Readers are presented with a list of three questions and asked to actively listen to a story or article to answer them. They verbally answer the questions to learn the strategy. Next, read a story to them or have them silently read a...

Everyone is familiar with the beginning of Hamlet's soliloquy, "To be or not to be..." While reading Hamlet, help your middle schoolers analyze the lines that follow, but how do you help them make personal connections to the text? Use...

Create an abundance of understanding, as your high school learners learn to analyze multiple love poems. Part one of this resource has learners define what love is, examine art that reflects the love between Robert and Elizabeth...

Should age matter when it comes to voting? Scholars read an article discussing the pros and cons of lowering the voting age to 16. They then consider both the advantages and disadvantages of having younger voters. After thinking about...

Help kindergartners learn to identify the main events in fiction. They will review elements of fiction, retell information found in the text, and discuss their real-life daily experiences. All the while, they will be asking themselves...

Learners explore comprehension strategies as they listen to Zoom Broom by Margie Palatini. As the story is read, teacher and pupils will stop occasionally to make text-to-text, text-to-self, or text-to-world connections. They also...

I do, we do, you do is the method and delivery of this lesson on cause and effect relationships in text. Second grade readers work with their teacher, then their peers, and finally on their own to read, identify cause and relationship,...

“The Gambler” and “The Journey” offer readers an opportunity to experience two very different views of Jewish life in Poland between WWI and WWII. Whether used as a part of a study of the Holocaust, or as a compare/contrast exercise, the...

Who was Bill Picket? Interested readers work through an informational passage to find out about a famous "bulldogger" from the old West. They answer several reading comprehension questions and use a seven step process to decode new...

To generate interest in reading Neal Shusterman's young adult science fiction novel Unwind, class members engage in a Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DRTA) that asks them to examine the front and back covers, the blurbs, and "The...

What time is it? Language learners are introduced to time vocabulary with a series of activities, songs, and games that let them practice formulating and answer questions about time.

Celebrate poetry month all of April with a guide that uses six of Shel Silverstein's most famous books as a basis for the lessons. Discussion questions and writing activities are provided for each of Silverstein's books.

Reinforce comprehension of informational text. This is a one-on-one lesson plan intended to build an internal dialogue the reader can use to boost overall comprehension. They work independently with a tutor or teacher to read a...

Sure to spark lively discussion in any Language Arts classroom, this article from The York Times asks the question, 'How much self-control do you have?'. Pupils begin by reading a short passage about a study on delayed gratification and...

Anyplace can become a beach! Budding readers explore Faith Ringgold's world of imagination in her book Tar Beach, which can be found on YouTube if you don't have it. What words will budding readers learn? They focus on the following...

Close reading is key to the analysis and interpretation of literature. A close reading of the title and the epigraph of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” offers readers an opportunity to examine how even single words or names can...

Third grade readers are given clear learning goals with this Common Core checklist. By turning each reading standard into an I can statement, children can focus on mastering the required grade level skills.

Emily Dickinson's "Because I could not stop for Death" provides high schoolers with an opportunity to practice their critical thinking skills. They examine the images, diction, rhythm, and rhyme scheme the poet uses and consider how...

Using adjectives to create vivid descriptions is the focus of exercises in this resource. A cloze reading activity asks class members to add missing adjectives to passages from Mark Teague's The Lost and Found. They then read...

Prior to an in-class reading of "What Sally Said" and"Red Clowns," two vignettes from Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street, class members complete an anticipation guide that asks them to agree or disagree with a series of...

Sensory details can enhance the reading experience, especially during a guided imagery reading. Young readers close their eyes and listen to a passage from Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons before responding to discussion questions and...

After readers finish the story Deep-Sea Monster, they utilize this two-page worksheet to write short-answer responses to questions about the story. The questions posed require critical thinking, not simply recalling details from the...

Just like your budding readers may have felt, Froggy is nervous on his first day of school. Use Johnathan London's book Froggy Goes to School to practice vocabulary in context. Prior to reading the story aloud, pre-teach the new words...

Have your scholars ever known someone who was a copycat? Approach this issue as you study vocabulary in context by reading Peggy Rathmann's book Ruby the Copycat. Proposed focus words are: recite, murmur,...