Reading Comprehension

A collection of Grade 1 decodable passages focusing on bird adaptations, specifically beaks and feathers, featuring common North American and exotic birds.

A phonics lesson focusing on short 'i' CVC words through a structured fluency pyramid and comprehension questions.

A structured literacy lesson focused on the letter C /k/ and glued sounds -an and -am, using the decodable text 'The Cat Can'. This lesson follows a backwards planning approach to ensure students can decode and encode CVC words and nasalized vowels.

A multi-sensory literacy experience for early learners, using tactile objects, sounds, and smells to bring a story about a forest animal to life.

A Kindergarten read-aloud lesson for 'The Tree in the Ancient Forest' focusing on developing oral language skills through the 'Notice and Wonder' strategy. Students explore ecosystem connections while practicing sharing their observations and questions.

Students become 'Word Detectives' to identify 46 high-frequency sight words from the 'Second Sight Word Song'. The lesson involves a classroom search, air-writing during video viewing, and a text-based highlighting mission.

Students practice retelling a story using their sequenced pictures and transition words like 'first' and 'then'.

Small groups work together to sequence large picture cards in the correct order while listening to a familiar story.

Students learn to recognize story resolutions and auditory cues that signal a story is coming to an end.

Students focus on the middle of the story, identifying the 'problem' or excitement using visual and auditory cues.

Students explore the concept of a story's 'beginning' by identifying characters and setting as a story opens.

Students choose a short passage to practice repeatedly with the audio support. Finally, they record themselves reading independently to demonstrate their fluency and expression.

Students engage in a structured echo reading activity where they listen to a sentence, pause the audio, and repeat it back, aiming to match the speed and musicality of the narrator.

Students follow highlighted text while listening specifically for pauses at periods and pitch changes at question marks. They use physical movements to signal when they hear and see these punctuation marks in the read-along.

Using a read-along story, students pause to identify how a character feels based on the narrator's tone. They then practice mimicking that specific emotion while reading the corresponding highlighted sentence.

Students listen to two versions of a text excerpt: one robotic and one expressive. They discuss how the expressive version makes the story more interesting and easier to understand, establishing the goal for the unit.

In this final project-based lesson, students select a poem and pair it with background audio to enhance its imagery and mood. They present their work and explain their artistic choices.

Students investigate onomatopoeia and alliteration as auditory 'sound effects' in poetry. They practice identifying these devices and using them to enhance their own reading of literary texts.

By comparing different audio interpretations of the same poem, students learn how performance affects mood and tone. They identify key vocabulary that signals the emotional heart of a text.

Students track rhythm and rhyme schemes in read-along poems, using physical movement like clapping to identify meter. They learn how the structure of a poem influences the pace and flow of reading.

A collection of Grade 1 decodable passages focusing on bird adaptations, specifically beaks and feathers, featuring common North American and exotic birds.

A high-level overview of the Wild Writing Adventure curriculum, including teacher guides, scope and sequence, and implementation strategies.

Explore the rocky shore to discover sight words while meeting starfish, crabs, and sea anemones in colorful tide pools.

Venture into the mysterious world of caves to master essential sight words while meeting bats, spiders, and salamanders.

Explore the leafy woodland forest to master essential sight words while meeting graceful deer, wise owls, and busy woodpeckers.

Squelch through the marshy wetlands to master descriptive sight words while spotting alligators, frogs, and dragonflies.

Climb to the highest peaks to master directional sight words while meeting mountain goats, eagles, and black bears.

Hop through the sun-drenched Australian Outback to master new sight words while meeting kangaroos, koalas, and wombats.

Dive into the deep blue ocean to master positional sight words while discovering sea turtles, sharks, and octopuses.

Investigate the life cycle of plants and the essentials for growth while mastering sight words and scientific observation.

Launch into orbit to explore planets and stars while mastering high-frequency sight words and scientific terminology.

Dive into the invisible world of cells and microscopes to master essential sight words while discovering how scientists see tiny things.

A comprehension lesson focused on the Geodes book 'Stick with Us', exploring how animals like sardines, starlings, and sheep stay safe by staying in groups. Includes a focus on s-blends and the /ar/ sound.

A 2nd-grade ELA lesson where students learn about penguin diversity through a video and write 'Who Am I?' riddles using sensory details and facts.

Students conclude the unit by sorting vehicles into land, water, and air categories on a large mural. They recall facts from the read-alouds to justify where each vehicle belongs.

This lesson uses a text comparing different types of trains to teach comparative adjectives (fast, faster, slow, long, short). Students sort vehicle pictures by speed.

Students read about air travel, focusing on spatial vocabulary (up, high, above, clouds). They physically simulate flying with their arms while listening to the text descriptions.

The class explores a read-along about things that float. Students engage in a 'sink or float' prediction game based on the properties of boats described in the book.

A simulation where students apply their knowledge to act as meteorologists, choosing appropriate gear and activities based on text-derived weather reports.

Connects safety information from weather texts to personal experiences and school drills, emphasizing the utility of informational reading.

A comprehensive guide for students to master research databases, MLA 9 citations, and source evaluation through a self-guided exploration of premium resources.

A lesson exploring the central themes and paradoxes of Shakespeare's Macbeth, focusing on the motif of "Fair is foul."

A high school ELA/ENL lesson introducing Shakespeare through morphology, phonics, and sonnet analysis, specifically focusing on diction and irony in Sonnets 130 and 106.

A comprehensive lesson summarizing all 17 chapters of Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, designed for 3rd-grade students with a focus on key plot points and whimsical themes.

A lesson focused on identifying the structural parts of a book and applying that knowledge through a critical book review and vocabulary practice.

A collection of realistic fiction reading passages designed for assessing reading levels from 2nd through 5th grade. These texts feature age-appropriate themes for older students while maintaining accessible vocabulary and structure for struggling readers.

A creative fiction writing lesson centered around spring break themes, featuring imaginative prompts and planning tools to help students craft original stories.

An ELL Level 1 focused investigation into the reliability of Nick Carraway and the truthfulness of Jay Gatsby's backstory in Chapter 4 of The Great Gatsby. This lesson uses a graphic organizer and sentence frames to scaffold literary analysis for beginning English learners.

A 15-minute intensive reteach focused on identifying journalism with delayed ledes, building on the text 'Planes on the Brain'. Students learn to distinguish between narrative hooks and the informational core of news articles.

A comprehensive novel study for 'Number the Stars' covering WWII history, character bravery, and key plot events across all 17 chapters.

Students investigate the technical choices filmmakers make—including editing, music, and framing—to shape narrative truth. This lesson prepares freshmen to critically analyze documentary media and understand the ethical responsibilities of visual storytelling.

A comprehensive presentation and resource set for a K-5 Literacy Night focused on media, digital, and information literacy. Parents will learn how these skills are integrated into the classroom and how to support their children at home.

Synthesizes fiction and non-fiction by comparing the architectural impossibility of a 30-story sideways school with real skyscraper engineering and the laws of gravity.

Connects the absurdity of Wayside School to real-world concepts of probability and logic through informational texts about unusual events and 'impossible' occurrences.

Introduces the unique episodic structure and quirky characters of Wayside School, focusing on identifying perspective and interpreting absurd humor.

Integrates fiction and non-fiction by comparing Ivan's fictional life at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall with real-world gorilla habitats and behaviors.

Explores non-fiction texts about gorillas to identify main ideas, key details, and domain-specific vocabulary.

Focuses on identifying Ivan's perspective, recounting key story elements, and understanding character-specific vocabulary in the early chapters of 'The One and Only Ivan'.

A 45-minute lesson teaching 6th-grade students how to evaluate online credibility using lateral reading techniques, moving from vertical reading habits to investigative cross-referencing.

A 45-minute lesson where students showcase their media literacy investigations through screencasts, engage in peer evaluation using a professional rubric, and reflect on their growth as digital fact-checkers.

The final 10-minute review session focusing on source integration and exam structure using Set 6 questions.

A 10-minute session on vocabulary, tone, and formal style using Set 5 questions, featuring strategies for identifying author vibe.

A 10-minute focus on the Part 3 Text-Analysis Response using Set 4 questions, highlighting the importance of explaining 'how' strategies work.

A 10-minute deep dive into argument analysis and source integration using Set 3 questions, focusing on the purpose of counterclaims.

A 10-minute review of argument structure and literary devices using Set 2 questions, emphasizing the difference between strategies and central ideas.

The first 10-minute review session focusing on basic test-taking strategies and general exam rules using Set 1 questions.

A 4th grade ELA lesson focused on mastering both informational and literary text standards for MCAS preparation, themed around an 'Evidence Lab' investigation.

A lesson focused on identifying text structures and signal words using themes from the book 'One Well: The Story of Water on Earth'. Students practice identifying sequence, problem/solution, comparison, and cause/effect structures.

A focused lesson on analyzing informational texts using 'Nature's Skyscrapers: The Coastal Redwood' as a mentor text. Students will practice identifying main ideas, supporting details, and text structures in preparation for the ILEARN assessment.

A comprehensive 2-hour deep-dive into informational text analysis, featuring interactive stations, text feature scavenger hunts, and evidence-based reporting.

A targeted small-group lesson designed to prepare 3rd-grade students for informational text standards, focusing on main idea, text features, and evidence-based answers through a detective-themed 'investigation'.

A lesson focused on identifying and mapping non-fiction text structures to improve reading comprehension and writing organization. Students will learn to see the 'skeleton' of informational texts through architectural-themed visual mapping.

A 3rd-grade lesson focused on identifying cause-and-effect relationships within stories, specifically analyzing why characters act, speak, or feel in certain ways. Students act as detectives to uncover the 'why' behind story events.

A lesson focused on CVCe patterns and the vowel sounds of 'y', featuring a high-interest reading passage about the origins of the phrase 'April showers bring May flowers'. Designed for middle schoolers working at a first-grade reading level.

A high-stakes, game-show style lesson based on the 'Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader' format, specifically targeting Ohio 3rd Grade Informational Text and Language standards. Students test their knowledge of main ideas, text features, and vocabulary to see if they can outsmart a 3rd grader.

A high-energy, game-show style lesson where students test their knowledge of 3rd-grade informational text and language standards through animal science and nature topics.

A lesson introducing the concept of cause and effect within narrative structures, focusing on how events trigger one another to drive a plot forward.

A Grade 7 ELA lesson focused on mastering the Arkansas ATLAS assessment through analyzing claims, comparing arguments, and evaluating narrative craft. Students will engage with paired informational texts and a narrative excerpt to practice evidence-based reasoning.

A comprehensive guide to mastering evidence-based writing and constructed responses for the Arkansas ATLAS assessment, focusing on the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) framework.

A lesson focused on identifying and analyzing cause-and-effect relationships in non-fiction texts through a detective-themed investigation. Students will explore environmental and natural phenomena to understand how specific actions or events lead to significant outcomes.

A focused lesson on crafting an objective summary for the novel Tangerine, emphasizing sentence structure and objective tone.

A lesson focused on identifying text structures and signal words using themes from the book 'One Well: The Story of Water on Earth'. Students practice identifying sequence, problem/solution, comparison, and cause/effect structures.

A literacy lesson focused on the 17 chapters of Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, featuring chapter summaries and essential vocabulary for third-grade students.

An engaging lesson that teaches students to identify and use sequence text structure through instructional slides, hands-on cutting and pasting, task card practice, and graphic organizers.

A lesson focused on identifying and mapping non-fiction text structures to improve reading comprehension and writing organization. Students will learn to see the 'skeleton' of informational texts through architectural-themed visual mapping.

A collection of realistic fiction reading passages designed for assessing reading levels from 2nd through 5th grade. These texts feature age-appropriate themes for older students while maintaining accessible vocabulary and structure for struggling readers.

A kindergarten-focused author study lesson on Eric Carle's 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar,' focusing on story elements like characters, setting, and plot sequencing. Students will explore Carle's unique artistic style while identifying key parts of the narrative.

A high-energy review session for 4th grade ELA MCAS topics, focusing on figurative language, vocabulary, and literary elements through a competitive Bingo game.

An introduction to 'Flowers for Algernon' and the essential question of human intelligence, covering the entire short story through journal-based summarization and conflict analysis.

A detective-themed lesson for Grade 5 ELL students to differentiate between fact and opinion using signal words and evidence-based reasoning.

An environmental science and ELA lesson focused on the three R's (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) with scaffolded language supports for Grade 5 ELL students.

A creative arts-integrated ELA lesson where students map the Hero's Journey using symbolic collage, supporting executive functioning through visual storytelling and metaphorical thinking.

Polishes the narrative voice by adjusting language, tone, and sentence structure to suit a specific target age group.

Dives into the structural requirements of a children's book, focusing on the classic three-act arc and the specific pacing needed for illustrated storytelling.

Focuses on the foundational elements of a children's book: establishing a meaningful theme and creating relatable characters for a young audience.

A lesson focused on distilling the complex, dual-narrative structure of Art Spiegelman's Maus I into a concise summary using structured graphic organizers and sentence stems.

In this journalism lesson, 6th-grade students learn the Inverted Pyramid structure to organize information. They will analyze real-world news articles and practice prioritizing facts to write effective, front-loaded stories.

A reading comprehension lesson for 4th-grade EL students focusing on sea turtles, using visual supports and leveled text to build vocabulary and understanding of life cycles.

An engaging 45-minute ESL lesson for Grade 4 students focused on chronological order and sequencing through the exciting lens of a space mission. Students will use transition words, sequencing cards, and a scaffolded graphic organizer to master the order of events.

In this 45-minute ESL lesson, 4th-grade students will learn to analyze comic strips and storyboards to create oral summaries. They will use sequencing vocabulary and sentence frames to translate visual actions into clear, paraphrased narratives, meeting standard SL.4.2.

A comprehensive set of reading comprehension questions for Kwame Alexander's 'The Crossover', focusing on both literal recall and deeper inferential thinking.

A deep dive into the dual-narrative structure of Wendelin Van Draanen's 'Flipped', focusing on character growth, perspective, and moral development.

Concluding the theme refinement in Act 3, focusing on the second 'Z' (Zoom Out) and the 'C' (Clincher) to finalize a complete analysis paragraph.

Deepening theme analysis in Act 2, focusing on evidence selection and diction analysis using the 'E' and first 'Z' (Zoom In).

Introduction to theme emergence in Act 1, focusing on characterization and the 'A' and 'N' components of the A-NEZZ-C frame.

A focused lesson on crafting an objective summary for the novel Tangerine, emphasizing sentence structure and objective tone.

A guided lesson to help students structure a comprehensive book report focusing on summary, theme, and personal reflection.

An exploration of Chapter 3 of 'Their Eyes Were Watching God', focusing on the disillusionment of Janie's first marriage and the clash between Nanny's vision of security and Janie's quest for love.

A summary of the sequence's structure and teacher support materials.

Preparation for the 'Book Talk' podcast assignment, focusing on speaking skills, verbal citations, and audio engagement.

Guided practice on selecting and integrating textual evidence to support literary analysis in essays and responses.

Deep dive into the core themes of perseverance, teamwork, and personal growth required for the final summative projects.

Understanding the conventions of sports journalism and interviewing techniques for news articles and player/coach interviews.

Focusing on narrative voice and internal monologue to support the creation of authentic character journal entries.

Teaching the use of symbolism in visual storytelling to help students design alternate book covers and comic strips.

Exploring how mood and tone are established through music and poetry to support the Book Soundtrack and Haiku assignments.

Students learn to analyze character traits and motivations to build a 'Body Biography' or curate a character-driven photo album.

A comprehensive study of ND Stevenson's graphic novel 'Nimona', focusing on reading comprehension, character dynamics, and the exploration of hero/villain tropes. Students will analyze themes of identity and institutional power while building vocabulary.

A lesson exploring the central themes and paradoxes of Shakespeare's Macbeth, focusing on the motif of "Fair is foul."

A 4th grade ELA lesson focused on mastering both informational and literary text standards for MCAS preparation, themed around an 'Evidence Lab' investigation.

A comprehensive set of reading comprehension questions for Kwame Alexander's 'The Crossover', focusing on both literal recall and deeper inferential thinking.

A deep dive into the dual-narrative structure of Wendelin Van Draanen's 'Flipped', focusing on character growth, perspective, and moral development.

A deep dive into the themes of Rex Ogle's memoir 'Abuela, Don't Forget Me', focusing on the power of unconditional love, cultural identity, and resilience through hardship.

Concluding the theme refinement in Act 3, focusing on the second 'Z' (Zoom Out) and the 'C' (Clincher) to finalize a complete analysis paragraph.

Deepening theme analysis in Act 2, focusing on evidence selection and diction analysis using the 'E' and first 'Z' (Zoom In).

Introduction to theme emergence in Act 1, focusing on characterization and the 'A' and 'N' components of the A-NEZZ-C frame.

A focused lesson on crafting an objective summary for the novel Tangerine, emphasizing sentence structure and objective tone.

A guided lesson to help students structure a comprehensive book report focusing on summary, theme, and personal reflection.

An exploration of Chapter 3 of 'Their Eyes Were Watching God', focusing on the disillusionment of Janie's first marriage and the clash between Nanny's vision of security and Janie's quest for love.