading of the Caldecott Medal-winning children's book Joseph had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback with this collection of learning activities. Starting with general background information about the book and author,...

First graders use prior knowledge and reading strategies for the story (Julius).  In this reader's workshop lesson, 1st graders use elbow buddies to discuss parts of the story during guided reading.  Students review reading...

First graders read their Dr. Cupp Readers and guided reading books with an accuracy of 90%. They apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts.

Prior to reading Victor Martinez's Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida, class members are presented with a problematic situation and to rate their responses as well as predict the responses of a character from the novel.

We need to talk. Learners participate in a science talk by discussing the idea of how insects are important to the rainforest. They record notes about their conversations as they talk. For homework, pupils add to their field journals.

Mary Anne Evans, better known by her pen name George Eliot, wrote Silas Marner in 1861. While you're compiling materials for your Victorian unit, consider printing off these essay questions to help readers really explore the text. Some...

In this Gone with the Wind chapter questions worksheet, students complete several chapters worth of questions in order to advance their understanding of the text.