If you’re looking for practical instructional ideas, you’re in the right place. ReadWriteThink.org offers classroom-tested lesson plans providing ready resources for educators working with students aged from PreK to high school.
Explore the lessons, student interactives, calendar activities, strategy guides, podcasts, mobile apps, videos, and parent & afterschool resources to find the literacy resources you need.
Support Literacy Learners this Summer
Looking for additional summer-themed activities?
Check out the Bright Ideas section of ReadWriteThink.org. The Support Literacy Learning All Year Long handout can also be shared with parents, families, and others interested in learning outside of the classroom.
Use these teaching strategies, professional readings, and book lists for additional summer learning.
Read a more personal take on summer learning and see what others are doing, in the online Council Chronicle article "Keeping Kids Engaged with Resources from ReadWriteThink.org and Other Summer Learning Sites."
Focus on Teaching Nonfiction
Below are featured lesson plans for teaching content-rich nonfiction and informational texts.
For Elementary Teachers
Adventures in Nonfiction: A Guided Inquiry Journey (K-2)
Students are guided through an informal exploration of nonfiction texts and child-oriented Websites, learning browsing and skimming techniques for the purpose of gathering interesting information.students to think critically about books and their movie counterparts by analyzing the texts and then selecting a cut or adapted scene from the book to present in readers theater.
For Middle Level Teachers
Not Your Usual History Lesson: Writing Historical Markers (6-8)
Students will develop their summarizing skills while learning about local history. They will learn to consider audience while selecting topics, conducting research and interviews, and writing historical markers for their town.
For Secondary Teachers
Analyzing Famous Speeches as Arguments (9-12)
Students are often asked to perform speeches, but rarely do we require students to analyze speeches as carefully as we study works of literature. In this unit, students are required to identify the rhetorical strategies in a famous speech and the specific purpose for each chosen device. They will write an essay about its effectiveness and why it is still famous after all these years.