EngageNY
Launching Lyddie
Pupils engage in a close reading of chapter one of Katherine Paterson's novel, Lyddie. After answering text-dependent questions based on their reading, they complete reader's notes about how the setting, characters, and plot interact.
Simon & Schuster
Curriculum Guide: The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter may be a classic, but keeping high schoolers engaged in the reading of Hawthorne's vocabulary, syntax, imagery, and historical references presents it own set of challenges. Here's a guide that offers readers...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 4: Proverbs
"Eneke the bird says since men have learnt to shoot without missing, he has learnt to fly without perching." As part of their study of Things Fall Apart, class members read Paul Hernadi and Francis Steen's essay, "The Tropical Landscapes...
University of Virginia
Illustrating Uncle Tom's Cabin
Historical illustrations reveal more than what they are meant to portray. After reading Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, high schoolers view a series of illustrations, movie posters, photographs, and book covers that exemplify...
EngageNY
Framing Lyddie’s Decision and Practicing Evidence Based Claims
Scholars grapple with whether the title character of Katherine Paterson's novel, Lyddie, should sign a petition about working conditions at the factory. They engage in close reading and discussion before adding their thinking about the...
EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge: The Dinka Tribe (“Loss of Culturally Vital Cattle Leaves Dinka Tribe Adrift in Refugee Camps” Excerpt 1)
Text annotations help readers track essential ideas. Pupils continue reading and annotating an informational article about Sudanese tribes, connecting it with A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. They also begin writing about their...
Curated OER
QAR - Jacob Have I Loved
What kinds of questions could be asked with different pieces of literature? Use QAR questions to help your middle schoolers develop the skills to find information in a text. Thorough directions, a text excerpt, and a set of reading...
Crafting Freedom
F.E.W. Harper: Uplifted from the Shadows
Young historians discover the life of an incredible African American woman who, as an anti-slavery lecturer prior to the Civil War, defied stereotypes of what women could accomplish. Pupils explore the concept of stereotyping, read...
Read Theory
Analogies 3 (Level 7)
Master word analogies with a straightforward exercise. Pupils match word pairs to one another based on the relationships represented in each pair. The worksheet provides bridge sentences that learners fill out as they determine the...
ReadWriteThink
Analyzing Famous Speeches as Arguments
A speaker, a message, an audience. After analyzing these elements in Queen Elizabeth's speech to the troops at Tilbury, groups analyze how other speakers use an awareness of events, and their audience to craft their arguments....
EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge: The Dinka and Nuer Tribes
Building on a previous lesson plan, readers continue using context clues to learn new vocabulary. Additionally, they continue working on their Gathering Evidence graphic organizers, making connections between an informational text and A...
EngageNY
Writing an Argumentative Essay: Introducing the Writing Prompt and Model Essay
Pupils begin the writing process in preparation for an end-of-unit essay based on Katherine Paterson's Lyddie. To get started, they read and discuss a model essay and learn about the similarities and differences between argumentative and...
Ohio Literacy Resource Center
Compare & Contrast Essay
Comparing two texts can build a greater understanding of the texts and themes of the works. Take some time to follow the steps here to guide your pupils through the process of composing compare-and-contrast essays.
Curated OER
Novel Evaluation Presentations
Students summarize and make predictions about the novel, "Huckleberry Finn". They discuss their opinions with the class. They give a one-minute novel evaluation about another novel and choose a novel based on their classmate's...
Curated OER
Speed Reading
Learners increase their reading fluency through the use of various strategies. After reviewing good reader strategies, students complete an initial read of a novel text. Working with a partner, they read complete a timed assessment of...
Curated OER
Sailing on to fluently reading
Student increase their reading fluency using various strategies. After reviewing good reader strategies , students, working with a partner, complete an initial read of a novel text. With the instructor, they read complete a timed...
Curated OER
Reading Race to the Farm
Students increase their reading fluency through the use of various strategies. After reviewing chunking, decoding, and rereading, students complete an initial read of a novel text. Working with a partner, they read complete a timed...
Curated OER
Read as Smooth as the Breeze
Student increase their reading fluency through the use of various strategies. After reviewing decoding strategies, students complete an initial read of a novel text. Working with the instructor, they complete a timed assessment of their...
Curated OER
I Can Read With Expression
Students practice reading fluently and expressively through the use of various strategies. After reviewing chunking, decoding, and rereading, students complete an initial read of a novel text. They create a deck of expression cards to...
Curated OER
Express Your Reading
Students increase their reading fluency and reading expression through the use of various strategies. After reviewing decoding and rereading, students complete an initial read of a novel text without expression. Working with a partner,...
Curated OER
The K-W-H-L Strategy
Students create a KWHL chart as a pre-reading strategy. In this graphic organizer lesson, students communicate their background knowledge before reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Students continue to construct their KWHL chart as they...
Curated OER
Novel News
Learners, working in groups create a newspaper based on the events that take place in a novel. Groups complete sections of the newsletter based on criteria and publish it using newsletter publishing software.
Curated OER
Let's Race to the Top
Student increase their reading fluency through the use of various strategies. After reviewing good reader strategies, 3rd graders complete an initial read of a novel text. Working with a partner, they read complete a timed assessment of...
Curated OER
Tunes for Bears to Dance to: Questioning Strategy, Discussion Web
Readers of Robert Cormier's Tunes for Bears to Dance to are asked to consider the morality of the central character's actions