Curated OER
The Land and the Water
Third graders read "The Land and the Water," a fictional short story and an article about John F. Kennedy, Jr. and compare and contrast fictional tragedy to a non-fiction tragedy. They fill out a Venn diagram and write an essay using...
Curated OER
Summarizing and Mapping for Comprehension
Students practice summarization in order to increase their comprehension of non-fiction text. They read and summarize passages by finding the main ideas in passages from a Social Studies textbook. After silently reading the passage they...
Curated OER
Choosing Words Carefully
Use literacy tools to select precise vocabulary. High schoolers respond to discussion questions that require them to consider the denotation and connotation of words. They then read non-fiction passages and identify words in the passages...
Curated OER
Wood
Young scholars practice reading comprehension strategies. In this literacy and science lesson, students read a non-fiction article about wood and locate main ideas and details. Young scholars construct a card game using information taken...
Curated OER
Post-Reading Strategies
Students practice post-reading strategies. In this reading comprehension lesson, students review pre-reading strategies, then read a handout entitled "Thirteen Reasons Our Ancestors Migrated." Students complete a post-reading worksheet...
Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention and Treatment
Concept Muraling
Concept muraling helps learners improve their comprehension of a text by giving them a way to organize their understanding of the key concepts in that text. Introduce readers to this process with a carefully scaffolded lesson that models...
Curated OER
Representing Text In A Timeline: Post Test
In this timeline worksheet, students answer multiple choice questions about texts in timelines. Students complete 10 multiple choice questions.
Curated OER
Non-Fiction Read-aloud
Students listen to the reading of a book about the area of science they are currently studying.
Curated OER
Analyzing Textbook Formats
High schoolers explore the characteristics of a non-fiction text. For this comprehension lesson, students are led on a guided tour of each text and identify the features of a non-fiction text. High schoolers continue to practice locating...
Curated OER
Comparing and Contrasting: Fact vs. Opinion
Elementary schoolers investigate nonfiction stories by analyzing facts and opinions. They read nonfiction stories about the Lewis and Clark expedition. Pupils utilize a T-chart to list the facts and opinions on opposite sides, and then...
Santa Ana Unified School District
The Power of Point of View
Sometimes a whole story can change based on the perspective of the person telling it. Practice identifying and analyzing point of view in various reading passages and writing assignments with a language arts packet, complete with Common...
Read Works
Bat News
Get the bat facts with a short nonfiction reading passage. After reading the passage, readers respond to questions that focus on main idea, inferencing, vocabulary in context, and author's purpose.
Curated OER
What a Brave Little Girl
Young scholars practice relating non-fiction to knowledge they already have on the subject. They evaluate differences in the types of text structrures in non-fiction. They employ a review strategy that allows them to understand their...
Curated OER
The Wonderful Pigs of Jillian Jiggs
First graders compare fictional and real pigs. In this pig comparison instructional activity, 1st graders read a fiction text then a non-fiction text on pigs. Students complete a K-W-L chart and fill out a Venn Diagram.
Curated OER
Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story
Sixth graders engage in the reading of a non-fiction text in order to acquire character traits as displayed in the text.The story builds reading fluency through the teacher modeling correct style and speed.
Curated OER
Reading Research!
Students investigate the life of an animal and how it responds to winter. The lesson's focus is on reading and research skills using pictures to assist in the understanding of the information presented.
Curated OER
Read and Get Smart
Use the class textbook to read a full story about Martin Luther King, Jr. The class writes facts about him and outlines his life, then they read the author and illustrator summaries at the end of the story. They compare and contrast the...
Curated OER
Comparing Themes Across Texts
Read various texts to compare the themes across each text. Learners write a journal entry describing the most beautiful scenery they've seen and use a map of the United States to locate the Sequoia National Park and Muir Woods. They then...
Dream of a Nation
Creating Awareness through Action Oriented Writing and Research
Middle schoolers aren't too young to feel strongly about politics, social issues, consumer rights, or environmental problems. Demonstrate the first steps toward social change with a project about action-oriented writing. Eighth graders...
Curated OER
Halloween Counting Book
First graders recognize and write numerals from 1 to 10. They estimate and count to identify sets with more, fewer, or the same number of objects, listen and respond to others in a variety of contexts, and take turns speaking in a...
Curated OER
Who Invented English Anyway?
In these English lesson plans, students use video, the Internet and non-fiction essays to research the history of the English language. They write a short research paper and design a PowerPoint presentation showcasing their findings.
Curated OER
Researching the Past
Learners research the western movement in order to learn note taking strategies with nonfiction texts. They use the Internet to search for important information about the western movement using the Cornell Notes note-taking system. They...
Curated OER
Using a Matrix to Compare, Contrast, and Analyze Connections
Young scholars explore writing techniques by comparing fiction vs. non-fiction. For this literature analysis lesson, students read stories from Aesop's Fables and compare the themes and characters to stories from their own life. Young...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Frida
Students explore language arts by reading a non-fiction story in class. In this three tiered vocabulary lesson, students read the book Frida and discuss the real life Frida and her story. Students identify vocabulary terms in the book...