Cluster 1: Key Ideas and DetailsArchived

In this lesson, students will read Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s speech “The Destructive Male,” delivered at the Women’s Suffrage Convention in 1868. Students will analyze the two distinct central ideas that emerge in the speech. They will also examine the textual evidence within the speech that supports each central idea. This ELA lesson will also make connections to civics by exploring an example of citizen activism: When Stanton delivered this speech, she was an individual who was speaking/petitioning in an effort to influence her government’s policy, specifically regarding suffrage and a new amendment.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will work with two informational texts in the form of brochures, texts about Burmese pythons and lionfish. With the lionfish brochure, students will identify the text features used, determine the central ideas and key supporting details, and work with selected vocabulary. Students will then be provided with informational text on a different animal and they will put their skills to use to create a brochure of their own. Various graphic organizers and teacher resources have been included as attachments. Additional resources have also been provided in the Further Recommendations section to help teachers gather resources for students to use to create their own brochure.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the second lesson of a three-part unit that will build towards having the students research child soldiers. In this lesson, students will listen to a song, watch a video, and read a biography from a former child soldier from the Sudan and current international hip-hop star Emmanuel Jal. Students will examine and analyze the information presented in each of the formats by completing two column notes and participating in a whole group discussion.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the first lesson of a three part unit that will build towards having the students research child soldiers. In this lesson, students will read a series of news articles about Sudanese efforts to disband child soldier units. Students will then write an extended paragraph in response to their analysis of the articles as they compare each author’s perspective regarding the use of child soldiers in civil war.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will conduct research using informational texts to answer a question related to the invasion of lionfish in the Gulf of Mexico. Students will work to analyze how the use of text features convey purpose in text. A research graphic organizer for research and text features cards have been included with the lesson.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson plan is a short research project designed to help students learn more about Kevin’s disease in Freak the Mighty.  Students will research Morquio syndrome using provided sources as well as reliable sources they have chosen on their own. Students will use digital media in addition to speaking and listening skills to present their findings to the class. Throughout the lesson, students will have ample opportunity to develop and refine reading, writing and speaking and listening skills to work towards mastery of the lesson objectives. Checklists and a project/presentation rubric have been provided with the lesson, as well as several sites that students can use to begin their research.  

Type: Lesson Plan

This is lesson three in a three-part series on "The Walrus and the Carpenter" by Lewis Carroll. In this final lesson, the poem's lessons are used to introduce an informational text on bullying and the bystander effect. Students will determine the purpose of the informational text, and will demonstrate through a short response how the article’s purpose is illustrated through the plot and characterization in the poem.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will conduct a close read of the article, "Why Teenagers Really do Need an Extra Hour in Bed" by Russell Foster (published on April 22, 2013 in Issue 2913 of NewScientist). For the first reading, students will focus on academic vocabulary. In the second reading, students will answer text-dependent questions to guide their comprehension of the article. In the third close reading, students will choose important facts in the article and cross-reference them with other articles to determine the validity and reliability of the evidence. Graphic organizers and worksheets, along with suggested keys and a writing rubric, have been provided. For the summative assessment, students will write a persuasive letter in which they make a claim regarding sleep and support it with textual evidence.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will create a research question based on The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Students will develop a research question about how a characteristic or event in the life of young Ben Franklin influenced an accomplishment of an older, mature Ben Franklin. Students will research the life of Ben Franklin to answer their questions and present their findings in a short oral presentation.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will read an excerpt from Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and will analyze how Rawlings’ use of figurative language affects the tone. Students will explain their analysis by answering a short response question and using textual evidence as support.

Type: Lesson Plan

This close reading exemplar uses an excerpt from Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma: The Secrets Behind What You Eat. The goal of this two day exemplar from Student Achievement Partners web resources is to give students the opportunity to use reading and writing habits to unpack Pollan's investigative journalism of industrial farms. By reading and rereading the passage closely combined with classroom discussion about it, students will identify why and how farming practices have changed, as well as identify Pollan's point of view on the subject. When combined with writing about the passage and teacher feedback, students will begin to appreciate investigative journalism, as well as question from where their food is coming.

Type: Lesson Plan

The goal of this three day exemplar from Student Achievement Partner web resources is to give students the opportunity to use reading and writing habits to absorb deep lessons from Charles Hirshberg's recollections of his mother. By reading and rereading the passage closely and focusing their reading through a series of questions and discussions about the text, students will identify how much his mother's struggles and accomplishments meant to both Hirshberg and the wider world. When combined with writing about the passage, and possibly pairing this exemplar study with Richard Feynman's memoir "The Making of a Scientist," students will discover how much they can learn from this mixed genre memoir/biography about what inspires life choices.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will read the autobiographical story "A Christmas Memory" by Truman Capote and view a teacher-approved film version of the same story to compare the themes of “nostalgia fosters self-reflection,” and “the love between two friends cannot be easily forgotten.” Students will then write an extended paragraph comparing how the two themes interact within each of the modes.

Type: Lesson Plan

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

Type: Lesson Plan

Students learn to set a purpose for reading informational text before reading by turning the title and subtitles into questions.

Type: Lesson Plan

Before reading, create a graphic organizer that uses the titles and subtitles of an informational text.

Type: Lesson Plan

Examine how a significant event can influence individuals and ideas in this tutorial series about one of the most studied human injuries of all time. Read excerpts from John Fleischman’s book, Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science to learn about a young man’s remarkable survival after a near-fatal accident. 

This tutorial is Part Three of a three-part series. Make sure to complete the other parts first.

Click HERE to launch Part One.

Click HERE to launch Part Two. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Examine how a significant event can influence individuals and ideas in this tutorial series about one of the most studied human injuries of all time. Read excerpts from John Fleischman’s book Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science to learn about a young man’s remarkable survival after a near-fatal accident. 

This tutorial is Part Two in a three-part series. Make sure to complete Part One first. Click HERE to launch Part One.

Then, make sure to complete Part Three! Click HERE to launch Part Three.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Examine how a significant event can influence individuals and ideas in this interactive tutorial series about one of the most studied human injuries of all time. Read excerpts from John Fleischman’s book Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science to learn about a young man’s remarkable survival after a near-fatal accident. Phineas Gage, at the age of twenty-six, survived a traumatic brain injury that would not only challenge the scientific understandings of his time but would also provide interesting revelations about the human brain to this day.

In Part One, you’ll begin to identify what makes a particular event significant, such as how a life-altering injury—like what happened to Phineas Gage—can influence an individual. 

This tutorial is Part One of a three-part series. Make sure to complete all three parts!

Click HERE to launch Part Two.

Click HERE to launch Part Three.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn how to identify the central idea within a text. In this interactive tutorial, you'll read an article about video games to practice identifying and explaining the central idea of a passage or text.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn to identify explicit textual evidence and make inferences based on the text. In this interactive tutorial, you'll sharpen your analysis skills while reading about the famed American explorers, Lewis and Clark, and their trusted companion, Sacagawea. You'll practice analyzing the explicit textual evidence wihtin the text, and you'll also make your own inferences based on the available evidence. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Examine the interactions between individuals, ideas, and events using excerpts from the book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. In this interactive tutorial, you'll explore the relationships and events that helped shape Douglass's life and his courageous quest for freedom.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

In this ReadWriteThink.org lesson, students will be able to explore the genre of science fiction, while learning more about the science integrated into the plot of the story using nonfiction texts and resources. First, students define the science fiction genre and then read and discuss science fiction texts. Next, they conduct research to find science facts that support or dispute the science included in the plot of the science fiction book they read. Students then revisit their definition of the genre and revise based on their reading. Finally, students complete a project that examines the science fiction genre in relation to real-world science concepts and topics. This lesson plan makes the connections between the worlds in science fiction and students' real world explicit by asking them to explore the underlying science that supports the fictional world and considering its relationship to the real science in today's society.

Type: Teaching Idea

In this hands-on activity, students explore the skill of summarizing through peer writings as they travel the classroom a la musical chairs.

Type: Teaching Idea