Scholars read a brief informational text about the famous inventor, Alexander Graham Bell and his invention of the telephone, then show what they know by way of eight questions—six multiple choice and two short answer. 

Scholars discover who Saint Patrick was with help from a brief informational text followed by a series of challenge worksheets designed to boost reading comprehension and vocabulary. Class members complete a graphic organizer, take...

A three-part assessment challenges scholars to write opinion essays covering the topic of the student council. After reading three passages, writers complete a chart, work with peers to complete a mini-research project, answer...

Seventh graders have a golden opportunity to learn how to read poems and short stories with a unit that introduces them to the techniques writers use to craft their works. They examine poems by William Carlos Williams and Edgar Allen Poe...

Set up a listening center, record the provided script, and see how well your class can manipulate phonemes based on the instructions you've provided. This center-based activity builds the phonological awareness and phoneme manipulation...

A confidential message written by Thomas Jefferson provides readers with an opportunity to practice their reading comprehension skills. The resource, part of a series, includes questions that require a close reading of the message and a...

Introduce young learners to the read-aloud process with a short biographical passage about Ray Charles. After listening to the passage, class members respond to factual, inferential, and evaluative questions, and then create a timeline...

Is Antigone relevant to today's readers? After reading Sophocles' tragedy, scholars must decide if the themes are universal and timeless. Class members engage in a series of activities designed to have them closely consider the...

A paragraph from John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley provides English language learners with an opportunity to practice strategies for answering guiding questions about the academic text. Class members locate keywords in the annotated...

How did free and enslaved blacks work to craft freedom for themselves and their families before the Civil War? Young historians read about the life of Thomas Day, a free black man who also owned slaves and had abolitionist ties in...

Encourage close reading and critical thinking with a worksheet that asks readers to select an event from a story, predict what they believe will happen, and list clues from the story that support this prediction. After completing...

"Three Stones Back," a passage from Matt de la Pena's best-seller, Ball Don't Lie, allows readers to practice their close reading skills as they compare the passage to an information text about wealth inequality. 

Few studies have captured the complex relationships between mothers and daughters, such as Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. Tenth graders read "Rules of the Game," which describes Waverly's youth in chess tournaments, and compare how she...

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.

Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, and A. Philip Randolph developed different views on how to advance civil rights for African Americans. Class members research these famous figures and their strategies before developing...

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...

Would a bluebird be as scary as a vulture? Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" is the central text in a activity about symbolism. After a close reading of the poem, learners consider what the raven might represent to the narrator. They then...

Middle schoolers get hip to the jive with a lesson about slang. They closely examine examples of slang and use context clues to infer the meaning of the terms. Groups read and summarize an article about a teacher who created a Gen Z...

Wheels go around is the theme of this series of challenge activities. Extend learning of making predictions and the reading comprehension skill, cause and effect, through grand conversations, poster designing, and writing books.

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...

Twelve cards and a instructional activity make up an activity designed to reinforce problem solving skills. Scholars read and solve a variety of word problems using a graphic organizer to show their work. 

Does Bud use his rules to survive or thrive? That is the driving question of a lesson plan following the reading of Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. In an argument essay prewriting activity, pupils use textual evidence to...

Get deep! Teach scholars how to make connections between texts to deepen their understanding of a topic. Using the resource, pupils read and annotate a short informational text about Sudan's Civil War and refugee crisis. Next, they...

Text annotations help readers track essential ideas. Pupils continue reading and annotating an informational article about Sudanese tribes, connecting it with A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. They also begin writing about their...