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A Soldier's View of the American Civil War
Study and research the American Civil War in this explanatory writing lesson. Middle schoolers complete six activities to learn about the American Civil War and soldiers' views of the war. The lesson includes several options to complete...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Identity Lesson 7: Logical Fallacies
What are the effects of competition in an academic environment? The competition between the main characters in A Separate Peace motivates a series of activities that asks readers to take a stance on competition, and then to develop a...
Curated OER
Retelling and Summarizing
Having students use a rubric to score a piece of writing is an excellent practice. They read a passage titled, "Firefighters," and discuss different summaries that were written about it. They evaluate several summaries then score them...
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Sample Lesson on Taking Notes
Have your middle schoolers define the terms outline, summary, paraphrase, plagiarism, citation, reference, and bibliography. They identify the main ideas, topic sentence, supporting ideas in technical writing and create note cards using...
Curated OER
Worksheet for a Five-Paragraph Essay
In this five paragraph essay worksheet, students complete an outline in which they identify their thesis statement, main points, and supporting details. The worksheet effectively works as an outline for the essay.
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Ten Cents a Word
Students recognize the importance of summarizing in this activity. They "sum up" an article about monarch butterflies. Students practice writing summaries of the article charging themselves 10 cents/word. They try to write the least...
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Pigging Out on Reading Comprehension
Young scholars summarize a piece of fiction text. After reviewing the correct way to read in order to summarize, students independently read the story "Pig in a Bag." They write a summary paragraph using the process outlined by the...
Curated OER
Babushka's Doll
Third graders read the story Babushka's Doll and write a summary of the main events in the story. In this summaries lesson plan, 3rd graders discuss the country of Russia before they read.
Curated OER
Mapping Out A Summary
Students summarize a selected piece of fiction text. After reviewing the correct way to read silently, students read a chapter in the novel they are currently reading. They write a chapter summary using a story map and the process...
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Analyzing Poetry with TPCASTT
Middle schoolers read a poem and complete a TPCASTT chart. They make a prediction about the title (T) , paraphrase each line (P), identify poetic devices and nuances (C-connotation), explore mood and tone (A-attitude), point out shifts...
Curated OER
Sensational Summarizers
Students study strategies that aid comprehension. They focus on the main ideas of a passage and eliminate unnecessary and repetitive information. They substitute super ordinate terms for a list of items and create a topic sentence.
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Short and Sweet
Students explore how to summarize a text while reading. They discuss what it means to summarize. Students read a non-fiction text and practice summarizing the pages they read. They highlight the main ideas and important details within...
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Let Me Tell You What I Know
Fourth graders summarize a selected piece of fiction text. After completing a summary through guided practice, 4th graders, working in groups read a portion of the novel, "Hatchet." They write a summary paragraph using the process...
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Five Step Summary
Students review the five steps to summarization. They then read the article "Whoooo-o Are You?" silently. As a class they summarize a small section of the article using the five steps included. Finally, the students summarize...
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Say W-W-W-W-Wh-at?
Young scholars observe and demonstrate the process of summarizing text. As a class they read a paragraph and answer the five W's. Students then read an online paragraph, and complete a chart online, then in small groups write a short...
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The Three Little Pigs
Students listen two versions of the story of The Three Little Pigs in order to clarify the concept of point of view. They complete a Venn diagram and write a postcard to one of the book's characters using their point of view.
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Putting It All Together With Summarization
Students use a checklist to write a summary of a non-fiction article. The checklist includes: redundant information taken out, trivial information taken out, and only main points included in the summary. Using this checklist, they ...
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Annotated Bibliographies
What is an annotated bibliography? While not usually required until college, introducing your juniors and seniors to this type of document will prepare them for their collegiate careers. The term is defined, and the three elements of an...
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Listening Positions, Please
Fourth graders practice using effective listening skills as they listen to oral poetry readings.
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Establishing a Point of View in Narratives
Fourth graders investigate the concept and take the opportunity to both identify and to construct point of view in narratives. Additionally, 4th graders practice identifying and sequencing main events.
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The Long and Short of It: Summarizing Important Details
Students practice their summarizing skills while listening to a brief biography of Amelia Earhart. Students take notes while the teacher reads the article and write a paragraph that summarizes the important events from Amelia Earhart's...
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"Anything We Love Can Be Saved" -- A Contemporary
Students compare authors Rachel Carson and Mary Eliza Church Terrell. They read an introduction by Alice Walker and summarize the main points. They also identify the language she uses to persuade readers. They write their own activist...
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National Debate Over Treaty Ratification
Students review the main points of the Versailles Treaty. In groups, they analyze a variety of political cartoons about Wilson and the treaty itself and share their findings with the class after completing a worksheet. To end the...
Student Handouts
Five-paragraph Essay Organizer
Some learners just feel more comfortable with very explicit directions. The directions on this template for a five-paragraph essay are very explicit and detail the content and order of each paragraph to be crafted. Color coding reveals...