For the Teachers
Main Idea Outline
Find the main idea in an informational text with a versatile lesson. Three levels of differentiation help you implement the strategy in any age or class level, based on the ability and objectives of your learners.
iCivics
Limiting Government
While this instructional activity includes several nice worksheets to identify and discuss the various limits on government (i.e. a constitution, the rule of law, separation of powers, consent of the governed, etc.), its main value lies...
Curated OER
End-of-Year Practice Test (Grade 4 ELA/Literacy)
The time has come to find out what your fourth grade readers have learned after another year of hard work. This Common Core-designed practice assessment provides two reading passages, one narrative and one expository, that children must...
Curated OER
End-of-Year Practice Test (Grade 6 ELA/Literacy)
With the end of the year quickly approaching it's time to find out exactly how much your sixth graders have learned. Specifically designed for the Common Core ELA standards, this practice test gives students five reading passages,...
Homeschool Creations
Caps for Sale Printables
Caps for sale! Get your class into some monkey business with a fun set of activities based on Esphyr Slobodkina's Caps for Sale. Pupils practice tracing lines between caps and monkeys, identify colors of caps, and count coins, along...
Novelinks
The Martian Chronicles: Fishbowl Discussion
Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles provides the text for a fishbowl activity. Class members to sit in concentric circles, with the center circle discussing the topics from the book, and the outer circle observing the participants.
Curriculum Corner
Summary Writing
Nineteen stylish worksheets offer lesson ideas and practice opportunities designed to reinforce summary skills. Scholars recall events over the weekend as well as favorite books—main characters, problems, solutions, the beginning,...
National History Day
Leland Linman’s War: A Look at Soldiers’ Daily Lives in World War I
Hunkering down in the trenches of World War I, Leland Linman decided to write a journal about his experiences. By reading Linman's entries in the fourth installment of an eight-part lesson series, scholars get a firsthand look at life in...
Reed Novel Studies
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH: Novel Study
The field mouse, also known as the meadow vole, is most active at night, so hide the cheese! Scholars research these interesting rodents and record three fascinating facts using the novel study for Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. They...
Reed Novel Studies
Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy: Novel Study
What do wizards smell like? A novel study for Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy walks readers through chapter one to help them answer the question. Scholars also practice vocabulary from the chapter and invent original similes.
Reed Novel Studies
The Sisters Grimm: Novel Study
Author Michael Buckley's novel The Sisters Grimm features two fairy-tale sleuths who are tasked with stopping a giant from destroying their town. Using the novel study, individuals acquire new vocabulary and answer comprehension...
Curated OER
Five Big W's
Students develop summarization strategies by asking themselves questions as they read. They devlop these strategies help them develop better comprehension. Students goals for reading is comprehension. They explore helpful...
Curated OER
Nasreddin and the Pot Exercise 3
In this Nasreddin and the Pot worksheet, students read the story Nasreddin and the Pot and fill in the blanks to the summary. Students fill in the blanks for 8 sentences.
Curated OER
Nasreddin and the Beggar Exercise 3
In this Nasreddin and the Beggar worksheet, 2nd graders read the story Nasreddin and the Beggar and fill in the blanks to a summary about it. Students fill in 10 blanks.
Curated OER
The Three Little Pigs
Learners listen two versions of the story of The Three Little Pigs in order to clarify the concept of point of view. They complete a Venn diagram and write a postcard to one of the book's characters using their point of view.
Curated OER
Reap What You Sow with Writing
Students practice using graphic organizers to summarize The Little Red Hen and the Grain of Wheat.
Curated OER
Esperanza Rising
Students explore foreign cultures by reading a story in class. In this Hispanic history lesson, students read the story Radio Man by Arthur Dorros and identify the times discrimination is used in the story. Students discuss labor...
Curated OER
Break Down
Fourth graders apply their understanding of the elements of plot structure and conflict to cooperatively create storyboards and speak effectively as they present their products. They create storyboards for some of the classic Disney...
Curated OER
Comparisons
Second graders listen to read alouds of The Story of Ferdinand and Roberto and the Bull and view Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs online. In this reading lesson, 2nd graders compare and contrast the two stories using a...
Curated OER
Animal Diaries
Learners read Diary of a Worm by Foreen Cronin. In this journal writing lesson, students research an animal and write a diary by their animal. Learners apply the research they've completed in their writings. Students share their diaries....
Curated OER
Swoosh-Remember That
Students use a six step process to write a summary of a provided paragraph. The steps include: delete unimportant information, delete repeated information, substitute easy terms for a list of items, add a series of events with an easy...
Curated OER
Critical Pedagogy
Learners read Ruthanne Lum McCunn's Thousand Pieces of Gold and as a class, discuss the Chinese practice of foot binding. They work in groups to read further about how women of different cultures attempt to conform. They write about...
Curated OER
Utilizing Songs from Broadway Musicals from Renee Fleming & Bryn Terfel: Music Under the Stars
Learners view a video and summarize the information. They research a person or musical associated with the video and present their findings to the class. They write a story using metaphors and personification.
Curated OER
Story Scrapbook
Pupils develop a comparison worksheet using one non fiction book and one fiction book they have read to be put into a class scrapbook. In their comparison students must have title, author, point of view, setting, characters, and other...