Virginia Department of Education
Identifying the Main Idea in Fiction
Discovering the main idea in fiction is like uncovering buried treasure; one must persevere to locate it, and the reward is priceless. Scholars delve deep into leveled stories using three questions to aid in identifying the main idea.
E Reading Worksheets
Main Idea with Robots
Androids, cyborgs, and robonauts? Kids are sure to be engaged by the thematically related passages on a reading comprehension worksheet that asks them to summarize the passage in one sentence, and then develop an appropriate title that...
Prestwick House
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Challenge readers of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to test their knowledge of the tale by providing them with a crossword puzzle that asks them to recall characters and events.
Prestwick House
Animal Farm
Events in George Orwell's Animal Farm provide the clues in a 22-question crossword puzzle that tests reader's recall of the allegorical novel.
Prestwick House
Hamlet
Who speaks the first line of Shakespeare's Hamlet? Who is the last character to die in the tragedy? Whose death drives Ophelia mad? Readers' knowledge of the play is tested by 24 such clues in a crossword puzzle.
Prestwick House
Invisible Man
A crossword puzzle based on Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man provides readers with an opportunity to test their knowledge of the novel's events.
Prestwick House
Romeo and Juliet
What is the setting of Romeo and Juliet? Who is the rich count who wants to marry Juliet? The 24 clues in a crossword puzzle test readers' knowledge of the events in Shakespeare's famous play of two young star-crossed lovers.
Prestwick House
The Scarlet Letter
A is for. . .? Readers test their recall of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter by filling in the blanks with words missing from a line of text and by identifying characters and events a crossword puzzle based on the novel.
Pearson Longman
Back Talk: A Summarizing Activity
Here's resource that presents step-by-step directions for three different activities that ask kids to read a short passage, listen for the main points, and then to summarize the passage in their own words.
Scholastic
The First Thanksgiving Feast for Grades 6–8
It's time for the feast! Young historians complete their study of the First Thanksgiving by completing an online activity, watching a slideshow, and examining a First Thanksgiving timeline. After answering text-dependent questions to...
Teach-nology
The Synonym Drop
Reinforce grammar instruction with a synonym activity equipped with 12 fill-in-the blank sentences. Scholars read each sentence focusing on the underlined word, then choose between two additional words that best make a synonym pair.
Curated OER
The Glass Menagerie: Anticipation Guide
Readers are introduced to the key themes in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie by this carefully crafted anticipation guide. A great discussion starter.
Heritage Foundation
The Powers of the Executive
Are executives as powerful as they sound? High schoolers find out about the US president and executive branch. A variety of activities include scaffolded reading sections, research assignments, and collaborative group work.
Curated OER
Forming Open-Ended Questions
Help readers learn to create their own open-ended questions for any text you are working with. Using Bloom's Taxonomy, learners begin on the lower levels and work their way up to form questions that focus on synthesis instead of simple...
Reading Through History
Flag Day
Why is the United States flag such an important symbol to America that it gets its own day to celebrate it? Pupils read a passage that discusses the symbolism and significance of the American flag. Following the reading, they answer quiz...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
The Election of 1912
The Election of 1912: an election with four competitive opponents. Pupils get to know the candidates with informative reading passages that provide context to the election. Then, the class engages in a debate and answers questions as one...
Prestwick House
A Separate Peace
John Knowles' A Separate Peace is the subject of a literary crossword puzzle that asks readers to identify key events and characters in this coming-of-age story.
Curated OER
Picture This! Building Photo-Based Writing Skills
High schoolers analyze photographs as a development activity for their literacy skills. They will review the 6 Q's feature for analyzing photographs and analyze a variety of photographs and then write comments in the space around the...
Curated OER
Homophones
In this homophones worksheet, students read sentences and underline the incorrect word in the sentence while they provide the sentence with the correct homophone. Students complete 15 sentences.
Curated OER
What Do You Want to Do?
This short story activity can be a good way to have learners practice comprehension and test preparation skills. While the passage is short, the 9-question activity can help students cement their test taking abilities.
Curated OER
Crash Test Physics
Learners design and test balsa cars. In this crash tet instructional activity, students design and build their own cars to specifications. They explore the physics of motion and vehicle crash safety.
Curated OER
Easter Monday
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students read facts about the Polish holiday, Easter Monday, and choose from multiple choice answers to evaluate comprehension. Students choose three multiple choice answers.
Curated OER
Test Your Speaking & Listening Skills: Ask Personal Questions – Female Profile 2
In this asking questions instructional activity, students will read the answers to 10 personal questions about a woman named Sally Jones. Then students will thing of the personal questions that would elicit these answers.
Curated OER
Test Your Speaking & Listening Skills: Ask Personal Questions – Female Profile 1
For this asking questions worksheet, students will read the answers to 10 personal questions about a woman named Helen Burnley. Then students will think of the questions that would elicit these responses.