Jane Eyre offers scholars an opportunity to practice reading comprehension skills. Pairs are assigned a word from the text, use their prior knowledge, and consider the context, connotation, and denotation of the word to posit a...

Scholars build background knowledge to understand the life and work of the union leader and labor organizer César Chávez. As they read teacher-selected resources, they complete a Building Background Knowledge worksheet and engage in...

Character analysis isn't always earth-shattering. Using a graphic organizer, pupils analyze Moon Shadow's point of view following the earthquake in Laurence Yep's Dragonwings. Also, scholars co-create an anchor chart showing the...

Students explore a variety of reading comprehension strategies and apply these strategies to both online articles and printed text. They compare and contrast the effectiveness of each strategy with each medium.

Young historians discover the experiences of runaway slaves after reading the brief biography and narrative excerpt of Henry "Box" Brown, who escaped slavery by having himself shipped away in a crate and popularized his...

Young historians discover the life of an incredible African American woman who, as an anti-slavery lecturer prior to the Civil War, defied stereotypes of what women could accomplish. Pupils explore the concept of stereotyping, read...

What were living conditions like in the United States during The Great Depression, and how do those conditions compare with today? That's the question young scholars consider as they prepare to read John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men....

It's time to take action. In small groups, scholars read texts about the global water crisis. Next, they create campaign posters to inform the community about the issue, as well as possible solutions. 

S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders allows middle schoolers to reflect on mob mentality. After reading an article and watching a video about herd mentality, class members find examples in the novel of when characters go along with the...

A language arts instructional activity helps young writers identify elements that make up historical fiction. First, it guides them through elements of fictional pieces with vocabulary cards. Then, pupils work collaboratively to...

Looking for an alternative approach to long division? Show your classes how to use factoring in place of long division. Increase their fluency with factoring at the same time!

That is very unexpected! Scholars take a close look at the word unexpectedly from chapter three of The Lightning Thief. They examine the prefix and think of other words that have the same prefix. Learners regroup in their triads and take...

Let's compare and contrast! Scholars use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the experience of reading a poem and listening to its audio version. Next, they complete graphic organizers, comparing two different genres: a poem and a...

One can never be too prepared. Pupils prepare for their upcoming mid-unit assessment by writing their group norms for small group discussions. Additionally, scholars read and listen to a poem, comparing the two experiences using a Venn...

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

This story is bound to motivate your class. Learners read a story called Elena by Diane Stanley. The story is about a young woman who marries for love but is soon widowed during the Mexican Revolution. She takes her children to...

What a terrific way to discuss racism in the 1920's. Learners read a story called The Star Fisher by Laurence Yep. It is about a Chinese American girl who experiences racism and prejudice after moving from Ohio to West Virginia....

What a great lesson! Learners read a story called Painters of the Caves by Patricia Lauber which discusses Stone Age wall paintings in Avignon, France. There is a series of discussion questions, comprehension questions, and a graphic...

Discuss the work of Matthew Henson, an African American who traveled to the North Pole with Robert Peary. After reading the story "Matthew Henson" by Maryann N. Weidt, learners answer questions by drawing inferences and conclusions,...

Selecting a "power book" and engaging in a structured class discussion are the learning targets for this fourth lesson in a larger unit. It is designed as a beginning of the year unit for establishing norms and routines in the classroom....

Using a reading passage, this lesson leads learners through an exploration of a text. This activity focuses on identifying what the reading passage is about, its tone, and key elements.

Students choose, read,and analyze a text at least one-thousand words long using varied reading strategies. They identify the strategies used in the analysis of their text and explain how they are crucial to comprehension.

Students apply reading strategies to interpret a map, a diagram, a scientific chart, and a historical text. In small groups, they examine and analyze various documents. They present their findings to the class.

Students study the stages of the Eastern newt either by collecting a live specimen or from pictures. They note the colors of the eft stage before reading the "Eastern Newt Species Account" that shows the newt's life stages, migration,...