Strengthen the bonds of friendship within your class with a reading of E.B. White's award-winning novel, Charlotte's Web. Focusing on the unique characters in the story and the relationships they develop, young readers draw...

A 10-lesson unit takes high schoolers through a novel study of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. To start, students learn about Fitzgerald's background and gain historical context that prepares them for a reading of the book. The...

Students read the story "The Secret to Freedom" and participate in active reading to personalize what they have read. In this reading lesson, students follow  several writing activities and discuss their work . Students integrate...

Students read the book I Am Tall and complete several reading response activities relating to the poems in the book. In this reading response lesson, students focus on the subject of fathers and make speculations about what the poems in...

Young scholars read the book "Baseball Saved Us" and respond to the story through writing activities. In this reading lesson, students create a chart of events  which they predict will take place in the story. Young scholars then...

Though this book report form is labeled Siddhartha, the multiple-page format would work for any novel you are reading in class. Complete with a reading schedule, a summary page, a list of generic literature response questions, and a list...

How did scientists determine the cause of illness before technology? Science scholars play the role of medical researcher in an engaging guided inquiry activity. Using observations, technical reading, and Punnett squares, learners...

Pink and Say, a picture book by Patricia Polacco, and an anticipation guide, set the stage for a reading of Mississippi Trial, 1955, Chris Crowe's novel based on the true story of the murder of Emmett Till. Instructional routines, the...

"Things never change." "It's okay to steal from those who already have a lot." Before reading Canyons, readers respond to an anticipation guide that focuses on issues raised in Gary Paulsen's novel. Groups share their responses, and...

Although the title suggests this resource is devoted to Gulliver’s Travels, the materials and templates can be used with any work of literature. Readers fill out a reading schedule chart, write a summary, keep a vocabulary word list, and...

How would you feel if you were on trial for murder—and you were only 16 years old? Put yourself in Steve Harmon's shoes before reading Monster by Walter Dean Myers. Kids listen to music that fits the theme of the book before...

Here is a wonderful lesson designed for students with special needs. This well-thought-out lesson uses Big Books, familiar stories, and has a lot of review learning built into it. The book, The Keeping Quilt is used in the main part of...

In The Giver literature guide worksheet, learners read several passages from the novel and identify the type of conflict it exemplifies and explain it.

Encourage scholars to share their love of reading with informative and engaging book reviews. Here, you'll find a series of guides that walk learners through the review writing process. Included in the collection is information about...

Model for young readers how to make the shift from passive to active reading by making text-to-self and text-to-text connections. After a series of activities that provide guided practice, the focus shifts to making text-to-words...

Add to children's enjoyment of the award-winning novel Maniac Magee with this fun collection of resources. From sequence of events and fact or fiction worksheets, to writing newspaper articles and creating advertisements based...

Guide your class through reading various versions of The Three Little Pigs. Talk about the traditional story line and then discuss a different point of view: Maybe the wolf was just an innocent bystander! This lesson plan, which has...

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...

Have your class explore active reading strategies! In this guided reading lesson, learners make personal connections to characters having a bad day as a prior knowledge activation discussion. After reading Gettin' Through Thursday, class...

Imagine computer science all summed up in one book. This resource provides 16 chapters that cover many aspects of computer science, ranging from algorithms to software engineering. The e-book contains links to applets to help explain...

Do your class members’ questions lack depth? “Sigh no more . . .sigh no more.” Use a questioning strategy based on Bloom’s taxonomy to encourage readers to create questions that probe the themes of any text. The model discussion...

Inntroduce primary learners to essential critical reading strategies with an activity based on James Reeves' poem, "The Wind."  Learners listen as the poem is read, first as a riddle, and then re-read with the title visible. The...

Read and act out folktales, fairy tales, or myths from various Asian American cultures with your class. Each group reads a story aloud and then works together to create a short play or skit about the story. Suggestions for stories are...

Students read several fairy tales of Russian origin. They brainstorm common elements of a fairy tale and identify those elements in several examples. They retell a favorite fairy tale through a skit, oral storytelling, a sketch, or a...