Curated OER
Making Connections to Text
Making connections to text is an important skill that students can practice in fun and motivating ways.
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Finding the Author's Purpose
What is autism? How does it affect behavior? Learners will find evidence of the author's tone or purpose for writing the article, as well as hints that show evidence of opinion. Includes a video clip from the movie "Rainman", and an...
Read Works
Read Works: Grade 2: Three Lesson Unit: Author's Purpose
[Free Registration/Login Required] A series of three lesson plans designed to teach learners to identify author's purpose including to entertain, to inform, and to persuade. Lessons are based on the books The Adventures of Taxi Dog by...
Read Works
Read Works: Author's Purpose 3rd Grade Unit
[Free Registration/Login Required] A three-lesson unit on author's purpose. In the first lesson, students practice identifying the author's purpose as to entertain, to persuade, or to inform. In the second lesson, students use graphic...
University of South Florida
Fcat Express: Author's Purpose
Some author's purpose teaching ideas from a standardized test preparation site (Fourth Grade Reading Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test). Aligned to Florida standards, four ideas are provided including "Author's Grab Bag," "Author's...
University of South Florida
Fcat Express: Teaching Strategies (Reading) [Pdf]
Printable, fifty-five page PDF file of a staff development manual containing strategies for teaching reading. Includes chapters on vocabulary, main ideas and supporting details, author's purpose, chronological order, plot and conflict...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Defining and Exploring an Author's Stylistic Choices
Contains plans for two lessons that teach students how to recognize an author's use of style in literature. These plans use "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston as an example, but the basic ideas can be adapted to other...
University of South Florida
Fcat Reading Grade 4: Teaching Strategies
This is a great resource that concentrates strategies and student activities in one place in an easy to use format, and can be navigated easily. Find great examples of probable passage, selective underlining, and semantic feature...
TES Global
Tes: Analyzing & Comparing Non Fiction
[Free Registration/Login Required] Resource notes to aid students as they analyze different types of nonfiction. The GAP (genre, audience, and purpose) acronym is provided to use when comparing nonfiction texts.
British Library
British Library: 19th Century Non Fiction Texts: Crime & Punishment
This thematic collection will allow students to read and understand 19th-century non-fiction texts, and support them in identifying key features for a range of genres, audiences, and purposes. Each source is accompanied by original...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Work Out Together
Students will read an article and determine the author's point and identify the reasons the author gives to support his or her point. This lesson requires analysis by the students and a great deal of higher-order thinking as they...
British Library
British Library: 19th Century Non Fiction Texts: Work & Welfare
This thematic collection will allow students to read and understand 19th-century non-fiction texts, and support them in identifying key features for a range of genres, audiences, and purposes. Each source is accompanied by original...
British Library
British Library: 19th Century Non Fiction Texts: Gender, Behaviour & Etiquette
This thematic collection will allow learners to read and understand 19th-century non-fiction texts, and support them in identifying key features for a range of genres, audiences, and purposes. Each source is accompanied by original...
British Library
British Library: 19th Century Non Fiction Texts: Education
This thematic collection will allow students to read and understand 19th-century non-fiction texts, and support them in identifying key features for a range of genres, audiences, and purposes. Each source is accompanied by original...
Read Works
Readworks: Reading Lesson 3: To Persuade
This instructional activity focuses on identifying text evidence that shows that the author's purpose is to persuade. Draw a conclusion about what the author is trying to persuade the reader to do or think. Text, worksheet, and chart are...
Daily Teaching Tools
Daily Teaching Tools: Formal Letter for Author Study
This Daily Teaching Tools lesson explains how to write a business letter to an author. It also provides a rubric.
Other
Curriculum Associates: Comparing and Contrasting Texts [Pdf]
In these activities, students are asked to compare and contrast two versions of each event with two pieces of writing that are about the same topic. Teaching notes with answer keys are provided as well.
University of Maryland
Voices of Democracy: John Fitzgerald Kennedy, "Inaugural Address" January 1961
John F. Kennedy's inaugural speech is one of the most famous speeches in American history. Teachers can use this lesson to teach Language Arts standards, as well as Social Studies standards. This lesson plan includes pre-reading ideas,...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Nonfiction Pyramid
A printable pyramid for use with nonfiction texts while students identify the main ideas and supporting details within a text. Students also determine author's purpose and key vocabulary words. Directions on how to use this type of...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Florida Center for Reading Research: Instructional Routines
This site offers PDF grade-specific lesson plans for teaching various reading skills for grades K-3. These include phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Informational Text: Reading Response: Main Ideas & Details [Pdf]
This graphic organizer can be used with students when they read informational text. Students will write the main idea in a central oval and then write four details that support the main idea of this reproducible graphic organizer.
Read Works
Read Works: Casey Saves the Play
[Free Registration/Login Required] This short literary text passage shares the story of a character who is able to particiapate . This passage is intended for guided practice and is designed to reinforce essential reading comprehension...
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Louisiana Believes: English Language Arts, Grade 9: Hope, Despair, and Memory
This unit teaches students about the importance of hope and remembrance during times of tragedy. Students explore the different ways characters and historical figures have embraced humanity and created civility as a response to...
TES Global
Tes: Non Fiction Unit 4 Formal/impersonal Writing: Tourists
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students will analyze tourism brochures to determine features related to nonfiction writing in this unit. Tourism websites may be used in lieu of the brochures. Cotswold and the North Leigh Roman Villa...