Curated OER
8.SP.1Texting and Grades I
Here is a fitting question for middle schoolers to consider: Is there a relationship between grade point average and frequency of sending texts? Starting statisticians examine a scatter plot and discuss any patterns seen.
C.S. Lewis Foundation
Study Guide to Surprised by Joy
This resource makes accessible the text that portrays the occurrences leading to C.S. Lewis’s finding of God. It encourages the reader to personally reflect upon, and examine Surprised by Joy. The document is divided into two sets where...
Curated OER
Science: Matter and Energy
Designed to use when teaching adults preparing for their high school equivalency exam, the resource integrates reading practice, writing, and analytical thinking in every lesson. The unit covers 23 topics, but it only includes three...
Curated OER
Express Yourself!
Elementary learners practice reading with expression to understand text better. They identify punctuation marks to see how each sentence is to be expressed with a certain emotion. Then they practice their new skills by working through...
BBC
Julius Caesar Teacher Pack
A great actor has the ability to make or break a play. A series of lesson plans related to William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar looks closely at the choices actors make during a production of the play to help provide insight into the...
Reading Worksheets
Inferences Worksheet 2
You might infer that is activity is all about making inferences. And you'd be correct! Invite your learners to read four short passages. After reading each passage, pupils make inferences and support their inferences with textual evidence.
Read Works
Columbus Was an Explorer
Get the inside scoop on the European explorer, Christopher Columbus, with a response to reading activity that requires scholars to answer who, what, why, when, and a variety of other questions about the word crew.
K5 Learning
What Police and Detectives Do
What do police and detectives do to keep their community safe? Six short-answer questions make up a activity designed to reinforce reading comprehensions skills while providing information about police officers and detectives.
K5 Learning
Rocks
Five short answer questions follow an informational reading passage that details the three different types of rocks—sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic—and their rock cycle.
University of North Carolina
Poetry Explications
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...
K12 Reader
Different Perspectives: The American Revolution
Prompt your young historians to hone in their reading comprehension skills by considering the fascinating perspective that Rudyard Kipling offers in his poem, "The American Rebellion", which provides an alternative...
Curated OER
Twain: Tom Sawyer—Mythic Adventurer
Students take a closer look at archetypes. In this characterization lesson, students examine the setting and the characters of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer as they read and analyze the novel. Students consider how Twain mythically...
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,...
Novelinks
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Directed Reading Thinking Activity
Guide your pupils through The Adventures of Tom Sawyer with a directed reading exercise. The teacher asks questions as the class reads a chapter to help lead learners toward making well-supported predictions.
Curated OER
Color Coding Richard III
Tenth graders use color-coded annotation or text-marking to analyze a passage from Richard III. In this text analysis instructional activity, 10th graders read a passage from Richard III and use colored pens to analyze the text. Students...
Curated OER
Information Texts
Students recognize features of information texts. Students analyze each texts' importance in journalism. Students relate these features to their own environments. Students share findings with the class.
Curated OER
Untying the Knot
What are the current trends in divorce? What contributes to this? Examine celebrity relationship trends and how they relate to the general public with this discussion lesson. Middle schoolers analyze the results of a Census Bureau study...
Curated OER
Una carta a un amigo
Who is Roberto? Give your Spanish speakers the letter from Roberto, detailing what it's like to go to school in Mexico. As they read they letter, they should mark the text, highlight words they don't know, and make clarifications when...
Curated OER
Europe in Upheaval (1850 - 1914)
Europe was in a state of transition and upheaval that spanned a time of 60 years, beginning in 1850 and running through the first World War. Uncover the wars, key players, politics, and social movements that marked this time period in...
Curated OER
Star Spangled Banner: For Orchestra
Middle schoolers practice playing "The Star Spangled Banner" while focusing on phrasing. They work with the instructor to mark the lyrics and music, then play the song using the phrasing indicated. Several...
Curated OER
Identifying Theme
What's theme, and can texts of every length have one? Explore the themes of fives short reading passages with your middle school class. Encourage them to highlight specific places in the text where they recognized the theme.
Curated OER
Frame Story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"
Mark Twain's frame story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" provides an opportunity for a study of this story-within-a-story pattern. Using an illustrated template, class members record a plot summary of the frame story...
Baylor College
Comparing Sizes of Microorganisms
Kids compare what printed text looks like with the naked eye and under magnification. They discuss the extremely small scale that must be used to measure the size. They learn about the micrometer unit, then draw scale models of a variety...
EngageNY
Characters Changing Over Time (Chapter 10: "Las Papas/Potatos")
Engage further in Esperanza Rising with a focus on close reading and metaphor. Class members zero in on the tenth chapter, examining characters and big ideas. Pupils discuss the text in small groups and as a whole class, and...