Curated OER
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
In this story structure lesson, students read the book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and identify the characters, setting and main themes of the book. They answer a list of study questions about the book.
Ontario
Reading Informational Text
Learning to recognize the importance of the features of information text (i.e., titles, subtitles, endnotes, sidebars, etc.) is the focus of a reading activity designed for middle schoolers. Learners examine how these text features...
California Education Partners
Bud Not Buddy
A two-day assessment challenges scholars to read an excerpt from the story, Bud Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis then complete a series of exercises in preparation for a writing assignment. Day one includes an independent...
Curated OER
Finders Keepers: Vocabulary Instructional Routine Guide for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Like Oskar, the curious boy in Jonathan Safran Foer’s story, class members journey through other “stories that the mouth can’t tell” to find another sentence that uses a word found in novel. Individuals create their own vocabulary list,...
Curated OER
The Things They Carried: KWHL
Before beginning The Things They Carried, class members are asked to use a KWHL chart to record what they know about war, what they want to know, and where they might find answers to their questions. Groups then research...
California Education Partners
We Are The Ship
An assessment sheds light on scholars' ability to read, gather evidence, and draft an original written composition. Learners read an informative text twice before taking notes and discussing their thoughts and textual evidence with a...
Novelinks
Man's Search for Meaning: Anticipation Guide Instructions
To prepare readers for the major concepts in Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, an account of his life in Auschwitz, class members respond to a series of statements on an anticipation guide.
Curated OER
Phineas Gage: “How Do You Get Through Hard Times?” Chalk Talk
Hold a discussion in writing about coping strategies to prepare your pupils for reading Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman. After journaling, pupils come up in an organized fashion and write...
California Education Partners
Telescopes
An assessment challenges scholars to read an informative text then respond with an explanatory essay. The exam begins as participants read a text passage twice then take notes, making sure to jot down key details. Following the...
California Education Partners
Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
A 3-day exam assesses readers' comprehension. After hearing a passage from the story Kittens First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes, scholars work with a partner to discuss and sketch what they found memorable. Peers share their final products...
Scholastic
Test-Taking Strategies for Three Subject Areas
Sometimes a test page loaded with text can make a student's face go blank. Help them decipher what a text question is asking with a series of tips focused on reading comprehension, vocabulary, and language arts mechanics.
Novelinks
The Joy Luck Club: Writing Strategy
Readers of The Joy Luck Club, use a double-0entry journal to record and reflect on passages from Amy Tan's novel.
California Education Partners
Tuck Everlasting
An assessment takes a close look at the story, Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt, and tests writing abilities. Over the course of two days, scholars read an excerpt, answer questions on a worksheet pertaining to the author's...
Curated OER
Parrot in the Oven: Problematic Situation
Prior to reading Victor Martinez's Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida, class members are presented with a problematic situation and to rate their responses as well as predict the responses of a character from the novel.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Give It All You’ve Got!: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 2)
Go beyond the textbook to gain a better appreciation for the English language. A series of ESL lessons help expand the concepts found in Theme 2: Give It All You've Got. The second lesson in a three-part unit incorporates strategies such...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Literary Text: Wise or Foolish?
A three-part assessment promotes reading comprehension skills. Class members read literary texts and take notes to discuss their findings, answer comprehension questions, write summaries, and complete charts.
Scholastic
The First Thanksgiving Feast
Following an online activity, scholars listen to a read-aloud of If You Were at the First Thanksgiving by Anne Kamma. Pupils discuss their family traditions and complete a T-chart comparing the holiday then and now. Collages are made to...
National Center for Families Learning
The Summer Fun Summer Learning Poetry Unit
Focus on poetry this summer to enhance those comprehension, fluency, and language skills with a set of resources intended to explore different types of poetry, specifically lyric poetry. The daily activities contain differentiation ideas...
Macmillan Education
Critical Thinking
Encourage learners to think deeply about the information they read or hear. Through a series of life skills worksheets, your pupils will consider the need for objectivity, identifying missing information, and problem solving.
Fluence Learning
Writing an Opinion: Student Council
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...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Nature: Friend and Foe: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 6)
If readers don't understand key portions of a text, it may seem more like a foe than a friend. The second resource in a series of three ESL lessons designed to accompany the texts in Nature: Friend or Foe makes the texts easier to...
Louisiana Department of Education
Hatchet
Accompany a novel study of Hatchet by Gary Paulson with a unit consisting of 16 lessons focused on physical and emotional survival. Reading the story along with a variety of informational texts, scholars compare and contrast reading...
Charleston School District
Equations of Linear Functions
Teaching linear function relationships using contextual information is beneficial to pupils' understanding. The lesson uses problem solving to build linear functions given different information for each problem. This is the second...
Roald Dahl
Matilda - The Platinum-Blond Man
Before reading Chapter Six, "The Platinum-Blond Man" in Matilda, readers preview the illustration of Mrs. Wormwood dropping her plate of food, and think about what may have happened to cause the scene. After reading the chapter, class...