Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is a literary masterpiece as well as a timestamp of the formative mid-nineteenth century in America. Using a primary source set of photographs, letters, and portraits, readers discuss the ways...

Research the necessary components of a planet that supports life after reading the article "All of a Sudden, The Neighborhood Looks a Lot Friendlier" from The New York Times. After finding their information, middle and high schoolers...

Students define "nonfiction" and describe what they view as the best pieces of nonfiction writing. They determine criteria to evaluate whether or not a piece of nonfiction writing is good, and list categories of nonfiction writing.

In this revision activities worksheet, learners plot the development of tension throughout the book, answer seven questions about plot, analyze characters and theme, and discuss the writing style of the author. Students answer ten short...

A desk is used as a visual analogy to construct the main idea and supporting details in a story. The top of the desk is the main idea, and each of the four legs provides supporting details. The legs of the desk provide support for the...

Sometimes the way a topic is presented in fiction can be very different from how it is in reality. Compare and contrast a topic from both a fiction and nonfiction source with a graphic organizer that prepares kids to write about what...

A set of very useful posters (in PDF) describing different types of non-fiction texts is here for you. While there isn't an activity, per se, in these worksheets, they could be used as a handy reference for learners who are engaging in...

What factors help people achieve goals? What factors prevent people from achieving goals? What are the elements that need to be in place to make a team function well? Using Damien Lewis’ Desert Claw and John Francome’s Winner Takes All,...

Students practice using their target language by writing a news article.  In this foreign language writing lesson, students create a fictional "hero" in their city which they write a fictional news article about in their new...

Practice makes perfect. A practice test designed for the ELA MCAS Assessment gives seventh grade learners the opportunity to answer reading comprehension questions and respond to essay prompts. Questions involve general fiction and...

Students study stories. In this writing instructional activity, students discuss the three aspects of a story, read stories focusing on the characters, write a story as a class about a character made up by the class, and write a story...

Students explore the connections between non-fiction and fiction best-seller lists and current events that are shaping readers' lives and choices.

Learners reflect on the importance of science literacy. They review the year's science curriculum by reading, discussing and writing questions on teacher-selected New York Times articles and the related science content.

Students listen to a story about, and visualize, fanciful dragons with wings. They create imaginative paper dragons that can fly. Students write fictional stories about the adventures of their flying dragons. They imagine if dragons...

Fifth graders explore historical fiction. In this genre study lesson, 5th graders go on a text feature scavenger hunt to identify the parts of a historical fiction text. Additionally, students read the book, My Secret War and discuss...

Explore how lack of access to water impacts peoples' lives in poor countries. Through text reading and discussion, middle schoolers are presented with the story of a young girl who lives and functions with limited water resources. They...

Differentiate instruction with this crafty approach to demonstrating comprehension. Learners choose a fictional book at their reading level, and afterward create a quilt square. The square is "decorated" with words, illustrations, and...

Learners apply word analysis skills to recognize new words, identify genres of fiction and nonfiction, and identify important themes and topics. They explore differences in plants, flowers, and vegetables. A book bag full of activities...

Young language arts learners write and illustrate a short fantasy story based on the book Corduroy. First, learners need to develop a character. Then, through their writing and illustrations, they take their characters on adventures...

Identify main events in a text. Readers will read The Kissing Hand and discuss the main events of the story. They will use sentences strips to write down events and place them in order. Alternative books are suggested.

This PowerPoint provides a summary, comprehension questions, vocabulary words, and links for independent activities related to the story "The Swimming Hole" by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Age-appropriate definitions of such literacy elements...