University of North Carolina
Figures and Charts
Sometimes words aren't the best way to get information across to the reader. The eighth handout in the 24-part Writing the Paper series describes different type of figures and charts to display complex information in a paper....
Curated OER
Predicting the Meaning of Unfamiliar Words in a Text
Middle schoolers develop strategies for what to do when they come upon words in a text that they don't know. After a class discussion, pupils are given a selection of text that contains some very difficult words. They are instructed to...
EngageNY
Main Ideas in Informational Text: Analyzing a Firsthand Human Rights Account for Connections to Specific Articles of the UDHR
Lesson 10 in a series of human rights lessons focuses on the skills of finding evidence and summarizing. Your young readers work to compare the two texts they have read in this unit: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights...
Polk Bros Foundation
Preview Reading
Scanning a text before getting started is a reading strategy that your pupils can use to get a general idea about a text before diving in. Give some direction to their scanning with a worksheet that includes items to check for and space...
Code.org
Text Compression
The second instructional activity in a unit of 15 introduces pupils to text compression. The class begins with discussing how they already use text compression when sending text messages. Pairs learn more about the subject as they work...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment: Text-Dependent and Short Answer Questions: Excerpts from “A Limited Supply”
There's no such thing as an unlimited resource. Scholars complete a mid-unit assessment by reading A Limited
Supply. They answer text-dependent questions and complete a graphic organizer about key terms in the text.
Curated OER
Reading Text with Appropriate Phrasing and Proper Expression
Practice reading with expression and appropriate phrasing with a scaffolded lesson. There is a detailed script here for you, but you could easily use it simply as an outline. Begin by modeling effective reading by displaying a large-text...
Curated OER
Blue Ribbon Readers: Making Connections
Model for young readers how to make the shift from passive to active reading by making text-to-self and text-to-text connections. After a series of activities that provide guided practice, the focus shifts to making text-to-words...
Curated OER
Linked Text Set: Pre-Reading Strategy. Fever 1793
The historical background for Fever 1793 is the focus of a pre-reading strategy that has class groups rotate through a series of stations stocked with photographs, articles, and other texts that describe the Yellow Fever outbreak of...
EngageNY
Point of View: Comparing Esperanza's and Isabel's Perspectives About Life in the Camp (Chapter 7: "Las Cebollas/Onions")
Explore point of view and more with a Common Core-designed instructional activity. Learners experience different points of view by representing one of two characters from Esperanza Rising during a partner discussion. They must use...
Curated OER
Altering Text Size, Color, and Font
Take a look at a very simple lesson on text size, text colors, and font choices. There is a step-by-step guide directing the young learners on what to do to change these things when working on a computer. Take it even further by adding a...
Curated OER
Relatives
Primary learners read the text The Relatives Came and make text to self-connections. In this literature discussion, they discuss what the text reminds them of in their own lives. They can also write down their connections and share them.
Curated OER
Identifying Information in Nonfiction
Second graders investigate information in non-fiction texts. They review the features of a non-fiction text and read the book Nature's Food Chains: What Polar Animals Eat. Pupils discuss the text features and write down one fact they...
Fluence Learning
Writing Informative Text: School Days
A three-part writing assessment challenges scholars to think critically about schools of the past and present. Learners read informative texts, answer questions to prepare for a discussion, research in small groups, complete a Venn...
EngageNY
Annotating the Text and Identifying Argument, Claims, and Evidence: “Double Whammy” Excerpt from “The Exterminator"
That's a double whammy! Scholars read the excerpt Double Whammy from The Exterminator. After identifying the gist of the text, they annotate by marking the author's claim. The group discusses what is meant by double whammy and complete...
Curated OER
Characteristics of Nonfiction
The second lesson in a series from ReadWorks.org, this lesson continues to explore the difference between fiction and nonfiction texts. The lesson opens with the teacher reviewing a class Venn diagram started in the last lesson....
Curated OER
Comprehension: Identify Cause and Effect Relationships in Text
Third graders and their teacher work together to understand cause and effect relationships in texts. The I do, we do, you do method is used as learners discuss and determine the cause and effect relationships found in several short...
Curated OER
Contents and Index
It's important for your readers to understand features of informational text such as index and table of contents, so give them this visual activity to get started. They read a brief explanation of informational text, then look at an...
Curated OER
Strong Convictions
How can the rhetorical structure of an editorial help to develop its argument? Use this New York Times editorial to emphasize the importance of structure in a piece of informational text. Adolescent writers then use the editorial as a...
Curated OER
A Better Class of Journal-ists
Young academics create a current events journal by skimming newspapers for articles that fit defined guidelines for informational texts. After cutting out two articles each week to add to their journals, they write a brief description of...
Curated OER
Applying Ahimsa to Traditional Stories
Investigate the life of Mahatma Gandhi by researching non-violent lifestyles. Learners define the word ahimsa and discuss the personal characteristics that made Gandhi a peaceful warrior. They also create a poster about the story "The...
Curated OER
Baking Bread
Reading and following recipes is a wonderful way to encourage the comprehension of procedural text. Here is a fabulous bread recipe that includes links to sites that show how bread is made in the commercial bread industry.
Curated OER
Student Opinion: How Impulsive Are You?
Sure to spark lively discussion in any Language Arts classroom, this article from The York Times asks the question, 'How much self-control do you have?'. Pupils begin by reading a short passage about a study on delayed gratification and...
Curated OER
Introduce: Main Idea
Begin exploring main idea in a text by telling the class an interesting story. Can they recall the main idea after you finish? What clues told them this was it? Explain that you will apply this concept as you read a nonfiction book....
Other popular searches
- Informational Text
- Text Features
- Expository Text
- Text Structure
- Descriptive Text
- Persuasive Text
- Non Fiction Text Features
- Identify Text Structure
- Nonfiction Text
- Texture
- Inferring Meaning From Text
- Summarizing Text