Explore Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" in this literature analysis lesson. Middle schoolers read and summarize the plot of the story. They then adapt passages for a contemporary audience and analyze the...

A timely and provocative lesson inspires high schoolers to tackle the Syrian refugee crisis. They analyze a compelling photo essay before discussing and writing about it.

Scholars review prior knowledge before completing a hands-on simulation of the rock cycle. They write stories or songs summarizing their simulations to demonstrate mastery.

Nanofibers can be made through electrospinning or force spinning in order to reduce the negative impact on the environment. Pupils study the role of fibers and dye on the environment through a series of five hands-on activities. Then,...

Students review the concept of silent reading. Through modeling and guided practice, they explore five steps/rules of summarizing. In groups, they read an article and then, using the summarization rules and skills, write an effective...

Fifth graders write summaries. In this summarizing instructional activity students decide which events of a chapter in a book are important to summarizing. Students also create a title for the chapter based upon the contents of the...

Students discuss the importance of comprehension and the use of summarization. Through guided practice, they follow five steps in finding and highlighting important information, while deleting information that is not needed. They write...

Students use their note-taking skills to write summaries of information. In this writing skills lesson, students use the notes they have taken in another lesson to write adventure stories by implementing the Rule-Based strategy.

Encourage respect, responsibility, and caring within your classroom with a collection of lessons that spark dialogue and self reflection. To address character traits, lessons touch on topics such as staying safe in the...

Students use writing logs to achieve clear and creative thinking about the story they are reading. They then describe changes in mood that happened in the story consider why such changes usually occur.

Children explore the life of an octopus. They listen to a story, answer prediction questions and share their prior knowledge of animals. Students observe the defense mechanism of the octopus. They create an imaginary defense mechanism...

Students create a 'quilt' to represent  what they remember about Ceasar Chaves.  In this reading lesson, students also complete descriptions of the picture that they decided to draw. 

First graders summarize their trip to the zoo. In this summarizing lesson plan, 1st graders will study animals that they may see at the zoo including their characteristics and habitats. Once the trip is done, they create a word document...

Students make a Microsoft PowerPoint report from a short story read in class. They summarize and paraphrase a short story identifying the six story elements: characters, setting, plot, conflict, solution, tone/mood.

Students identify that comprehension is the main goal in reading. Then they read the words in a text, but also draw information from what they read. Students also identify and practice summarization. They read a piece of text and...

Seventh graders examine the setting in pieces of fiction.  In this story analysis lesson, 7th graders investigate the setting in fictional stories and the importance it has.  Students discover new vocabulary terms applying to...

What are the elements of a personal narrative? Get your class talking by reading "The Necklace" and "A Dangerous Game." The lesson plan focuses primarily on defining certain vocabulary terms (like context clues, plot, conflict, climax,...

Students summarize a selected piece of text nonfiction text. After reviewing the process for summarizing, students read a nonfiction article, highlighting important information as they read. They write a summary paragraph using the five...

Middle schoolers complete a writing assessment task to demonstrate their ability to craft a narrative based on a variety of informational texts. They view West of the West's documentary Magic Isle, read three print resources about...

Students read and discuss the short story, "The McWilliamses and the Burglar Alarm," by Mark Twain. They assume the role of the main characters in the story and write a humorous letter of complaint using a business letter format. They...

Students examine the topic of abstinence. They discover aspects of the topic from a global to local level. They participate in a debate to share their opinions.

Fourth graders examine the artifacts obtained from an excavated Siouan village site. They make inferences about the people who once lived there based on the artifacts and complete a Research Team Report.

Good endings are hard to find. And write. This, the final activity in a six-part series devoted to study of the ingredients of a good story, focuses on crafting endings. Class members draft ideas about what should happen to each of their...

Tell a story visually using this resource. Learners design a storybook theater by creating a book and painting watercolor pictures describing scenes from the story. This is a creative means to have your class practice summarizing skills.