How did free and enslaved blacks work to craft freedom for themselves and their families before the Civil War? Young historians read about the life of Thomas Day, a free black man who also owned slaves and had abolitionist ties in...

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...

Lights, camera, action. Scholars use page 33 of The Most Beautiful Roof in the World to create a readers theater. They work in triads and use sticky notes to mark and create their own speaking parts from sections of the text. They...

Jacque's soliloquy from Act II, scene ii of As You Like It sets the stage for a close reading exercise that models how to approach difficult, dense text and enables readers to practice reading comprehension and analysis...

Dig in deeper with Robert Frost's, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." Learners will read and discuss poems by Robert Frost and learn the meaning of terms such as narrative and personal. They journal, collaborate, and present poetry...

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” Ambrose Bierce’s short story, is used to model how structural moves, the decisions an author makes about setting, point of view, time order, etc., can be examined to reveal an author’s purpose. Groups...

Readers will get a peculiar thrilling sensation from this reading comprehension exercise that asks them to identify how Poe uses repetition and sensory language to build tension in his short story, "The Pit and the Pendulum."

After reading the book Jack of All Tails, learners complete vocabulary activities, play charades, consider a list of questions, and complete a list of verbs. There are also several suggestions for how to connect this language...

A short, eight-slide show inspires viewers to read to preschoolers. The benefits of reading to children are listed, including the four areas of development affected. Tips for choosing quality literature for this age group are also...

In this reading comprehension worksheet, students read a one paragraph text about turtle doves. Students answer one multiple choice question.

In this reading comprehension instructional activity, students read a one paragraph text about screenwriters. Students answer one multiple choice question.

In this reading comprehension worksheet, students read a one paragraph text about fortune cookies. Students answer one multiple choice question.

Students participate in a cross-age reading program. In this language arts lesson, students choose a class of younger children and read them the book The Legend of the Bluebonnet. Students reflect upon their service project in a journal.

For this cloze activity worksheet, 2nd graders complete 12 sentences using long u words from the word bank at the bottom of the page. They read each sentence before adding the word that makes sense.

In this differences worksheet, students look at 2 pictures of cats trying to read a sign that look the same but there are differences they have to find. Students find 10 differences.  

Set young readers on the path toward fluency with this phonemic awareness resource. Based on the award-winning children's book, Where the Wild Things Are, this activity allows beginning readers to practice isolating...

Guide your class through a text with resources for before and after reading. Learners ask questions, discuss characters and plot points, point out elements of the reading that stood out, and compose brief summaries.

Before beginning The Winter's Tale groups read and discuss a scenario that parallels the plot of Shakespeare's play. They then brainstorm possible solutions to the problem.

Use this short reading passage and the five accompanying questions as a quiz to assess the reading comprehension of your beginning Spanish classes. After they read the passage about the four seasons, they answer questions to distinguish...

Kindergarteners study beginning letter sounds in this interactive plan. They will match picture cards to the letter sound that each image begins with. After working together as a whole group, pupils participate in a game in which they...

This literacy worksheet would best be used as an assessment for monitoring the progress of very young readers and writers. In it, learners read 10 words, then copy them in blank spaces provided below.

In this bar graph worksheet, students learn how to read bar graphs by using the information in each word problem and making bar graphs with the information to help solve the problems.

It's the Bears vs. the Seals! Who is the season winner? Read this data and have your math class answer the six questions that follow. Consider graphing the chart as a class, or encouraging individuals to graph it before answering the...

Who is Alejandra? Beginning Spanish language learners read the short paragraph describing Alejandra, and then they complete the seven fill-in-the-blank sentences included. Use this as a quick assessment to see how much your readers...