Read Works
Read Works: Antibiotics: Use Them Wisely
[Free Registration/Login Required] This passage focuses on Antibiotics including who invented them, how they work, how germs can become resistant to them, and how to take them. It is followed by a comprehension question set.
Read Works
Read Works: The Ants and the Grasshopper
[Free Registration/Login Required] This passage is a brief version of the Aesop's Fable "The Ants and the Grasshopper" which is followed by a comprehension question set.
Read Works
Read Works: William's Windmill by Kate Paixao
[Free Registration/Login Required] This passage is about what windmills can do; it is followed by a comprehension question set and a vocabulary worksheet for the word "village" is provided.
Read Works
Read Works: Forms of Art Watercolor
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage explains the process of watercolor painting. It includes comprehension questions and a teacher guide and can be used as both a read-aloud exercise and an individual practice tool.
Read Works
Read Works: Declaration of Independence
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the Declaration of Independence and why it was written. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Read Works
Read Works: The Mighty Semiconductor and the Rise of Silicon Valley
[Free Registration/Login Required] This five-page PDF nonfiction passage "The Mighty Semiconductor and the Rise of Silicon Valley" discusses how semiconductors made computers possible. It is followed by 10 comprehension questions. A link...
Read Works
Read Works: Read Aloud Lesson: Digging Up Dinosaurs
[Free Registration/Login Required] Teachers will read "Digging Up Dinosaurs" using the close reading technique. Students will use graphic organizers to summarize the steps necessary to collect, study, and build a dinosaur skeleton.
Harvard University
Harvard College Writing Center: How to Do a Close Reading
A brief explanation of the tasks involved in doing a close reading in preparation for writing. This writer breaks the process into three steps which involve annotating the text, looking for patterns, and asking questions of the text.
Read Works
Read Works: Terrific Toucans by Kate Paixao
[Free Registration/Login Required] This informational passage is about toucans and is followed by a comprehension question set.
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
Jefferson Lab: Reading Passages: Atomic History
Read and fill in the blanks of this passage explaining atomic history. Each blank has a dropdown menu with choices. When you finish, click CHECK MY ANSWERS. If you pick a wrong answer, the right answer will be displayed along with your...
![De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: His First Dollar [Pdf] Activity](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: His First Dollar [Pdf] Activity")
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: His First Dollar [Pdf]
"His First Dollar" is a one-page, historical fiction passage in which Abraham Lincoln tells his Secretary of State Seward when and how he had earned his first dollar. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Columbus and the Egg [Pdf]
"Columbus and the Egg" is a one page, historical fictional passage about Christopher Columbus's return to Spain after discovering America. Some people said anyone could sail the seas. Columbus used an egg to make a point. It is followed...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Close Reading of Poetry: Practice 2 (English I Reading)
Read carefully in order to identify allusion, imagery, metaphor, and symbolism and to evaluate their impact on the meaning of a text. RL.9-10.9 alllusions to other works.
Yale University
Yale National Initiative:take a Stab at It: Exploring Character in Julius Caesar
This curriculum unit guides students in a deep investigation of the characters in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, and in developing an appreciation of Shakespeare's talent for language and his insightful understanding of human...
Lumen Learning
Lumen: Rhetorical Reading: Strategies for Active Reading
This lesson focuses on strategies for active reading such as annotating your texts, reading multiple times, and using your prior knowledge.
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
Jefferson Lab: Reading Passages: The Earth's Energy Budget
Read and fill in the blanks of this passage explaining the earth's engergy budget. Each blank has a dropdown menu with choices. When you finish, click CHECK MY ANSWERS. If you pick a wrong answer, the right answer will be displayed along...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: A New Day [Pdf]
"A New Day" is a one-page, fictional reading passage about children who learned about civil rights marches while visiting their grandfather in Mississippi. They helped people register to vote before President Obama was elected for the...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Close Reading of Prose: Practice 1 (English I Reading)
In this lesson, students practice close reading strategies to help them understand a writer's tone. They will examine the writer's choice of diction, details, and irony to identify the writer's attitude.
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: A Good Student [Pdf]
"A Good Student" is a one page, fictional reading passage about a freshmen going to a large high school on the first day of school. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from the...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Literary Text: Close Reading of Prose: Practice 2
This activity focuses on close reading, the careful, sustained reading of a text. One strategy to help you read closely is to ask yourself questions such as What is your overall impression of the passage? What mood does the passage...
Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University (Dr. Mc Clennen): How to Do a Close Reading
This guide is written for college students, but should be very useful for upper level high school students as well. The writer first describes fourteen steps to take in doing a close reading, then provides six pieces of advice on how to...
Thinkport Education
Thinkport: Qualitative & Quantitative Information: Tree Destroying Bugs
In this science-themed literacy lesson, middle school students read about an exotic bug and integrate qualitative and quantitative information through close reading and viewing of diagrams.
McGraw Hill
Mc Graw Hill: Mastering the Common Core Accessing Complex Texts With M. Russo
This professional development video is instructed by the National Reading Consultant, Marisa Russo. She provides explanations about what makes a complex text, why text complexity is important, and techniques to help student access...
McGraw Hill
Mc Graw Hill: How to Use Strategies to Teach Students to Access Complex Texts
In this short video, the strategies of summarizing, clarifying, and asking-answering questions are used. These instructional tools will help teachers show students how to access complex texts. [5:54] CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.10