This lesson will allow students to demonstrate comprehension of a text by using a wide variety of strategies and by making personal connections to stories. Students will learn how to develop deeper understanding of character and theme, as well.
The 11th grade learning experience consists of 7 mostly month-long units aligned to the Common Core State Standards, with available course material for teachers and students easily accessible online. Over the course of the year there is a steady progression in text complexity levels, sophistication of writing tasks, speaking and listening activities, and increased opportunities for independent and collaborative work. Rubrics and student models accompany many writing assignments.Throughout the 11th grade year, in addition to the Common Read texts that the whole class reads together, students each select an Independent Reading book and engage with peers in group Book Talks. Students move from learning the class rituals and routines and genre features of argument writing in Unit 11.1 to learning about narrative and informational genres in Unit 11.2: The American Short Story. Teacher resources provide additional materials to support each unit.
The 12th grade learning experience consists of 7 mostly month-long units aligned to the Common Core State Standards, with available course material for teachers and students easily accessible online. Over the course of the year there is a steady progression in text complexity levels, sophistication of writing tasks, speaking and listening activities, and increased opportunities for independent and collaborative work. Rubrics and student models accompany many writing assignments.Throughout the 12th grade year, in addition to the Common Read texts that the whole class reads together, students each select an Independent Reading book and engage with peers in group Book Talks. Language study is embedded in every 12th grade unit as students use annotation to closely review aspects of each text. Teacher resources provide additional materials to support each unit.
Students will create posters based upon graded readers and present the posters to classmates. The lesson provides a template for the posters, instructions for presentations, and tips on student notetaking. This resource supports English language development for English Language Learners.
This article discusses explicitly teaching and assessing listening comprehension skills in the elementary grades and provides templates for classroom use.
This lesson plan uses graphic organizers to help students create podcasts/ radio broadcasts using a Natural Inquirer article.
This retelling of the Greek myth "Pandora's Box" includes accompanying audio and graphic illustrations. This resource can be used as scaffolding for reading comprehension, as differentiation for a multileveled classroom, and can build listening comprehension skills and vocabulary development. This resource supports English language development for English Language Learners.
This article provides an overview of questioning as a reading strategy and includes templates and links to books, lesson plans, and web sites for more information.
This article provides research-based suggestions for engaging boys in reading and writing.
This article discusses the importance of teaching students to reflect on text through direct instruction and modeling. The article includes a template that can be used with elementary students.
This article discusses the reading comprehension strategy of visualization and how it can be used to enhance students' understanding of content-area text. Templates and links are provided.