One skill essential to reading comprehension, is learning how to summarize a text. After reading a biography of Abraham Lincoln, readers demonstrate this ability by crafting a brief summary of Lincoln's life.

Sixth graders locate examples of persuasive writing. In this persuasive writing lesson students work in a groups to identify and analyze the use of propaganda techniques. Students use newspapers to find editorials, or advertisements,...

Students are introduced to nonfiction text. In this five esson unti, students explore nonfiction as a genre. They identify the components and text structure of text structure of nonfiction text. Students read a nonfiction passage and...

Learners understand the importance of maintaining a healthy weight and good health.  In this health lesson students read text then create their own pamphlet on the cardiovascular system, weight gain, treatments and health risks. 

Fifth graders run a school newspaper on a school website and discover how to use various literary forms as they relate to the writing process. In this school newspaper lesson plan, 5th graders synthesize information from different...

Fifth graders create a fairy tale story with emphasis on castles. After reading various texts featuring castles and their residents, 5th graders complete a book report project. The book report serves as a springboard to the writing...

Here's a worksheet to help advanced ESL learners work on reading comprehension. Students read an article about Google and decide where in the article each of the missing sentences belong.  

In this Language Arts worksheet, students read about persuasive writing. Students read an example and complete a chart that organizes the information into facts and opinions.

Students demonstrate reading comprehension by drawing a picture and writing a sentence about giraffes. In this early reading comprehension lesson, students listen to a read aloud and watch a video about giraffes before drawing a giraffe...

Young scholars play charades to act out vocabulary words that have recently been introduced in class.  In this vocabulary lesson students may work in groups or in pairs.

Students create movie posters based upon short stories they've recently read.  In this persuasive writing lesson plan students analyze a poster that  is intended to persuade people to want to see the movie and convince...

Students demonstrate their knowledge of the main elements of a story by creating a storyboard.  In this persuasive writing lesson students create storyboards that are intended to persuade a director to make a movie out of the short...

Should primary graders have their own computers? Should animals be kept in captivity? Young writers learn how to develop and support a claim in this short unit on persuasive writing.

Accompany a reading of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss and Tell Me, Tree by Gail Gibbons with an activity packet designed to bring awareness to nature, specifically trees. Scholars take to the outside, draw lines to create trees reminiscent of...

Explication may sound like a fancy word, but it's just a fancy way to say analysis. Using a handout on poetry explications, part of a larger series on specific writing assignments, writers learn how to break down and analyze a poem. The...

Teens and pre-teens are a prime target for advertisers, so how are they doing it? An interactive instructional activity highlights the strategies used by advertisers, such as visual imagery and verbal clues. Then, a short writing...

If you've ever looked at the US immigration system, you know that it is complex and a source of controversy. An insightful lesson plan encourages learners to conduct their own analyses of the US immigration system by asking them to...

Two activities work with a fiction and nonfiction book about robots‚—Robot Dreams by Sara Varon and Robot by Roger Bridgman. Scholars read each story, then build a robot out of found objects, examine robot sensors, and search for...

A Reading Adventure Pack takes a close look at birds. After reading a fiction and nonfiction book, scholars craft a thaumatrope, begin a birding journal using their sense of sight and hearing, and build a model bird using supplies from...

Practice reading comprehension by approaching oceanography through 2 pages of informational text. The text give introductory coverage of oceanography in practice, ocean zones, names of the 5 oceans, ocean features, and marine life. Three...

Students create new sentences using adverb clauses identified from a book.  In this narrative writing lesson, students write new sentences from some of the dependent clauses used in a book read to them by the teacher.  Students...

Imagine each one of your learners on task and interested in scientific material. Learners investigate science related art by creating a small museum! Using digital cameras, pupils photograph different scientific actions that look...

Six 3-D shapes are featured in this figure-recognition book template. As they create a "My 3-D Shapes Book," young scholars place shapes on the appropriate pages, which already have text indicating the shape and its color. Although it is...

Examine the nation's economic health using this GDP and CPI worksheet, which features helpful graphic depictions of complex concepts. The first 2 pages include 17 short-answer questions intended to guide reading from a text (not...