Your readers will “get to wanting” and will want to know things about Nightjohn with a DRTA activity based on Gary Paulsen’s novel. Introduce the book by asking class members to examine the cover and to make predictions about the subject...

Chief Seatle's "Letter to President Pierce, 1855" provides the text for a skills exercise that asks readers to consider how writers use metaphors to contribute to the meaning and impact of a work. Participants then apply what they have...

Using the book Swamp Monsters by Mary Blount Christian, young readers discuss key vocabulary terms and make predictions about swamp monsters. They complete a Cloze activity, explore past-tense verbs, and categorize vocabulary words.

This one-page handout provides an overview and examples of how and when to use a semicolon. It does not include any questions or exercises; however, it does address relevant grammar rules at the secondary level.

A unique format for a reading comprehension quiz, the questions for this test give a brief statement as if spoken by Marcus Brutus which asks readers questions about major characters and plot elements in Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar....

In this reading comprehension worksheet, 3rd graders complete a set of 25 multiple choice questions, reading passages and answering questions after each. An answer key is included.

Need a quick assessment of your middle schoolers' reading comprehension skills? The four questions on this quiz ask readers to identify the likely source of the article, define words based on context, and identify the main idea of the...

A soft dress, a mouse, a puppy and now Curley's wife. Lennie's desire to pet soft things leads to tragedy in Chapter Five of Steinbeck's novel. Readers are asked to respond to what, where, why and how questions to indicated their...

Young readers compare two stories/cultures, identifying how they are alike and different. They share their own version of a well-known story and adapt it to another culture. They explain their adaptations.

Why should high schoolers bother to read All Quiet on the Western Front? Give them this short synopsis to introduce them to the story. There's also a short section encouraging readers to ponder why they're being asked to read...

How did Houdini do it? After reading a short passage about magicians and their tricks, readers are asked to compare and contrast some of the illusions these prestidigitators create. 

“. . .different men often see the same subject in different lights. . .” but the great orator Patrick Henry used all the skills at his command to craft a speech to convince listeners to see things as he did--that liberty was worth dying...

Make analyzing the sequence of events in an informational text easy. Ask readers to craft a one-sentence summary of each paragraph in a document and create a text map. To demonstrate their understanding of the process, participants read...

High-interest articles are a great way to get struggling readers to tackle difficult vocabulary. Here is a lesson that includes such an article. It is focused around a very interesting and controversial article about the teaching of...

What's happening in this poem? Have your high schoolers participate in an activity about connotation and denotation. They apply the concept of connotation to a reading of Theodore Roethke's poem "My Papa's Waltz." Lead a discussion about...

Learners practice the skills of reflection and evaluation. In this reflection lesson, students are grouped together and asked to brainstorm what they have learned during a particular unit. Learners decide what they want to share with the...

Readers of Freak the Mighty employ a KWHL strategy to explore the topics of bullying and friendship prior to reading Rodman Philbrick’s story that is “like truth serum. . . whether it really happened or not.” Research could be extended...

Here's an exercise designed for the Common Core Literacy Standard L.11-12.6 that asks learners to demonstrate their ability to put together all they have learned about language. The first activity is based on a passage from Rosencrantz...

Improve readers' comprehension with a pair of visualization opportunities. First they listen, eyes closed, as you read a description from Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, and discuss ideas about what they "see." After you read...

Begin the year with a review of the parts of a book. Exercises in the unit plan ask emergent readers to identify the information on the cover of a book and on the title page, to explain the purpose of a table of contents, and to describe...

Review sight words with readers. They will look over their sight words and come up with sentences for each of them. They also review the alphabet and identify unfamiliar words.

Advertisers are out to get your pupils' business, and as consumers, they need to be aware of how advertisements are crafted. After delineating the four parts of an ad, this worksheet presents a sample and readers are asked to identify...

Everything your pre-readers need to know about the letter Q is right here; this strategy combines pronunciation, letter recognition, sound, and word examples. Scholars examine the letter shape and listen to you pronounce the /kwww/...

"You hadda, George. I swear you hadda." Many young readers struggle with the final lines of the tragic tale of George and Lennie. Consider using this worksheet to launch a conversation about why George "hadda."