This lesson provides hands-on differentiated instruction by guiding students to search for the literal definitions of figurative language using the Internet. It also guides students in understanding figurative meanings through the use of context clues and making inferences.

In this lesson, students will read and find the gist of a new excerpt of “Comprehending the Calamity.”

This resource is a nonfiction, Common Core aligned reading passage with textual analysis questions about main idea and characterization.

Suggestions on how to guide students through the writing process when writing editorials "” from brainstorming a topic to publishing their work "” and all the steps in between.

In this lesson students do a close reading of “Learning to Read,” a poem by Francis Watkins Harper about an elderly former slave which conveys the value of literacy to blacks during and after slavery. The activities also prompt students to examine the nature of literacy in the 21st century and the value they put upon it.

Franklin R. Chang-Diaz is an immigrant from Costa Rica who began thinking about space at age seven when the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into space. After going through many obstacles he was accepted to NASA and became “the first Hispanic to be in the space program for the long run". In this CCSS lesson, students will explore his story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments; writing samples included.

Students will read about Galileo and his amazing creation through this comprehension worksheet. During this sheet, students will analyze the text to respond to the open-ended question that is asked.

Students will use the Web 2.0 tool at glogster.com to create a book report, or the tool may be used to create a summary poster for a short story.

This unit develops students’ abilities to analyze arguments from a range of perspectives on energy and hydraulic fracturing. Students also learn to develop, write and revise their own evidence-based arguments.

In this lesson, students analyze the point of view of different aspects of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake in a primary source document, “Comprehending the Calamity.”

In this lesson, students read and find the gist of a new excerpt of “Comprehending the Calamity.”

In this mid-unit assessment, students read a new excerpt from “Comprehending the Calamity” and analyze word/phrase meaning; the ways the author has conveyed her point of view of the relief camps; and how the author has introduced, illustrated, and elaborated on relief camps.

This lesson launches a new module. It starts with students becoming oriented to World without Fish, one of the two central texts.

In this lesson, students continue to discuss and analyze the Introduction of World without Fish.

In this lesson, students continue to discuss and analyze the Introduction of World without Fish.

This lesson is similar in structure to Lessons 1–3. Students read a new excerpt of World without Fish for the gist and then answer text-dependent questions to dig deeper into the text and analyze how Mark Kurlansky illustrates and elaborates on the idea of fish depletion in Chapter 1.

This lesson is similar in structure to Lessons 1–4. Students read a new excerpt of World without Fish for the gist and then answer text-dependent questions to dig deeper into the text and analyze how Mark Kurlansky illustrates and elaborates on the idea of fish depletion in Chapter 2.

In this Mid-Unit 1 Assessment, students analyze how Kurlansky develops the idea of an ocean food web in Chapter 3 of World without Fish and how this develops his message about fish depletion.

This activity emphasizes the importance of teaching reading and writing strategies for students to use with informational text.

A majority of students in grades 4 to 6 are beyond decoding instruction and need more assistance with comprehension to help them become successful, independent readers. Strategic reading allows students to monitor their own thinking and make connections between texts and their own experiences. Based on the Guided Comprehension Model developed by Maureen McLaughlin and Mary Beth Allen, this lesson introduces students to the comprehension strategy of making connections. Students learn the three types of connections (text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world) using a double-entry journal. They also learn about the life of Cesar Chavez and his work to promote civil rights.