Students work in groups to read and discuss a book, keeping track of their feelings and opinions about the book, as well as facts and quotations, as they read. Students then decide which parts of their review they wish to annotate, with each student in the group responsible for one topic. Each student writes about his or her topic, including bibliographic information.

In this lesson, students meet in small groups to reflect on and share their thoughts after reading a short story, poem, or chapter in a novel.

José feels he is destined to a life filled with physical labor because both of his parents work hard. His mother works at a sewing machine all day, and his father works for the telephone company and often tells José that life is hard. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

This teacher's guide for The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson with Marilyn J. Harran and Elisabeth B. Leyson contains discussion questions and activities for reading comprehension, learning about craft and structure, integrating information, and writing practice.

In “Broken Chain,” Alfonso, a seventh grader, dislikes his appearance. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this activity, students will divide into two teams to conduct a mock trial based on The Ransom of Redchief by O. Henry.

The main character is unhappy about her family’s move to Cincinnati and spends most of her time in her room, miserable. Then one day, she goes grocery shopping for her parents and falls in love with the bag boy. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) is a technique that teaches students to work cooperatively on a reading assignment to promote better comprehension. CSR learning logs are used to help students keep track of learning during the collaboration process. Students think about what they are reading and write down questions/reflections about their learning. The completed logs then provide a guide for follow-up activities and evaluation methods.

Students will create a travel brochure for either their home town or a city they would love to visit or move to as soon as possible. This activity will help them learn to research and document information in appropriate spaces.

The following unit incorporates multimedia and classroom activities to encourage students to explore and interact with poetry by first writing letters to important historical poets as practice for writing letters to the Academy of American Poets Board of Chancellors, a group that represents poetry in America at its best.

Students begin by brainstorming a list of items that combine different ways of expressing ideas—such as a poster or DVD. After the lists are shared, list items are identified as texts (audio texts, video texts, etc.) Students then create an inventory of significant texts that they have engaged with over a specified period of time, and discuss why it is important to interact with a variety of different types of texts. With this start, they create a working definition of literacy that they refine and explore as they continue their investigation of the texts that they interact with at home, at school, and in other settings.

In this lesson, students brainstorm texts that they have read recently and map their choices using a Graphic Map to rate and make notes about them. Students then look for patterns connecting the texts that they enjoyed the most and those they enjoyed the least. Once they've analyzed their past readings, students complete a reading plan by first listing categories of books they want to read. They then use booklists, book reviews, and other resources to create a wish list of books they hope to read in the future.

In this introductory lesson, students engage in a hands-on, collaborative investigation of the definition of reading by participating in small group brainstorming sessions and an analysis of a variety of texts and the strategies they need to read them. Students also create individual Reader’s Profiles with an online tool modeled on social networking sites. Sharing these profiles and reflecting on their own learning, students ultimately develop a working definition of reading which they refine during the year.

In this activity, students hold a digital seminar using Flipgrid to develop empathy for characters who are in some way considered outsiders within the context of their stories.

In this activity, students hold a digital seminar using Flipgrid to a. develop empathy for characters who are in some way considered outsiders within the context of their stories b. enrich their understanding of culture (both the term itself in addition to dominant and marginalized) through analysis of literature.

In this activity, students hold a digital seminar using Flipgrid to develop empathy for characters who are in some way considered outsiders within the context of their stories.

Students will be taught the "drill skill and kill" method to be used on grammar concepts within an argumentative paper.

This story is set in a Tennessee peach orchard on the night before the Civil War battle of Shiloh. A young drummer briefly considers staying behind when the fighting begins. Then a man walks by and stops to talk, and the boy discovers that this man is his general. From their discussion, the boy arrives at a new understanding about his role in the battle to come. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this lesson, the students will get practice in reading and writing habits that they have been working with throughout the curriculum, in this case using poetry.