EngageNY
Writing to Inform: Analyzing a Model Using a Rubric
Learn to write right. Scholars analyze the model essay Adversity Faced by Townspeople in the Middle Ages. They discuss the essay and make annotations working with an elbow partner. Learners then take another look at the essay using a...
Reed Novel Studies
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing: Novel Study
Many turtle species can retreat their heads into their shells when threatened by predators. With the Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing novel study, pupils conduct research to uncover other interesting turtle facts. As they explore Judy...
Macmillan Education
Critical Thinking
Encourage learners to think deeply about the information they read or hear. Through a series of life skills worksheets, your pupils will consider the need for objectivity, identifying missing information, and problem solving.
Curated OER
Parrot in the Oven: Problematic Situation
Prior to reading Victor Martinez's Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida, class members are presented with a problematic situation and to rate their responses as well as predict the responses of a character from the novel.
Fluence Learning
Writing About Literature: Nature in the Writings of John Muir and Emily Dickinson
As an assessment of their skill in crafting a compare and contrast essay, class members read and compare the portrayals of nature in excerpts from naturalist John Muir's My First Summer in the Sierra and from poet Emily Dickinson's "The...
Reed Novel Studies
Tracker: Novel Study
Most deer are born with white spots that disappear as they grow. An interesting novel study for Gary Paulsen's Tracker shares more fascinating facts about the majestic animals. Readers also complete a vocabulary activity, solve anagrams,...
Reed Novel Studies
The Slave Dancer: Novel Study
What are the effects of a good literary cliffhanger? Using the novel study for Paula Fox's The Slave Dancer, pupils consider why the author chose to end the first chapter with suspense. They also answer text-based questions, practice new...
Curated OER
Tools of Persuasion
Ethos, pathos, and logos. After reading a passage about Aristotle's, three basic tools of persuasion, individuals answer a series of multiple choice comprehension questions and craft responses to three short-answer essay prompts.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Candidate Book Report
After reading candidate biographies, class members select one candidate to research. They craft a report on the candidate's book, their position on issues, and the image the candidate wants to project.
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment: On-Demand Note-Taking, Analysis, and Reflection: “Should We Drill?”
Pupils take a mid-unit assessment, completing a point of view graphic organizer based on an informational article about offshore drilling. Next, learners answer text-dependent and short-answer questions about the text.
Student Handouts
A Society in Transition
Cover the 1980s in your class with a brief informational text and seven related questions. The one-page reading passage includes general information about jobs and skills, population patterns, and the AIDS epidemic.
Saddleback College
How to Find the Main Idea
What's the difference between the main idea of a text and the topic? Take kids through the process of literary analysis with a presentation about finding the main idea and supporting details. Additionally, it guides learners through...
Curated OER
Words In The News
A complete resource from BBC World Service provides informational text for English or ESL classes to teach vocabulary, grammar, and reading skills. Learners participate in small group work, whole class discussions, and role-plays to...
Super Teacher Worksheets
Types of Clouds
What's the term for clouds that look like fluffy cotton balls? What about thick, gray clouds? Learn the names and descriptions for each type of cloud with a worksheet and activity. Learners read four columns of high-level, mid-level,...
EngageNY
Preparing to Write Historical Fiction: Determining Characteristics of the Genre
A language arts instructional activity helps young writers identify elements that make up historical fiction. First, it guides them through elements of fictional pieces with vocabulary cards. Then, pupils work collaboratively to...
Read Works
The What and Who of Elections
As citizens living in the United States, it is our civil duty to vote. But how does the voting process work? After reading a five-paragraph passage on the basics of elections and voting, young constituents respond to 10 questions based...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 2, Unit 3, Lesson 12
As the first in a two-part, end-of-unit assessment that encourages readers to synthesize the unit's main ideas, class members review their notes for each of the three texts they read and develop three open-ended discussion questions...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
Are the lessons of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar still applicable today? Explore themes, characterization, and plot structure with a thorough teacher's guide to the play. The resource covers the entire text and offers rigorous activities...
New York State Education Department
Comprehensive English Examination: August 2015
Looking at literature through a critical lens helps readers connect the text to the larger world. An essay examining the theme "There is no ill in the world without a remedy" forms the main part of a sample comprehensive English...
EngageNY
Researching Miné Okubo: Gathering Textual Evidence
Scholars read two texts about Miné Okubo’s life. In Riverside’s Miné Okubo and Miné Okubo, readers gather information to write narrative essays describing how Okubo became visible again. The essay serves as part of a performance task.
EngageNY
Mid-Unit 3 Assessments, Part 2: Summarizing, Analyzing and Discussing Research
Why is reading important? As part of the mid-unit assessment, scholars read, summarize, and analyze an article about the importance of reading. Additionally, they continue their discussion about whether their rules to live by should be a...
Worksheet Web
What did it Say? – Summarizing
Provide scholars with an opportunity to practice summarizing text with a two-page learning exercise. Learners read poems, share stories with their peers, and summarize their new-found-knowledge.
Bantam Books
The Martian Chronicles: K-W-H-L Activity
Prepare your class for a unit on Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles with an activity that works for pre-reading, during reading, and post-reading. Learners fill out a K-W-H-L chart to reflect on what they already know, what they'd...
Museum of Disability
Ian’s Walk and Apples for Cheyenne
Help young learners understand friendship and empathy with two reading comprehension lessons. Each lesson focuses on a story about a child with autism, and encourages readers to compare and contrast the characters to each other and to...