Ideas like this are highly effective for helping build better reading comprehension. The class listens to an excerpt from a grade-appropriate text, and they discuss what clues or words helped them visualize the scene. They then read a...

Even first graders can be exposed to good reading strategies and comprehension skills. The teacher demonstrates how to read informational text, look at the questions, reread the text, locate answer, then locate supporting details to...

Students use several strategies in poetry to convey tone and speaker. In this language arts lesson, students read and build vocabulary as they gain a larger understanding of how to write poetry. Students then work in groups in order...

A headless horseman? Really? A reading of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" launches a study of how to use the A-CLAP strategy to determine a story's credibility. Writers employ these techniques to craft their ghost stories and make them...

An effective way to demonstrate understanding is by synthesizing one's own work. Use a creative lesson designed for a unit on Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun for small groups to show what they know about the play,...

High schoolers examine the Reconstruction programs instituted following the American Civil War, the potential for change these efforts offered, and the realities that occurred. Guided by a PowerPoint presentation, class members read a...

High schoolers are asked to consider the connections between food, culture, and identity. They read articles and share what they learned in a jigsaw activity, read a short story, and make a claim about the story's theme, backing up their...

Willy Wonka takes center stage in a lesson about direct and indirect characterization. Scholars read a passage from the story about Wonka's Grand Entrance and watch a film clip of the same, noting examples of direct and indirect...

What were living conditions like in the United States during The Great Depression, and how do those conditions compare with today? That's the question young scholars consider as they prepare to read John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men....

Consider the elements and principles of design closely while examining works of art. Learners select an image from the provided pieces to write about in relation to the elements and principles of design. They then sketch and sculpt their...

S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders allows middle schoolers to reflect on mob mentality. After reading an article and watching a video about herd mentality, class members find examples in the novel of when characters go along with the...

A language arts instructional activity helps young writers identify elements that make up historical fiction. First, it guides them through elements of fictional pieces with vocabulary cards. Then, pupils work collaboratively to...

Let's compare and contrast! Scholars use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the experience of reading a poem and listening to its audio version. Next, they complete graphic organizers, comparing two different genres: a poem and a...

One can never be too prepared. Pupils prepare for their upcoming mid-unit assessment by writing their group norms for small group discussions. Additionally, scholars read and listen to a poem, comparing the two experiences using a Venn...

Let's race to the finish line. Scholars read an informational text about a chosen athlete. While reading, they add evidence and reasons to a graphic organizer to support their opinions about how their athlete broke barriers. 

Pupils read informational texts about the Mary River Project, searching for the gist. As they read the expert texts, they complete a graphic organizer to identify and analyze point of view.

The firsthand accounts of what it was like to be an enslaved person in the mid-1800s riveted a nation and the issue ultimately led to civil war. Using excerpts from Frederick Douglass's autobiography, budding historians examine what it...

A close examination of John Gast's painting "American Progress" launches a study of the concept of Manifest Destiny used to justify United States' policy of westward expansion. Young historians read statements from persons with different...

It is pointed, powerful, and painful! The first of three lessons about laws and practices that support inequality looks at how government policies created and reinforced segregated communities. Young social scientists read excerpts from...

It requires more than a twitch to shake off stress. But with the help of the stress management strategies taught in a very dynamic lesson, freshmen can learn to do so. Class members watch videos, examine an infographic, read an article,...

Two stories by Roald Dahl, "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "The Landlady" provide readers an opportunity to compare stories by the same author. After a close reading of the stories, teams select a character from one of the tales, craft...

The final lesson in the "Color of Law" series explores the government's discriminatory economic policies. Young scholars watch videos, read primary source materials, and examine images to gather information. They discuss how what they...

The second instructional activity in "The Color of Law" shows how government policies supported economic inequality. Scholars read additional excerpts and respond to text-dependent questions from "The Color of Law" text, examine primary...

What does commentary have to do with narrative? Before scholars explain the narrative choices in their Character Confessionals, they review provided commentary to explain the score they received on previous assessments. They review...