College Board
Reading—Synthesis and Paired Passages
Good readers make connections between texts. The SAT regularly assesses the ability to make those connections using paired reading passages, a topic discussed in an official SAT practice lesson plan on synthesis. During the lesson,...
Curated OER
Using the Comprehension Strategies
High school learners review the six major reading comprehension strategies. They demonstrate the strategies by putting them into action using more complex reading. They finish by discussing a seventh strategy, monitoring comprehension.
Thoughtful Education Press
Compare and Contrast
Encourage readers to compare and contrast the information that they find in informational text with a variety of reading passages and worksheets. Learners read all about subjects in science, social studies, and literature...
Student Achievement Partners
"The Glorious Whitewasher" from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain with Mini-Assessment
It's the classic scene: Tom Sawyer is whitewashing a fence. Expose your learners to Mark Twain's humor while reinforcing reading comprehension. Eighth graders are encouraged to read and reread, achieving as much exposure to the text...
Curated OER
Advanced Critical Reading: Biomimetics
Instruct your class on biomimetics while practicing reading comprehension with this activity. Learners read a passage that describes the efforts of scientists, starting with Leonardo da Vinci, to emulate nature to solve issues in...
K5 Learning
Musical Instruments to Play
Bring some music to your language arts lesson with a reading comprehension activity. Learners read an informational passage about different musical instruments before answering a series of comprehension and vocabulary questions.
Curated OER
Because of Winn-Dixie
Readers analyze an excerpt from Kate DiCamillo's novel Because of Winn-Dixie. They read silently, and then hear it read aloud. Definitions for underlined vocabulary words are in the margin, and other potentially difficult words...
EngageNY
Synthesizing from Informational Texts: Main Idea and Key Details from Promises to Keep (Pages 8– 10)
Learners determine the main idea of a timeline on pages eight and nine of the text Promises to Keep. They use the timeline to complete a Main Idea and Details note catcher and then share their thoughts with the class. To finish,...
Curated OER
Directed Reading Thinking Activity: Cold Sassy Tree
Lots of questions arise when reading Cold Sassy Tree. As your class encounters the twentieth chapter, encourage a rich discussion with some of the questions provided here. Then, either independently, or for homework, ask your readers to...
Curated OER
Synthesize, Don't Summarize
In this reading and writing analysis worksheet, students read two passages, one a summary of Flowers for Algernon and one a synthesis of the novel. The goal for students is to understand the effectiveness of synthesizing a piece of...
Odell Education
Building Evidence-Based Arguments: "Cuplae poena par esto: Let the punishment fit the crime."
Should a criminal's punishment match the crime? An argumentative writing plan explores this question as class members investigate a variety of mixed-medium sources by experts in the field, form evidence-based claims, and support them...
Curated OER
World Tuberculosis Day
March 24th is annually recognized as World Tuberculosis Day. In this World Tuberculosis Day instructional activity, students complete activities such as word scramble, numbering passages, scrambled sentences, think=pair-share, and peer...
Speak Truth to Power
Dalai Lama: Free Expression and Religion
How is religious freedom connected to the conflict between China and Tibet? After reading an online passage of background information, your learners will divide into groups and both read and view an interview with the Dalai Lama. They...
Curated OER
First-Aid Day
The second Saturday of September is recognized annually as World First Aid Day. In this First Aid Day worksheet, students read or listen to a passage, then match phrases, fill in the blanks, choose the correct word, unscramble words and...
Scholastic
Thanksgiving Lessons Grades PreK-2
A quintessential resource for teaching an elementary unit on the first Thanksgiving addresses a variety of skills, including informational reading, critical thinking, comparing and contrasting facts, technology tools, and historical...
Curated OER
The Hare and the Water: A Tanzanian Folk Tale
"The Hare and the Water," a Tanzanian folk tale, lends a global perspective to literary analysis. Learners spend the first two days reading and storyboarding. On day three, they examine folk tale elements (worksheet included), and design...
Curated OER
Cloze Instruction And Herringbone Technique
Young scholars sort out important information and create a visual framework for reviewing in the future. They organize a large quantity of information thus helping with learning and remembering details, cause and effect, comparison...
Peace Corps
Celebrating Our Connections Through Water
Water is vital for survival, but how does it help global cultures flourish? Elementary and middle schoolers learn about the different cultures around the world that celebrate water and incorporate it into their festivals or traditions.
Curated OER
Anne Frank and Louisiana - There is a Connection!
How is Louisiana connected to the Holocaust? After reading The Diary of Anne Frank, eighth graders complete a research report about a survivor of the Holocaust who currently resides in Louisiana. Though the idea is a good way to...
Curated OER
Louisiana Regional Foodways
Students strengthen their research techniques in locating, selecting, and synthesizing information from a variety of texts, media, references and internet resources to study regional food way traditions in Louisiana. They assess the...
Curated OER
Portraits Visual and Written: Louisa May Alcott and Samuel Clemens
Students discover the life and work of an American author, either Samuel Clemens or Louisa May Alcott. In this study of visual and written portraits lesson, students take a look at the authors through four different sources: a portrait,...
Curated OER
Main Idea- Fiction
Eighth graders investigate the concept of main idea and supporting details, and how they are used in the genre of fiction. In this literacy lesson, 8th graders listen to a fictional passage and take notes on the characters, setting,...
Curated OER
Main Idea 2
Eighth graders explore the main idea of stories. In this literacy instructional activity, 8th graders summarize the last TV show they watched, identify the main idea of the show, and list its supporting details. After a discussion of...
Curated OER
Map Out the Important Stuff!
Students practice summarization by creating a story map. Students listen to a read aloud by the teacher, after which the class creates a storymap of the major events in the story. They read a passage from the Indian in the Cupboard...