To better understand how to compose a clear and well-organized paper, learners read short passages, write summaries, and make colored graphic organizers. This is a fully developed three-day lesson with suggested assessments.

Students determine how community members serve others. In this service learning instructional activity, students interview community members who volunteer by serving others. Students then determine how they could serve their community.

Students identify and interpret what tall tales, urban legends, and cyberlore are and to find them in their own lives. They practice telling and listening to these types of tales and explore why people tell them. Students also identify...

Fourth graders demonstrate improved usage of story telling/conversational skills.

Pupils interview each other to complete an interview organizer on research about Canadian Loyalists.

Students examine past and present human rights issues in U.S. history. In reflection journals, they document both justices and injustices perpetrated on groups and individuals. Finally, students implement an action plan designed to...

Learners create a definition of eutrophication.  For this organic material lesson students work together to create a storyline.

Second graders explore animal behaviors and adaptations by researching several different animals and their habitats.

This lesson summarizes two myths: Baucis and Philemon, an old couple who took in and cared for Zeus and Hermes who were pretending to be humans and were rewarded for their good deeds; and the story of why we have seasons due to Hades...

"The Little Red Hen" is a one page fable about the other animals not helping the little red hen plant wheat, harvest it, or bake the bread, so they did not get to eat it either. It is followed by constructed-response questions which...

This series of videos and interactive activities provide an excellent set of resources for teaching or learning the 8 research based reading strategies provided here. After receiving your "key" you can investigate the features inside and...

This graphic organizer can be used to help students analyze a story or a historical event. Students will look closely at the story's characters or people involved in the historical event. Then they will summarize the story or event, and...

Learn how to summarize a story with this reference article; see the model showing the summary process.

Comic frames are traditionally used to illustrate a story in a short, concise format. In this lesson plan, students use a six-paneled comic strip frame to create a story map, summarizing a book or story that they have read. Each panel...

"The Train" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a child's first train trip to Grandma's for the summer. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes:...

"The Chicago Journey" is a one page, fictional passage about a clild and his mother hurrying to catch a train to hear an acceptance speech from an election (Obama). It is followed by questions which require learners to provide evidence...

"Working at the Hospital" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the various jobs of people who work in a hospital. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes underlining the most...

"Working at the Television Station" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the various jobs of workers at a television station. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes...

"The Recycle Center" is a one page, nonfiction passage about students who, with the help of a nearby church, started a monthly recycling center for the community. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence...

"Letter to the Mayor" is a one page, nonfiction letter written to the mayor by 2000 school children in Chicago. In the letters, the children addressed issues such as trash, gangs, computers, playgrounds, and safer streets. After reading...

Series of interactive activities for practicing skills in summarizing information, in identifying main points and ideas, and in sorting lists into meaningful categories.

Students will use graphic organizers to help them make inferences about historical figures' feeings and motives. Students will summarize the information during an extension activity.