Curated OER
Pudd'nhead Wilson: Writing Strategy
Assign this narrative essay after finishing Puddn'head Wilson. Learners write about their own experiences with overcoming obstacles. A five-step process is laid out on this assignment page.
Curated OER
Three-Level Reading Guide- The Apaches: People of the Southwest
A reading guide designed for Jennifer Fleischner's nonfiction text, The Apaches: People of the Southwest, provides readers with three levels of comprehension questions meant to encourage higher-level thinking.
Core Knowledge Foundation
Unit 9: The Science of Breakable Things by Tae Keller
A novel study examines The Science of Breakable Things by Tae Keller. Fifth graders participate in daily readings, discussions, and assignments following an "ask, explore, imagine, observe, and understand" routine. A final performance...
Curated OER
The Color Purple: K-W-H-L Strategy
Learners can chart what they know, what they would like to know, how they plan to learn, and what they have learned from Alice Walker's The Color Purple. Using questions about women's rights, kids study the themes of the novel...
Curated OER
Shizuko’s Daughter: List-Group-Label Strategy
Help your learners navigate the vocabulary of Shizuko's Daughter by Kyoko Mori with a lesson on categorizing words. After coming up with a list of things that grow from the earth, learners decide which categories each words belong in.
Novelinks
The Book Thief: Cubing Strategy
Whether used to review prior to a reading assessment or as a way to generate ideas for an essay, this activity is sure to encourage critical thinking about Markus Zusak's The Book Thief. Kids create a six-sided question cube with each...
Curated OER
The Kite Runner: Cloze Procedure
A passage from Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner is the text for a cloze reading activity designed to determine the comprehension skills of class members. The resource includes the worksheet, an answer key, and step-by-step directions.
Curated OER
The Kite Runner: Kite Making and Poetry Reading
Readers of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner select 100 words from chapters five and six of the novel, use these words to create a found poem, and then attach their poem to a kite that they construct.
Novelinks
Sense and Sensibility: Anticipation Guide Reading Strategy
Begin your discussion about Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility before you even open the book. Kids fill in a worksheet that lists five statements about the literary themes of the novel, and then discuss their opinions as a...
Novelinks
Man's Search for Meaning: K-W-H-L Strategy
Prior to reading Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, class members use the provided worksheet to list what they know about the Holocaust, what they want to know, and how they will find the information they seek. After...
Curated OER
Night: Directed Reading Thinking Activity
As part of a reading of Elie Wiesel's Night class members engage in a directed reading/thinking activity that includes crafting predictions, verifying these predictions, and interpreting portions of the text.
Curated OER
Parrot in the Oven: Pre-Reading Strategy: 4 Corners
A four corners pre-reading activity introduces class members to the major themes in Victor Martinez's award winning novel, Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida.
Curated OER
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: "Chalk Talk Strategy”
Hold a silent discussion about concepts related to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. After reading chapter seven, learners participate in a whole-class written discussion based on guiding questions written on the board by the teacher.
Curated OER
The Old Man and the Sea: Directed Reading Thinking Activity
Can you find the themes from Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea in other books? What about picture books? Compare the novel to a picture book with a lesson about making predictions and finding textual evidence.
Curated OER
Hatchet: Vocabulary Strategy
Want your class to use critical thinking when discussing vocabulary? Go beyond the dictionary with a vocabulary activity based on Gary Paulsen's Hatchet. Kids write the word in the center of a graphic organizer that also provides...
Curated OER
Running Out of Time: Vocabulary Strategies
Review concepts and terms after reading Running Out of Time. Learners each come up with a few terms that they think are important and then participate in a list-group-label exercise, paying close attention to the two main years featured...
Curated OER
The Old Man and the Sea: Vocabulary Strategy
Readers read more closely when they think critically about a text. Discuss the words and concepts from Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea with a class activity that asks readers to not only record...
Bantam Books
The Tempest: Fishbowl Discussion Strategy
Readers learn together with a group discussion activity. As they read William Shakespeare's The Tempest, high schoolers prepare for a fishbowl discussion in which three or four learners sit in the middle of a large circle and...
Reed Novel Studies
Jake and Lily: Novel Study
Just how strong is a twins' bond? Jake and Lily, in a novel by the same name, have a powerful bond until they turn 11. Then, everything changes. As scholars read about twin trouble, they learn eight new vocabulary words, create...
Novelinks
The Book Thief: Directed Reading Thinking Activity
Direct readers' thinking with a DRTA activity that asks them to make predictions about The Book Thief based on an examination of the cover of Markus Zusak's novel and a reading of the prologue.
Curated OER
Mississippi Trial, 1955: Vocabulary Strategy (Acquisition)
Readers of Mississippi Trial, 1955 engage in a desktop teaching activity and teach other class members the meaning of a word from Christopher Crowe's novel using an embellished illustration of their word.
Curated OER
Maniac Magee: Magic Number Strategy
Take a break from reading to find the magic number with this vocabulary game using words drawn from Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee. Participants match the definition to the word in each numbered square of the puzzle, then add...
Curated OER
My Antonia: Biopoem Writing Strategy
Explore the characters in My Antonia by Willa Cather with a biopoem assignment. Pupils use the provided format to write their poems about any character from the book.
Novelinks
The Winter’s Tale: Facebook Strategy
To demonstrate their understanding of characterization in The Winter's Tale, groups create a Facebook profile for one of the characters in Shakespeare's play.