Stimulate discussion with this brief article and series of questions related to reading habits. This resource, from the New York Times' The Learning Network, asks learners to comment on their own reading habits. You could have your class...

Boo! Whether you're easily scared or enjoy a good fright, a reading passage on haunted house attractions is a great addition to a Halloween-themed unit. Learners read a short informational passage before answering multiple choice,...

A language arts instructional activity helps young writers identify elements that make up historical fiction. First, it guides them through elements of fictional pieces with vocabulary cards. Then, pupils work collaboratively to...

Mentor texts are a great way to demonstrate how to write with purpose. Pupils will be reintroduced to two well-known books and then asked to think about them from the writer's point of view. They will see that the author had to use basic...

Pupils engage in an activity where one partner reads directions while the other follows those directions to complete a math task (such as bisecting an angle). As a reflection, they examine products to see what information the best...

Begin the drafting phase of the writing process with a lesson plan focused on logically writing three body paragraphs. Then, revise the writing to make it more formal after a teacher-directed mini-lesson plan. Each paragraph highlights...

Put the tips and tricks in this guide into practice in order to encourage your pupils to blossom into poets. A wonderful reference material for teachers, this packet includes definitions of poetic terms and forms as well as step-by-step...

What's got 60 eyes, 150 fingers, and an endless number of ideas? Your language arts class! Challenge young writers to come up with clever riddles with an online poetry lesson.

Read, set, write! Scholars participate in the first fully independent writing task of the unit as they write about how Percy’s experience in The Lightning Thief aligns with The Hero’s Journey. To begin their writing, they complete a...

A series of hands-on activities follows a reading of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Learners create a paper collage to explore the beginning, middle, and end of days of the week, numbers, and more. They grow a butterfly...

Does a ban on vending machines infringe on student rights, or do school officials have an obligation to monitor foods sold on school grounds? Your class members will explore the educational, health, and financial issues related to...

Let us be frank! Writers learn that crafting a thesis statement is not that difficult if one peals back the layers. After watching several videos about the elements of a thesis, class members read the article "Lettuce Club helps students...

All clear! Scholars read through the body paragraphs of their position papers to ensure clarity. They also review their planners to make sure all information is paraphrased without plagiarism. When satisfied with the body paragraphs,...

"The Dinner Party" is the anchor text in a lesson plan designed to encourage writers to use sensory details in their stories. After brainstorming descriptive words and phrases for the five senses, class members read Mona...

All teachers are teachers of reading! The 13-part interactive series ends with a lesson that teaches learners (and their instructors) how to approach reading their textbooks. After learning about several strategies, users test their...

Writers have 30 minutes to add the final touches to their end-of-unit assessments for Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Those finishing early review their work. After the 30 minutes, learners use the time to review their...

Everyone is good at something. Scholars receive their mid-unit assessments with feedback. They look over their papers and write their strengths as a writer and goals on index cards. The class then has a mini lesson in using sentence...

Look closely, some details are hidden! Scholars learn how to find attributes by first examining characteristics in illustrations and then move to locating details in text with close reading. The teacher models good practices for...

Class members consider how technology affects social interactions as they continue reading an article about the digital revolution and adolescent brain development. Then, working in pairs, scholars answer text-dependent questions and...

Scholars analyze a model Readers Theater script. Then, small groups read their scripts aloud to help determine where they need to make revisions.

Eye contact, volume, and pronunciation are key ingredients to a successful presentation. Pupils present their two-voice poems to the class with their poetry reading partners. Next, to wrap up the unit, scholars use a worksheet to reflect...

Thinking about introducing your middle schoolers to reading log journals? Try the approach suggested by this resource. After reading to the class an article or portion of a novel, demonstrate a Think Aloud and then model how to transform...

Five brief readings with questions support practice with various literacy skills. In some cases, learners identify whether underlined words are spelled correctly. Other times, they answer reading comprehension questions about the text or...

Prepare for a research project or just use this instructional activity on its own. Class members choose a topic, write a big question about it, and note down information they find about it. The final product is a longer written...