How much do your learners know about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.? Set up an opportunity for kids to learn about Dr. King while practicing reading fluency with a reader's theater activity. The script is for four voices and includes...

Looking for an interactive back to school activity? Start by reading the book The Kissing Hand, and having your class discuss their feelings about the first day of school. They trace their hand onto paper, cut out the paper hand,...

How can you tell what is going to happen next in a story? Learn to make predictions with five sections of stories. Kids read the beginning, and then write what they believe will happen next. Additionally, they provide evidence for their...

Cross-comparison, the technique of focusing on two different texts with the same themes, motifs, events, etc., is employed in an exercise that asks groups to examine two different translations of “The Ruin,” a poem, written in Old...

Draw back the curtain, add a spot of joy to your class, and let learners be lessoned by a close reading exercise that models how to develop an interpretation based on evidence drawn from a text. Robert Browning’s dramatic monologue “My...

Judge Learned Hand's "Spirit of Liberty" speech delivered during the July, 1944 "I Am an American Day" celebration is the subject of a close reading activity that models for learners how to approach a dense, difficult text.

Activate the prior knowledge of young scholars as they expand their vocabulary with this language arts activity. Given a deck of cards containing new vocabulary words, learners sort them into four categories, from Don't know the meaning...

Which option would most children choose: One marshmallow now, or two marshmallows in 10 minutes? Learners watch the social experiment on video and discuss their observations. They then read articles and work in small groups to analyze...

It can be difficult to find the theme of a book or story if you don't know the questions to ask. Teach your kids to discern the universal theme in works of literature with a set of activities that promote critical thinking and...

How many trees can your pupils plant? Practice numbers 0-20 with several related activities. For the first, kids match images of trees to numbers. They then match the number symbols to number words, using a word bank. The final activity...

Complete with a reading schedule, literature question page, and supplementary list of literary activities, this book report form on Moby Dick would be an good resource for your junior high or high school class. The guide includes...

Explore Inez Haynes Gillmore's The Native Son with this thorough and engaging book report form. A reading schedule provides the opportunity to assign outside reading, and the other reading comprehension lessons could be...

Here's a resource that deserves a place in your curriculum library, whether or not your school has adopted the Common Core. Designed for middle and high school language arts classes, the packet is packed with teaching tips, materials,...

Foster reader confidence when encountering complex text and reinforce the skills readers have acquired to build and extend their understanding of text. The plan uses a section of Douglass’ narrative as an exemplar text. Directions for...

Discuss the active and passive voices with this packet. There are several exercises to complete! First, identify which sentences are active and which are passive. Then, create sentences in the passive voice with the given topic. Finally,...

An entire packet of reading passages, critical thinking questions, graphic organizers, and web links is here for the taking. Here is a 12 page activity focused on document analysis, reading comprehension, and critical thinking, related...

Youngsters visit the classroom library to complete various reading activities, pushing their motivation to read! They will discuss different library books and read two specific books that use "Building Block" reading skills. They also...

After hearing or reading a New York Times article on Twinkies, kids attempt to fill in the blanks by memory alone. They re-read the article, only this time words are missing, it's up to them to fill in each blank with a word from the...

Read the story The Great Smelly, Slobbery, Small-Tooth Dog: A Folktale from Great Britain by Margaret Read MacDonald and choose from multiple activities to learn about the tale's theme—kindness. With so many options, your kind kids will...

Reinforce reading comprehension with a instructional activity about The Archer and the Sun, a Chinese folktale. Kids learn some background information about Chinese culture before reading the story, and answer literacy...

Extend learning through summer with these activity ideas! Individuals can choose one or all nine of the activities, which range from a summer reading goal to an examination of local insects (with accompanying story prompt). See the...

After completing an online activity about the Mayflower, scholars draw a picture about what they know of the Thanksgiving holiday, including a one-sentence summary. A reading of If You Were at the First Thanksgiving by Anne Kamma is...

Ribbit ribbit! Hop through a series of activities based on A Tale of Two Frogs. Kids read the Russian folktale and answer reading comprehension questions before working on phonics exercises, tracing dotting lines to make a path...

Have your youngsters reading in no time with with collection of literacy activities and lessons. Starting with a basic understanding of the alphabet, this unit progressively builds students' phonemic awareness and ability to decode...