California Education Partners
From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer
Conduct a lesson that leads into a writing assessment. After reading an excerpt from From Seed to Pumpkin, first graders demonstrate their interpretation of sections of the passage by sketching the details from each part.
Western Justice Center
Communication Skills
Good communication skills are key to resolving conflicts. A short video introduces learners to the concept of active listening and provides tips that will help them resolve conflicts. Class members then read articles, analyze scenarios,...
BBC
Tales of Hans Christian Andersen
Fairy tales seem like quick, fun children's stories, but asking compelling questions about characters, plot elements, and literary themes can transform them into rich and complex tales. Use a series of eight lessons on Hans Christian...
Nemours KidsHealth
Conflict Resolution: Grades 9-12
Conflicts happen. Learning to deal with them positively, manage anger, and communicate feelings is the focus of a lesson that gives high schoolers the tools they need for conflict resolution. After reading a series of related articles,...
The New York Times
Making Do: Learning and Growing Through Adversity
What is it that makes people keep going when they face challenges in life? Ask your class to consider this question in relation to their own experiences and as they read material from The New York Times. Using personal experiences...
EngageNY
Launching Lyddie
Pupils engage in a close reading of chapter one of Katherine Paterson's novel, Lyddie. After answering text-dependent questions based on their reading, they complete reader's notes about how the setting, characters, and plot interact.
Teaching Tolerance
Social Media for Social Action
Engage in activism, not slacktivism! Scholars discuss social media and the Internet as tools for social change. Next, they engage in a close reading strategy called Thinking Notes as they read an article about social media activism.
Read Works
Canine Courage
Did you know dogs had an important job on September 11th, the day airplanes took down the World Trade Center? Learn more about the furry heroes with a three-page informational read designed to aid pupils in answering 10...
EngageNY
Paraphrasing and Evaluating Sources: Pages 112–116 of The Big Thirst
Agriculture and water—it's a fine balance. So how exactly do industry and agriculture currently manage water? Pupils consider the question as they continue reading excerpts from Charles Fishman's The Big Thirst and adding notes to their...
EngageNY
Analyzing Interaction: Categories of Water Management in The Big Thirst
It's puzzle time! Pupils participate in a jigsaw activity to discuss the various uses of water, including personal, agricultural, and industrial uses. They also conduct a close reading of The Big Thirst by Charles Fishman and answer...
EngageNY
Expert Research Groups: How the Traffic Signal and Airplane Met Society’s Needs, Part 3
Pupils work in expert research groups, reading an informational article about an invention and completing a note-catcher worksheet. Afterward, scholars work in triads to answer questions based on the text.
Academy of American Poets
Incredible Bridges: “Translation for Mamá” by Richard Blanco
Who or what do you miss? That's the question that launches an activity that asks writers to craft a paragraph filled with sensory details that shows how they feel. Next, they listen to Richard Blanco reading his poem, "Translation for...
WE Charity
High School–Module 2: Circular Economy and Nature
Everyone's heard the popular slogan reduce, reuse, recycle, but there may be a better way to talk about sustainability. Using the second lesson from the five-part WE Are Innovators—High School Modules series, learners explore issues...
Curated OER
The Five W's!
Students explore reading comprehension strategies. They discuss the story-grammar strategy. Students discuss the importance of comprehension. They discuss questions they should ask while reading a text. Students read a story and stop to...
Curated OER
Five Big W's
Students develop summarization strategies by asking themselves questions as they read. They devlop these strategies help them develop better comprehension. Students goals for reading is comprehension. They explore helpful...
Curated OER
Flipped: A Before Reading Strategy
Prior to reading Flipped, Wendelin Van Draanen’s young adult novel about teen romance, class members engage in an anticipation guide activity. Individuals post their responses to a series of prompts, and after reading all the responses,...
Curated OER
Journey to Topaz: KWHL Strategy
Japanese Internment and World war II are the focus of a KWHL strategy used to scaffold for a reading of Journey to Topaz, Yoshiko Uchida's story of 11-year-old Yuki Sakane and her family. Complete directions for the activity...
Curated OER
KWL Comprehension Strategy: Maus I and II
How much does your class know about World War II? Before reading Art Spiegelman's Maus I, lead your class in creating a KWL chart. Knowing the background and setting of the novel are extremely important in understanding this survivor's...
Curated OER
Journey to Topaz: Directed Reading Thinking Activity
Have you used the directed reading thinking activity in your classroom? Doubling as either a prereading strategy, or a during reading strategy, it helps readers connect the historical background of the text to the text itself. As the...
Curated OER
Fever 1793: Anticipation Guide
Introduce the themes of Fever 1793 and determine your class members’ level of background knowledge with an anticipation guide for Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel about the yellow fever epidemic that swept Philadelphia. For each prompt,...
Curated OER
Flipped: After Reading Strategy
Everyone can be an expert! After finishing Wendelin Van Draanen's book Flipped, divide your class into small groups. Then, assign each group a topic to become experts on. The resource suggests topics such as characters, themes, setting,...
Freeology
Strategies for Reading Posters
Clarify, connect, evaluate, predict, question. Laminate and display these colorful posers about the classroom to remind readers of the five basic strategies for comprehending all sorts of text.
Curated OER
Directed Reading Thinking Activity: Cold Sassy Tree
Lots of questions arise when reading Cold Sassy Tree. As your class encounters the twentieth chapter, encourage a rich discussion with some of the questions provided here. Then, either independently, or for homework, ask your readers to...
Curated OER
Iraq's Latest Strategy: Suicide Attacks
This discussion based lesson plan focuses on the sensitive topic of suicide attacks or bombings used throughout history during times of militaristic upheaval. Learners read news stories, compose journal entries, and engage in a class...