This lesson introduces the concept of cause and effect with Trinka Hakes Noble's books about Jimmy and his boa constrictor. Each lesson begins with the teacher reading a new story about Jimmy and his boa and the chaos they bring to each place they visit. Class discussions about each event and its cause are followed by tasks for the students to help illustrate understanding of the concept. Students create cause-and-effect pictures, puzzles, and flow charts as they explore the genre. As a culminating activity, students write their own book with causes and effects, which are assessed with a rubric.

This lesson uses clips from "The Matrix" and other dystopian movies to introduce students to the characteristics found in dystopian works, such as "Brave New World", "Fahrenheit 451", and "1984".

Through listing and observation, students identify the many texts that they read and compose: including books and magazines, television shows, movies, audio broadcasts, hypertexts, and animations.

Savagery, treachery, lost innocenceÉ "Lord of the Flies" is rife with character development. Use this lesson to help students chart the character changes of Ralph and Jack, both in groups and individually.

Using "The Grapes of Wrath" as a backdrop, students conduct research on issues that the novel addresses, publishing their findings in a multigenre museum exhibit.

Students will love unwrapping this lesson about before, during, and after reading activities based on Margaree King MitchellŐs book, "GrandaddyŐs Gift".

Students analyze their past readings and use that knowledge to create reading plans for the future.

Student pairs aim to be the first team to call out "bingo" in this lesson in which they use skimming and scanning to locate information about ancient Greece and Rome.

ŇThatŐs my position and IŐm sticking to it!Ó After reading about the Korean War, students will take a position in response to an open-ended question, support their position, and evaluate that support.

Students collaboratively interact with a variety of texts as they define reading and develop their own ReaderŐs Profiles modeled after online social networking sites.

Using the guiding question, "What is reading?" students interact with a variety of texts as they uncover the skills necessary to interact with texts and develop a definition of reading.

Students compare the traits fact and fiction by using a Venn diagram to compare fiction and nonfiction books about Native Americans.

A read-aloud of Patricia PolaccoŐs "Thank You, Mr. Falker" helps promote deeper comprehension through questioning to achieve personal connections and discussions of character and theme.

Students in Grades 2-6 use digital dictionaries and other e-book tools to learn new vocabulary as they read e-books on digital reading devices.

Learn about Greek gods, heroes, and creatures through digital storytelling produced by students who have learned research techniques.

Students keep a doodle journal while reading short stories by a common author. In small groups, students then combine their doodles into a graphic representation of the text.

Students analyzing a play can map out the key elements of character, setting, conflict, and resolution for a variety purposes. This interactive is aimed at secondary students.

An Observation and Inquiry Sheet guides students as they analyze and compare their reactions to the value, engagement, and credibility of three websites related to Anne Frank and the Holocaust.

Students examine three examples of revisionist fairy tales in which female characters act in empowered roles rather than behaving helpless and submissive.

Students demonstrate their knowledge of cause-and-effect relationships by creating original comic strips and sharing their completed work in an oral presentation format.