This lesson will help students explore using a dictionary to figure out tricky words with suffixes. Use as a stand-alone activity or a support for the Understanding Academic Vocabulary in a Nonfiction Text lesson.

What do Malala Yousafzai, Al Gore, and Michelle Obama all have in common? They are all nonfiction authors with a purpose. In this interactive lesson, students will gain practice looking at details in text to identify the author’s purpose.

Look at history! In this lesson, guide students through an exploration of the context, causes, and effects of the Transcontinental Railroad, and help them practice identifying the main idea and supporting details in a nonfiction text.

Use this lesson to help your ELs quickly find information on a specific topic by looking for a noun and its pronouns in a nonfiction text. It can be a stand-alone lesson or used as support for the lesson Ecosystems Explained.

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a 17th century writer and philosopher who today is considered one of the first documented feminists and advocates for women’s education. In this lesson, students will read two nonfiction texts about Sor Juana and discuss her life and accomplishments before writing an opinion piece about her.

Are you a page turner or a mouse clicker? In this lesson, students compare and contrast text features in two types of nonfictions texts: print and electronic.

In this lesson, students will look at picture clues to determine the topic of texts. ELs will build vocabulary and language skills by working with partners to discuss and represent texts using drawings.

What’s the deal with all of those text features? Use this handy lesson plan to help your second graders answer that very question.

Ever wondered how to explain what an index is to a 6 year old? Look no further! Use this engaging lesson to help your students become text feature experts.

Critical thinking demands making inferences and having proof. Use this lesson plan with your students to teach how to infer author’s perspective and cite supporting quotes from text.

Use pantomime performance to drive your students to predict, question, and cite main ideas. With this dramatic lesson plan, your class will craftily capture information on a graphic organizer to boost their reading comprehension!

Want to engage students in reading? Give them books that they want to read! This lesson will give you a chance to learn about your readers so that you can best support them to become fluent readers.

Want students to use text features in their writing? Begin by having them examine the text features that they see in informational books.

It's time for some storytelling fun. In this creative lesson, students become authors and put together their own mini storybooks.

Ahoy there! Ready to sail with your students on a treasure map summary? What's that matey? Your students need practice with summaries? Then take a journey and summarize to find the hidden treasure.

Charts, graphs, and diagrams are complex text features for students to decipher. Use this lesson to familiarize students with these features. It can be taught on its own or before the lesson Charts and Graphs and Diagrams, Oh My!

Teach your students how to identify the main topic using story cards and an interactive read aloud in this engaging lesson.

If young writers can learn how to write a solid paragraph, then they have the building blocks of an essay. In this lesson, students will study paragraph structure and practice organizing ideas into paragraphs.

Get ready to develop important comprehension skills! Students will read different informational passages and learn to identify the main idea. They will then use their knowledge of main ideas to write their own informational passages.

Improve your students' comprehension of non-fictional reading through this lesson that teaches them about text features. Students will find their own text features and explain why they aid in the reading process.

Give your students a chance to hone their reading comprehension skills as they learn about the characters, setting, and plot of their favorite fiction books by creating a story map.

Help your second graders hone their research skills using this animal-themed lesson! Students will enjoy choosing an animal, identifying questions, and researching their answers as they learn about writing informative essays.

Let's learn about natural disasters. After reading through some informational texts, students will use their close reading skills to answer questions about different types of disasters.

Use this lesson to help your ELs learn about the components that make a good caption for an illustration. This lesson can stand alone or be used as a pre-lesson for the Caption Illustration! Say It With A Drawing lesson.

Are your students emerging readers? Use this literacy-focused lesson plan to set summer reading goals and help your students express their opinions about books. Can be used as a stand-alone or support lesson for the Summer Reads lesson plan.

Holy cow! Did President George W. Bush really have a longhorn named Ofelia as a pet? Students learn about wacky White House pets in this fun research activity that includes “president interviews” and a pet choice writing page.

It’s time to take a trip around the world and experience Christmas in different countries. Students will explore how their Christmas traditions compare and contrast with kids across the world and chart their findings on a Venn diagram.

This fun combination of scavenger hunt and bingo is sure to please young learners. Not only will your students increase their knowledge of text features, they'll also enjoy a selection of engaging games.

Planning for a substitute in the classroom has never been easier than with this daily sub plan! Your substitute can keep your students learning in your absence by using these lessons, worksheets, and activities.

Planning for a substitute in the classroom has never been easier than with this daily sub plan! Your substitute can keep your students learning in your absence by using these lessons, worksheets, and activities.