Young readers travel back to the time of the dinosaurs in this literature unit based on the story Dinosaurs Before Dark. Intended for use with upper-elementary special education students, this resource provides reading...

A visual literary lesson provides learners with OPTIC (Observations, Predictions, Themes, Inferences, Conclusions), a reading strategy to help them understand and interpret visual and written texts. Scholars practice the strategy with a...

Introduce young learners to the idea of disabilities and making friends with children who are different than they are. Using Don't Call Me Special - A First Look at Disability by Pat Thomas, learners are guided through the new...

The skill of prediction as a reading strategy is explored. Learners are shown how to use clues within a story, along with pictures, to make predictions as to what's going to happen in the story. A clever in-class game which uses objects...

"List reading strategies you have learned that will help you start (and finish) reading a class novel." "What do you like knowing about a novel before you read it?" Although labeled for Of Mice and Men, the prompts included on this...

Foster critical thinking skills by using the DR-TA Strategy with Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.” Class members read portions of the essay, stop and discuss what is happening, make predictions based on evidence from the text, and...

Combine hearts with minds in a reading comprehension activity with a Valentine's Day theme. Steven Kroll's The Biggest Valentine Ever, named one of the best books for kids in 2014, provides kids with an opportunity to practice their...

Practice sequencing with your 2nd graders via Patricia Polacco's Civil War book Pink and Say. Begin with a blindfold and a bag of mystery items. Connect their use of clues to identify what they can't see with the skill of making...

Examine wood bugs and their habitat. Learners gather wood bugs and examine their bodies. Then discuss their body parts and how they help them survive. They also predict where they think wood bugs live to then graph the class results.

A current and engaging informational text with some superb scaffolding activities, this six paragraph article discusses the release of the iPad from Apple, eBooks, and the history of reading and writing materials. After reading the...

Create a cross-curricular learning experience based on the children's book Joseph Had a Little Overcoat with this collection of learning activities. Starting with a class reading of the story, children go on to learn about the...

To generate interest in reading Neal Shusterman's young adult science fiction novel Unwind, class members engage in a Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DRTA) that asks them to examine the front and back covers, the blurbs, and "The...

In many places in the world, people go to great lengths to get books to read. This beginning-of-the-year activity uses pictures of people reading in extraordinary situations to stimulate effective listening and speaking using the...

Making letters out of goop, sight word bingo, tic-tac-toe vowels. Download this packet loaded with activities designed to engage beginning readers. Although designed for adults, many of the activities are appropriate for any...

A reading adventure pack, featuring a fiction and nonfiction book focuses on the weather. Scholars read Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett and Seymour Simon and then complete three creative activities. Participants craft...

As the title suggests, this packet is loaded with activities that can be used at any time. The common element in all the exercises is that they are connected to books by Dr. Seuss.

Get your class talking, even debating, about Gary Paulsen's popular novel Canyons. As they finish chapters 10-12, they complete the following discussion web concerning Brennan and the skull. They fill out the graphic organizer provided...

Improving listening comprehension skills is the goal of this language arts lesson. Young readers listen to the story Two Greedy Bears, stopping to have discussions with a partner. They predict outcomes and make inferences based on...

Here’s the meatball in the bowl of spaghetti. Readers build a Lunatic Mystery Case Book, collecting evidence to support their prediction about the identity of the lunatic in Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech’s Newbery Medal winning novel....

Learners participate in a variety of emergent and early-literacy activities based on a "friendship" theme. Learners listen to the book Do You Want to Be My Friend by Eric Carle, then echo read, choral read, and independently read...

Discuss bullying, folk tales, and more using this resource. Learners read the story The Lion and the Mouse by Toni and Slade Morrison, engage in cause and effect activities, make predictions, and discuss bullying. This is a motivating...

Seventh graders use literary terms while discussing literature with their peers. They explore literature on a deeper level. Students formulate their opinions regarding response to literature, as this lesson plan helps students practice...