Conneticut Department of Education
Instructional Strategies That Facilitate Learning Across Content Areas
Imagine 28 instructional strategies, appropriate for all subject areas and all grade levels. Directed Reading-Thinking Activities (DRTA), Question-Answer Relationship (QAR) activities, KWL charts, comparison matrixes, classification...
Novelinks
Words by Heart: Question Answer Relationship
Even though readers investigate matters of the heart, this activity promotes the inner workings of learners' brains. The fifth lesson of six has the teacher first model the strategy to the class before having small groups practice. To...
Curated OER
Gettin' Through Thursday
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...
Curated OER
QAR: Question Answer Relationships with an example from Canyons by Gary Paulsen
As you're reading Gary Paulsen's tale of self discovery and adventure, Canyons, bring this questioning strategy into your classroom. The QAR questioning strategy is meant to encourage a deeper analysis of the text, as some questions are...
Georgia Department of Education
Exploring Poetry and Poets
Combine the study of poetry and non-fiction texts with this complete and ready-to-use six-week unit. After reading numerous poems from local writers and compiling a personal anthology, high schoolers find and read a memoir or biography...
Curated OER
Compound Words - My Baseball Book
First graders examine compound words and what they look like. In this compound word instructional activity, 1st graders read the book, My Baseball Book, and compile a list of compound words from their reading.
K5 Learning
The Moon
Second graders read a short informational text passage about the moon and answer a series of questions based on what they read.
K12 Reader
Making Predictions
Read efficiently and effectively with a passage about making predictions and using headlines and visual aids as clues. After kids read a few paragraphs in the passage, they answer five comprehension questions on the side of the page.
Curated OER
Summertime
Explore expressive reading through the read-aloud Summertime: From Porgy and Bess. Readers will make predictions about the text and listen to the song Summertime. They will also identify how the story relates to the song lyrics.
Curated OER
Watch the Road Signs
What makes a good speaker? Upper elementary learners practice oral fluency by working with a partner to read nonfiction books. While reading, they practice using correct tone of voice, making eye contact, and speaking clearly.
Curated OER
On the Road Again
Young scholars read to their peers from selected texts. As one person reads, the other person listens to his/her peer, noting tone and fluency. Afterward, they reflect on each other's reading. There is a guided reflection worksheet...
K12 Reader
Converting Energy to Motion
Combine science and reading skills with a reading comprehension exercise. Kids read four paragraphs about energy conversion and answer some reading comprehension questions about the information they have read.
K12 Reader
Evaluating in Math
Help kids understand problem-solving strategies by focusing on academic language in a reading comprehension activity. After reading paragraphs about the words solve and evaluate, learners answer five reading comprehension questions.
K12 Reader
Elements & Atoms
Study matter in a new way with a cross-curricular assignment for language arts and math. Learners answer five reading comprehension questions after reading a few paragraphs about the periodic table, properties of elements, and how atoms...
K12 Reader
What Causes Reflections?
Your kids probably use mirrors every day, but do they know how they work? A reading passage about reflection and reflective objects can address both physical science and reading comprehension. Kids read the paragraphs and use context...
K12 Reader
Habitat Destruction
What happens when an animal becomes endangered or extinct? Explore the ways that human influence throughout the environment has threatened the existence of other species with a reading passage. After reading the paragraphs, kids answer...
K12 Reader
Classifying Triangles
Bring math and reading informational text together with a reading comprehension lesson. After kids read about isosceles, scalene, and equilateral triangles, they answer five comprehension questions to demonstrate how they can use context...
K12 Reader
Galileo and His Telescope
Learn about Galileo Galilei's contribution to modern science with a reading passage that focuses on reading comprehension. After kids read several paragraphs about his life, they answer five questions about the information they have just...
K5 Learning
What Police and Detectives Do
What do police and detectives do to keep their community safe? Six short-answer questions make up a worksheet designed to reinforce reading comprehensions skills while providing information about police officers and detectives.
K5 Learning
Why Does the Ocean have Waves?
Six short answer questions challenge scholars to show what they know after reading an informational text that examines waves—what they are, what causes them, and how different Earth factors affect their size and strength.
K5 Learning
Androclus and the Lion
Kindness is never a standalone act. Fourth graders read the classic tale of Androclus and his act of service to the lion, which is repaid to him by the lion in a Roman colosseum. After reading the passage, they answer four comprehension...
Curated OER
Act it Out: Dramatizing Asian American Stories
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...
Curated OER
A Hurricane Blowing In
Young scholars write a scene. In this creative writing activity, students read The Lightning Thief and discuss the sentence fluency and word choice in the writing. Young scholars complete a writing assignment where they create an...
K12 Reader
Adapting to Survive
Life science and language arts come together in a passage about animal adaptation. After kids learn about how organisms adapt to conditions in their environments, they complete five reading comprehension questions based on context clues...