Young scholars participate in a reading circle as a means of studying river-related poetry. They meet in small groups to discuss provided poems about the Mississippi River and use written or drawn notes to guide their part of the...

Learners role play as colonists and Indians. They are assigned a specific colony and Indian group, and write a script and then role play in front of their classmates.

Students take a pre-test on presidential knowledge.  In this president and Washington, D.C. lesson, students read Arthur Meets the President and discuss it.  Students work in groups to brainstorm everything they know about the...

Learners give their book reports as oral "Meet the Press" type interviews. They team up with another student "reporter" and answer questions about main idea, details, and the point of view.

Seventh graders examine Cabeza de Vaca's journal and differentiate between primary and secondary sources. They, in groups, design posters that portray the culture of the Coahuiltecan Indians in Texas during the 16th century.

Students apply specific reading strategies to answer questions about the selection Freedom on the Menu. In this reading comprehension lesson, students read a selection called Freedom on the Menu and use specific reading strategies to...

Students contrast the Taliban and the Constitution. They read through "What the Taliban Banned" and identify "rights." They determine if rights in the United States are in danger and if the Taliban violate the first ten amendments to...

In this reading comprehension worksheets, students practice reading and replying to what they have read. Students read two letters and complete the response letters by placing the correct words in the blanks.

In this newspaper worksheet, students read about emotive language, then choose headlines that are most likely to excite a reader, re-write headlines, replacing words with more emotive words, and read a short article and answer 3 related...

Young scholars discuss the types of information they can get from artifacts. In groups, they practice "reading" artifacts and determining their usage. They use inferences to test against official information about certain pieces. They...

Learners analyze the democratic and consensual decision-making process. They review the distinctions between decision-making and consensus and simulate a town meeting and a tribal meeting. They select an issue and research the issue from...

In this literature circle worksheet, students respond to the novel they are reading through certain prompts and read how to respond to others within the literature circle group. Students respond to nine prompts through using short answers.

War-torn Palmyra needs your help! Young negotiators play the part of citizens of opposing countries through an eye-opening simulation. The fictional countries of Siwa and Nizwa stand at the brink of war, and your class' job is to create...

Celebrate April's National Poetry Month or enrich a poetry unit with a wealth of language arts material. Class members develop an oral interpretation of a poem and/or develop a podcast interview with a poet. 

Build your class's knowledge with a vowel game. With a list of code words for each vowel, kids begin to construct fences with the words that share long vowel sounds.

Use essential elements cards to help lesson plan! Each card contains an informational text common core standard for grade levels six through eight and suggestions for activities and supports. Cards address skills such as citing textual...

Help language learners understand words and cultural concepts. The second installment in a series of three language development lessons designed to accompany Theme 4: Person to Person helps bridge the gap for language learners by...

Immerse your class in a good story with an extensive resource featuring reader's theater techniques. The worksheets are designed for both teacher and student, and carefully explain how to organize, write, and perform stories in a...

Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is used to model for readers how to craft four levels of questions that promote comprehension. Questions that can be answered with evidence right there in the text, questions that require readers to think and...

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.

Here's a great comprehension worksheet that models for young readers how to focus on short sections of a complicated text and then to create a summary of the entire document based on their understanding of the sections.

Readers of Tuesdays with Morrie are directed to use a K-W-H-L chart to record what they know, what they want to learn, how they will find information, and what they learned about a particular topic related to Mitch Albom's book.

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.

 Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner captivated the minds and hearts of readers when it was published in 2003. Review the key details, characters, and quotes from the novel with a straightforward crossword puzzle.