Brian Jacques’ novel Redwall provides the focus for a series of lessons involving the analysis of folklore. Adopting the persona of a character, groups write letters in the voice of their character, assemble a collage using Microsoft...

Historical accounts of various events have proven to differ depending on the point of view of the person documenting the event. Learners read and analyze two first person accounts of acts of slave resistance seen at a southern...

The Summer of the Swans, by Betsy Byars, is a 160-page chapter book about a family going through a difficult time. Complement your reading of Byars' book with this detailed outline of each chapter. Every section includes comprehension...

Learners review the meaning of a summary and why they are important. They silently read the book, So You Want To Be President thinking about the main points in the story. When finished, each child summarizes a page from the book which...

Students write summaries of books to exemplify comprehension of the stories. They create a story web to outline the important details of the story. In groups, students make story webs for separate chapters for the book. After the webs...

Students engage in creative writing and performance using Flat Stanley. After reading Flat Stanley your class summarize their understanding and then create a flat image of themselves. Students then brainstorm ideas of how they would...

Fourth graders read a story about the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and summarize the story by filling in the blanks about his life on a storyboard handout. They listen to the "I have a dream" speech and write about how they feel life...

Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...

Students comprehend written text by teaching them how to think about the events in a story as they read. They make storyboards of their own. They need to make sure they put the events on the storyboard in the proper order.

Students explore foreign cultures by reading a story in class. In this Hispanic history lesson, students read the story Radio Man by Arthur Dorros and identify the times discrimination is used in the story. Students discuss labor...

Second graders answer questions after listening to the the story "Celebrating Life Around the World" and verbally identify three ways in which people celebrate special occasions. They then make two verbal connections from their own...

Third graders write endings to a story that has already been written. They offer alternative endings in their version. The lesson includes a rubric that is to be given to the students in order that they know the requirements.

Students practice summarizing text by retelling what they have read. They read selected, leveled passages and use enthusiastic and createive ways to members of their group. Students complete a journal entry documenting their experience...

Pupils examine the history of horse racing. They discuss their experiences with horse racing and conduct Internet research. They select a topic related to the history of horse racing, write and present a report, and read and summarize a...

Identifying themes in literature is the focus of the language arts lesson plan presented here. Learners read short pieces of fiction and practice the skill of identifying the themes present in each one. The bulk of the lesson consists of...

Scholars summarize sections of a book and compile them to create a book trailer. They are assigned sections of a book to read and summarize before recording as short video segments. The segments are put together in order to create a book...

Turn readers into investigative journalists. The 11th and final lesson that accompanies The Twits by Roald Dahl asks the question "What happened to Mr. and Mrs. Twit?" The lesson uses mind maps and group discussion to help answer...

Introduce your class members to allegory and propaganda with a series of activities designed to accompany a study of George Orwell's Animal Farm. Readers examine the text as an allegory, consider the parallels to collective farms...

Students practice the strategy of summarization to be able to understand and comprehend the text. They study how to get rid of unnecessary or repeated information and find the most important items or events and then write a statement...

Young scholars work to develop comprehension strategies. Through modeling they discover how to summarize a written passage by deleting unnecessary information and using clustering or concept mapping for the most important items or...

Young scholars investigate researching techniques by exploring their library. For this literature references lesson, students identify the different types and genres of books that are readily available at their local library as well as...

Seventh graders engage in a lesson that focuses on the sequence of a story and they discover its importance in the context of improving reading comprehension. Students analyze the plot of a story and reconstruct it into the right order.

Middle schoolers read examples of mysteries and detective fiction. With a focus on Sherlock Holmes, they are introduced to the techniques for reading properly. In groups, they define new vocabulary, make predictions and summarize the...

Fifth graders explore and examine the book, "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs," by Jan Scieszka. They assess that an author's voice and individual style is an important part of keeping a person interested in a story. Each student,...