Young literary analysts compare two poems by the same author. Readers look for slant rhyme, observe the beat and rhythm of each, and search for repeated vowel sounds. After re-reading, they observe the lack of punctuation and the stanza...

What would a main idea be without important details? Readers use a graphic organizer to record key details from an informational text (a fiction text would also work). Review main idea as a concept before beginning, asking scholars...

Use an alternative setting for pregnant teens and young mothers, as well as special education children to examine environmental topics through literature. Included in this unit is a visit to neighborhood libraries to select children's...

If you are teaching Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, you can't afford to miss this source. An extensive list of ideas outlines numerous discussion topics, writing prompts, comprehension questions, oral presentations, and projects. Have class...

By digitally organizing research, your class leaves a legacy for future students on the life and times of Mark Twain. Before reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, scholars conduct group research projects on one of six (listed)...

William Shakespeare's Sonnet 138 is the focus of a reading comprehension exercise that asks readers to answer to five questions using evidence drawn from the poem to support their response.

After listening to a story learners engage in a kinesthetic activity to answer comprehension and critical thinking questions. Finally, the students identify three main facts about the story. Extensions include a fact and opinion...

Students read one of the following books: Minn of the Mississippi, Paddle-to-the-Sea, or Seabird, all by Holling C. Holling, and identify the five themes of geography as well as make a literature journal with chapter field notes. They...

Readers of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings are asked to craft an essay in which they compare how Maya Angelou uses figurative language to depict herself and Mrs. Flowers. 

Why do we read primary source documents? What can they give us that other writings cannot? Provide your learners with any of the primary sources attached here (there are seven), and have them complete the graphic organizer (which opens...

Travel back in American history to the era of slavery and abolition. After reading about the Underground Railroad, young historians examine a painting depicting the event, and write a narrative from the point of view of a person in the...

Young scholars research philanthropy in three genres: a play, a fable, and a parable. Students read an Aesop fable and answer questions in groups. Young scholars complete steps in two worksheets from 'The Good San Franciscan' and...

Nothing aids in comprehension more than an explanation and understanding of why things are done. Address why the Common Core requires the reading percentages that it established and analyze how this affects your readers. Learners read...

In this predictions instructional activity, 5th graders guess what Jumanji and will be about after reading only the first line. Students write and illustrate their own short story based on the first line of Jumanji .

A car crash, a murder, a hurricane. With such a plot, why is the title of Sheila Turnage's novel Three Times Lucky? After making a prediction about the plot, scholars use the novel study to research and record facts...

Tiger, puma, lynx, jackal: which does not belong? Using the novel study for The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo, scholars complete a similar vocabulary exercise. Next, they write sentences explaining why their chosen words don't fit. They...

Get the facts straight with a reading quiz on the first three chapters of Beverly Cleary's The Mouse and the Motorcycle. The questions address details from the plot and provides a writing prompt to predict what will happen next in the book.

Scratching your head when it comes to engaging writing prompts? Check out a list of prompts designed for middle school classes, which includes topics for persuasive writing, expository writing, how-to essays, personal narratives, and...

Find out just how smart your young mathematicians are with this cross-curricular math and language arts lesson. After first reading Shel Silverstein's poem "Smart", learners draw pictures of coins to model the different exchanges...

Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy have captured the heart of readers since Pride and Prejudice was first published in 1813. An eBook version of Jane Austen's novel gives learners a chance to read about the classic characters. 

Writing about and in response to what you read can help you process the text and lead to stronger analysis. Included here are four larger topics that learners can write about, sentence starters to help pupils get started with their...

Five questions challenge scholars to make inferences after reading a poem, "Picture-Books in Winter" by Robert Louis Stevenson. 

Take a journey to India with a read aloud of The Drum: A Folktale from India by Rob Cleveland. Make connections to the story's theme by building and practicing drums, role playing story characters, and practicing skills in phonics, math,...

Before beginning a reading of Wuthering Heights, class members respond to a series of statements on an anticipation guide.