Students build their understanding of the terms compare and contrast by participating in class discussions, using Internet resources, working collaboratively, and by visually representing information in a Venn diagram.
Exploring Compare and Contrast Structure in Expository Texts
Flying to Freedom: Tar Beach and The People Could Fly
Students look to the past and use historical context to compare and contrast two characters from folktales.
A Journal for Corduroy: Responding to Literature
Connect home and school, literature and life, as students take a storybook character home with them and take turns writing stories about his visit.
Exploring How Section Headings Support Understanding of Expository Texts
Nonfiction may be dull for some students, but this lesson helps them focus on the main ideas. Through awareness of section headings, students learn to sort and categorize main concepts.
The Big Bad Wolf: Analyzing Point of View in Texts
Was the Big Bad Wolf really all that bad? This lesson encourages students to analyze multiple viewpoints, view texts from different angles, and recognize gaps in narrative.
Using a Word Journal to Create a Personal Dictionary
Students will be the definition of vocabulary experts as they use the skills they learn in this lesson to track, define, and ultimately master unfamiliar words.
The Frog Beyond the Fairy Tale Character: Searching Informational Texts
Frogs often appear as the main character in fiction stories, but what do students really know about frogs? Students find out in this lesson in which they research real-life frogs.
Story Map
The Story Map interactive is designed to assist students in prewriting and postreading activities by focusing on the key elements of character, setting, conflict, and resolution.
Flip Book
The Flip Book is designed to allow users to type and illustrate tabbed flip books up to ten pages long. Students and teachers can use the flip book for taking notes while reading, making picture books, collecting facts, or creating question and answer booklets.
Sharon Draper was born on this day in 1952.
Students read a book from one of Draper's trilogies and then meet to discuss their book with students have read the other two books.
The Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children is announced today.
Students read and discuss an award-winning book before writing their own story that demonstrates compassion.
Author Matt de la Peña was born today.
Students use an essay by de la Peña as a model for writing their own literacy autobiography.
Today is World Read Aloud Day.
Students celebrate the power of words by reading aloud to their classmates and spreading the word of global literacy to their friends and family.
Author Laurie Halse Anderson was born today.
Laurie Halse Anderson, the New York Times-bestselling author who is known for tackling tough subjects with humor and sensitivity, was born on this day in 1961.
Author E.B. White was born on this day in 1899.
Author E.B. White, most well-known for his famous children's book, Charlotte's Web, received high acclaim and awards for many of his works of fiction.
Author Tim O'Brien was born on this day.
After reading O'Brien's story "A True War Story" from The Things They Carried, students choose a powerful event from their own lives and map it using the Timeline Tool. They then create a fictional version of this event.
In 1931, Toni Morrison was born.
After retelling a familiar fable, students discover the differences in one of Morrison's retellings of a fable.
Celebrate El Día de Los Niños/El Día de Los Libros (Children's Day/Book Day)!
Using the Book Cover Creator, students write and share their own multilingual stories.
Thomas Nast was born on this day in 1840.
Students explore free speech issues, search the newspaper or Internet to create a list of current events, and draw original political cartoons.
Elie Wiesel was born on September 30, 1928.
Students compare and contrast two views of the Holocaust from different authors. Students may also research stories of other survivors who may or may not be published and create a presentation on this survivor.