Looking to increase reading comprehension? Teach this lesson, which is flexible enough to use with either informational texts or with literature. Teams of boys and girls work together to answer a comprehension question after listening to...

After researching an issue introduced in Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America, writers develop an original thesis statement and craft an analytic essay using evidence collected in their research.

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...

Discuss the difference between legitimate debate on a political issue and arguments that are based on hate through a science-fiction scenario that shows how a controversial issue can be discussed in both ways. Then learn how purveyors of...

Four thought-provoking questions encourage readers to develop and support their opinions about strategies to end a friendship after exploring excerpts from a New York Times article. The reading is brief so this could be a lead-in to...

Scholars determine statements as fact or opinion in a practice page consisting of two reading passages followed by multiple choice and short answer questions. Fact and opinion passages detail information about Chicago and Ethiopia. 

A instructional activity all about Susan B. Anthony showcases the Civil Rights leader's contributions towards equality. A Susan B. Anthony coin sparks engagement. Scholars take part in a discussion that sheds light on what being an agent...

President Ronald Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall" speech, delivered on June 12, 1987 before the Berlin Wall, provides class members with an opportunity to examine three key aspects of informational text: author bias, the use of facts and...

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...

Students summarize a selected piece of text nonfiction text. After reviewing the correct way to highlight important information, students read a nonfiction article. They write a summary paragraph using the five step process outlined by...

The Apaches: People of the Southwest offers readers a chance to employ the “Ready-Set-Go-Whoa!” strategy (an adaptation of the KWL) to test what they know and summarize what they learn as they read Jennifer Fleischner’s nonfiction...

Students practice writing questions on a selected topic. Students discuss questioning skills. They browse through books and magazines, review their textbooks, watch a film, or participate in a similar experience that will provide some...

The history of the northern states' involvement in the slave trade is not widely known. This resource uses the PBS documentary, Traces of the Trade, and the nonfiction book, Children of the New England Slave Trade, to examine this aspect...

The animal kingdom is full of interesting organisms that have unique ways of surviving. Children read about different insects that have special tools for building homes and protecting themselves. When finished, learners identify the main...

Seventh graders are introduced to and discuss the power of persuasion. After reading text, they identify the author's purpose, perspective and argument. They write their own fiction and non-fiction texts and develop a perspective after...

Eighth grades can master the ELA Common Core standards! Show your learners the connection between classroom activities and assignments and the standards with this set of "I Can" statement posters. Each standard has been rewritten as an...

Help your seventh graders relate the ELA Common Core standards to their own learning with these "I Can" statement posters. Each standard has been translated into a statement that pupils can understand and placed on its own page for...

Students summarize a selected piece of text nonfiction text. After reviewing the correct way to read silently, students read a nonfiction article. Working in groups, they write a summary paragraph using the five step process outlined by...

Ninth graders identify and recognize characteristics of nonfiction in literary works, explore language and culture of Gullah people, compare and contrast purposes of spirituals and quilts in terms of their relationships to escape from...

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" serves as an exemplar for a mini-activity on semicolons. Working alone or in small groups, class members first circle all the semicolons in the letter, and then consider how...

To get to the heart of a writer's purpose, just remember to have some PIE (Persuade, Inform, or Entertain)! And appropriately, here is a PIE chart that leaves room for pupils to identify each letter of the acronym and any other...

Fact and opinion passages inform readers about the seasons on the prairie and Zambia in Southern Africa. Then, test scholar's knowledge with multiple choice and short answer questions.     

What's the difference between hibernation and a good nap? Find out with an engaging life science activity that compares the hibernation habits of grizzly bears and marmots. After learners read an informational passage about each mammal,...