For twenty-two lessons over five weeks, scholars practice sound-spelling correspondence, spelling patterns, tricky words, and reading decodable text. Assessments aid in small group formation and gauge comprehension. Lessons begin with a...

Upper graders identify five forms of transportation and describe how Kansans are connected to the rest of the country using transportation and communication. They complete a graphic organizer for each type of text structure given to them...

Students research the Internet, read designated books and selection, participate in discussions and write short reports while completing this series of lessons about slavery and the Underground Railroad. As a final project, they design a...

Discover the science behind astronomy. After reading the book Maria's Comet, which is about a young woman who breaks new ground by becoming a female astronomer, young learners practice reading comprehension with...

Sure to spark lively discussion in any Language Arts classroom, this article from The York Times asks the question, 'How much self-control do you have?'. Pupils begin by reading a short passage about a study on delayed gratification and...

Connecting dots activities can be great number sequencing practice. Here are two dinosaur dot-to-dot pictures that are intended to help learners count, sequence numbers up to 40, and recognize number words. Who doesn't love a good...

Bring multi-cultural experiences and literature into your language arts class with this lesson plan. Here, young readers explore the points of view of first and second-generation Asian immigrants with a list of various fiction and...

The historical background for Fever 1793 is the focus of a pre-reading strategy that has class groups rotate through a series of stations stocked with photographs, articles, and other texts that describe the Yellow Fever outbreak of...

Bring nonfiction into the classroom with this high-interest op-ed piece from the New York Times about love, marriage, and relationships in the 21st century. Pupils read a short article on the topic of cohabitation and offer their own...

Help kindergartners learn to identify the main events in fiction. They will review elements of fiction, retell information found in the text, and discuss their real-life daily experiences. All the while, they will be asking themselves...

Although the article that launches this lesson is about the history of the Periodic Table, the objective is reading comprehension. Using the eight-page informational text, learners answer five comprehension questions and craft one essay....

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.

After readers finish the story Deep-Sea Monster, they utilize this two-page worksheet to write short-answer responses to questions about the story. The questions posed require critical thinking, not simply recalling details from the...

The value in this cloze reading activity packet designed for parents is in the first-page letter that explains the rationale for cloze reading exercises. This explanation of the whys and how-tos of the process goes a long way to ensure...

Why do we read primary source documents? What can they give us that other writings cannot? Provide your learners with any of the primary sources attached here (there are seven), and have them complete the graphic organizer (which opens...

After reading up to page 371 of Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, get insight into how Percy felt making a major decision through active discussion strategies that enable both academic...

Here is a great learning task that focuses on the development of areas in computational fluency including strategies in mental math. Young learners are guided through a list of addition expressions that help them visually understand the...

Where did the falcons go? Scholars read the article Welcome Back which describes the disappearance of falcons due to the use of pesticides. During a second read, learners annotate the text by marking unfamiliar words and facts about...

Many of us read our history books and take each word as truth. Show learners that history can easily be altered depending on who writes it. Your class will watch a series of videos, read a first person testimony, and discuss the...

Are your scholars reading Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee? If so, use this textual analysis packet and activity guide to drive deeper thinking about the characters, create personal connections, and apply historical...

If only life came with an owner's manual. Pupils assemble with their research teams to discuss which of Steve Jobs' rules to live by most resonates with them. Scholars also read informational texts in pursuit of finding the gist and...

How exciting! To break an evil spell that was cast on her 12 older brothers, a princess must face frightening trials and dangers. Youngsters build literacy and comprehension skills as they read a fun fairy tale from Norway. After reading...

If you want to play music, you need to learn how to read sharps and flats. Young musicians practice reading and playing these simple sharps. Each sharp is given a word that connects it to the note it is related to. For example: Charles...

Readers examine the traditional Indian story "The Mango Tree" as a literary analysis exercise. The story is broken into three parts, each followed by short-answer reading comprehension questions. While there are referential questions...