+
PPT
National Humanities Center

Teaching The Great Gatsby: A Common Core Close Reading Seminar

For Teachers 11th - 12th
The 41 slides in a professional development seminar model how to use close reading techniques to examine the many layers of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. In addition to passages from the novel, slides provide biographical...
+
Interactive
Texas Education Agency (TEA)

Close Reading of Prose: Practice 2 (English II Reading)

For Students 10th Standards
The tone is easy to hear but more challenging to detect in written texts. Users of this interactive learn how to closely observe the diction and words writers use to convey their feelings about their subject. They examine passages that...
+
Activity
Curated OER

Close Reading of “The Necklace”

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Designed for teachers, this 12-page packet uses passages from Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace" to model how to design activities that encourage close reading of complex text.
+
Handout
Deer Valley Unified School District

Close Reading: Analyzing Mood and Tone

For Students 9th - 12th
The AP Literature and Composition exam is all about close reading. Test takers are presented with a passage and asked to analyze how an author uses literary devices to create a desired effect. Prepare your students for the exam with a...
+
Worksheet
Curated OER

Reading Comprehension 6: Level 9

For Students 8th - 10th
Did you know that an acre of trees can absorb as much carbon dioxide as a car emits in 11,000 miles of driving? Such fun facts abound in a short reading comprehension passage detailing the benefits of parks and rooftop gardens. After...
+
Worksheet
Curated OER

Advanced Critical Reading: Biomimetics

For Students 8th - 11th
Instruct your class on biomimetics while practicing reading comprehension with this worksheet. Learners read a passage that describes the efforts of scientists, starting with Leonardo da Vinci, to emulate nature to solve issues in...
+
Activity
Novelinks

Tuck Everlasting: Similes, Metaphors, and Personification in Imagery

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Poetic language is abundant in Natalie Babbitt's beautiful novel, Tuck Everlasting. Learners note the examples of similes, metaphors, and personification they find as they read, and illustrate how the language creates a sensory...
+
Activity
2
2
National Park Service

Hibernation-Migration-Fascination

For Teachers 6th - 12th
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,...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
K20 LEARN

Lord of the Flies Unit, Lesson 4: Bad to the Bone

For Teachers 9th Standards
Is the nature of humans inherently good or evil? That is the question scholars consider in the fourth lesson of the Lord of the Flies unit. In a Four Corners activity, they examine statements about human nature and stand by the poster...
+
Assessment
Pearson

Performance-Based Assessment Practice Test (Grade 7 ELA/Literacy)

For Students 7th Standards
Give your class a taste of the Common Core with a practice test that includes both literary and informational reading passages. Pupils respond to related multiple choice questions and longer written response questions. See the materials...
+
Organizer
Curriculum Corner

Hibernation

For Students 4th - 5th Standards
What is hibernation? Which animals hibernate and which don't? A 40-page packet on hibernation includes graphic organizers, reading passages and pictures about animals that hibernate, task cards, templates for a hibernation booklet,...
+
Lesson Plan
Novelinks

The Tempest: QAR

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Asking questions about a text is an effective way to improve reading comprehension. Apply the Question Answer Response strategy to your unit on William Shakespeare's The Tempest. As kids read each passage, they decide if the answer can...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Epic Improvisation

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
Really? Rapping The Odyssey? Really. A discussion of the oral tradition of story telling and its links to Epic poetry sets the stage for a series of activities that encourage improvisation to integrate music into other classrooms....
+
Activity
Novelinks

Walk Two Moons: Guided Imagery

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Sensory details can enhance the reading experience, especially during a guided imagery reading. Young readers close their eyes and listen to a passage from Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons before responding to discussion questions and...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Pearl: Found Poem

For Teachers 9th - 12th
It's hard to beat the beauty of John Steinbeck's prose, so borrow a little of it to form your own found poetry. After kids finish Chapter One of The Pearl, they select the most evocative and vivid words to create found poems.
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Achieve3000

Figurative Language

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Similes and metaphors make writing more beautiful and detailed, but can be a little harder to decipher during a first reading. Use a passage from The Man Who Loved Words to show young readers how to think through passages that contain...
+
Worksheet
Mr. Nussbaum

Fort Sumter Reading Comprehension

For Students 5th - 8th Standards
The Battle of Fort Sumter was both the first and the least deadly battle of the American Civil War, with no soldiers lost during the lengthy bombardment. Learn more about the first shots of the Civil War with a short reading passage and...
+
Assessment
California Education Partners

Grapes of Wrath

For Students 9th Standards
To demonstrate their ability to comprehend complex text, individuals analyze the details, syntax, and diction John Steinbeck uses in a passage from The Grapes of Wrath to reveal the develop and evolution of Mae's character.
+
Assessment
California Education Partners

From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer

For Students 1st Standards
Conduct a lesson that leads into a writing assessment. After reading an excerpt from From Seed to Pumpkin, first graders demonstrate their interpretation of sections of the passage by sketching the details from each part.
+
Worksheet
Curated OER

Analyzing Poetry

For Students 10th - 12th
Use this poetry analysis worksheet to help your learners understand a poem of their or your choosing. This resource asks class members to summarize the poem and analyze it by looking at voice, word choice, imagery, and theme. The...
+
Organizer
English Worksheets Land

Party!

For Students 5th Standards
What could be more fun than two birthday parties in one day? Compare and contrast two parties with a short reading passage and a graphic organizer that focuses on character, setting, and events from the story.
+
Lesson Plan
US Holocaust Museum

Life in Shadows: Hidden Children and the Holocaust

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Hiding in the filth of a sewer, as a child, to avoid capture by Nazi soldiers—sounds scary! Scholars investigate the youngest victims of the Holocaust, the children. They research video clips and written sources from the Holocaust...
+
Lesson Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Ray Charles

For Students K - 3rd Standards
Introduce young learners to the read-aloud process with a short biographical passage about Ray Charles. After listening to the passage, class members respond to factual, inferential, and evaluative questions, and then create a timeline...
+
AP Test Prep
College Board

2008 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B

For Students 10th - 12th Standards
Ever wondered what your dog is thinking? Scholars take a close look at two poems written through the eyes of animals and then create essays analyzing each author's technique. Pupils also read a passage to write about the literary...