What kind of text features help children build a strong vocabulary? Class members use text features such as headers to unpack new vocabulary words. They create vocabulary journals in which they will write what they think the definition...

To gain a better understanding of Hispanic heritage and culture, as well as to build informational comprehension skill, learners explore facets of Hispanic American History. They engage in a class discussion, research three facts, and...

The sixth lesson plan in this Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle unit assesses your third graders' ability to read and understand informational text. The included assessment asks learners to take notes about the main idea and supporting...

It is no easy feat to wade through legal and political documents. And incorporating this type of informational text into a literature class can also be a challenge. Here’s a resource that includes suggestions for how to address this...

Anybody can write a body paragraph! Pupils analyze the development of ideas in a body paragraph from a model essay. Next, using what they've learned, they draft the body paragraphs of their My Rule to Live By informative essay. 

A powerful introduction and conclusion can really pack a punch. Using the resource, scholars first read and discuss a model essay. Then, as part of the end of unit assessment, they draft the introductory and concluding paragraphs of...

Show your class how to read a map and decipher all of the markings and features. Start out by connecting maps to their homework from the night before and their current reading, in this case That Book Woman, and a related informational...

A four-paragraph informational text details the life of the famous baseball player, Jackie Robinson. A prompt challenges scholars to write or discuss a time in their life when they were not included and how that made them feel. 

Investigate herbal medicine in the science or health classroom with this instructional activity from the New York Times. After a discussion about class members beliefs about and experiences with herbal medicines, pupils read an...

Comparing information found in images, charts, and graphs with that found in written text can be a challenge for even senior high scholars. Provide learners with an opportunity to practice this skill with an exercise that asks them to...

In the tenth instructional activity of this unit, young scholars learn to categorize information as they continue researching their colonial trade. During guided practice, the teacher models how to read informational text slowly while...

Outlines are a great asset to essay planning. Scholars read and analyze a model essay about the importance of daily reading and consider how it would look in an outline format. Next, they outline their own informative essays about rules...

The gist should be short and sweet! Pupils practice finding the gist of an informational text and then write a summary of the text. Next, they gather with their research teams to discuss a focus question based on the novel Bud, Not Buddy...

Primary and secondary sources are the focus of a lesson that showcases the important role women played during the American Revolution. Pairs review sources and discuss their findings. A close-reading of an informational text leads the...

An informational text about Lemony Snicket leads to a discussion of the books class members have read in the Series of Unfortunate Events series. Children then compare and contrast the settings, plots, and characters in the...

Sometimes, it's fun to follow the rules. Using their drafts of an evidence-based essay from previous lessons, scholars write their final informative essays about rules to live by. Next, they choose and share quotes from their essays that...

What important facts about Dr. Seuss influenced the Read Across America movement...? This is the driving question of a research project that requires scholars to find information about Dr. Seuss' life and work. Class...

Here you'll find an extensive textbook chapter on Australia's indigenous people and the impact of European settlers on aboriginal tribes. The text includes several images, graphs, primary and secondary sources, follow-up...

As your class reaches the end of the book Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, the seventh instructional activity in this literary unit helps third graders transition from reading narrative to expository writing. Scholars develop their...

Following the reading of the book Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, the ninth lesson in this unit involves emerging experts in a science talk about how bullfrogs survive. Looking back through the text, young scholars prepare for the...

How far would your pupils go to be able to have access to books? Revisit Heather Henson and David Small's That Book Woman and challenge class members to take on the role of Cal or the Book Woman. By putting themselves in someone else's...

Critical thinking and social justice are central themes for this resource on bias and crime in media. The class views and discusses an incisive PSA that highlights assumptions based on race. Small groups read newspaper opinion pieces...

In preparation for the unit exam, groups employ the strategies they have been practicing to formulate an interpretative claim about the connections between Christopher Paul Curtis's " Bud, Not Buddy, and Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford...

How did colonial settlement and the establishment of the United States affect Native Americans in the Chesapeake region? Your young historians will analyze contemporary and historical maps, read informational texts, and work in groups to...