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.

It is important for students to stop and think as they read. This activity/lesson is a fun and quick way to see how students are thinking as they read.

In this lesson, students will learn how to get information from pictures in texts. They will describe pictures with a partner and see if their descriptions match the words in the text. This lesson can be used alone or as a support lesson.

In this lesson, students will retell stories by drawing and talking about what happens at the beginning, middle, and end. This lesson can be used alone or with the Goldilocks and Beginning, Middle, and End lesson plan.

Engage students in reading grade-level texts by making and testing predictions. Your students will be excited to read on to find out if their predictions are correct!

In this lesson, students will learn how their breath can be their greatest friend. They will practice and learn how to use their breath when they feel tense or overwhelmed, just like a magical tool!

Take the mystery out of comprehending nonfiction by becoming a text feature detective! Find clues before reading to get your brain ready to learn!

In this lesson, students have a great time using their imaginations to collaborate and create their own story following the "how and why" style of common folktales.

In this lesson, students will retell stories and use symbols to highlight interesting parts. This lesson can be used alone or with the Readers Record Their Thinking lesson plan.

Get ready to teach students strategies for understanding new words! Students will practice strategies to read new words in nonfiction books. This lesson can be used alone or with the New Words, New Ideas: Reading Nonfiction lesson plan.

Good readers ask questions before, during, and after reading. This lesson, which incorporates two wonderful activities and some practice with the 5 Ws, is sure to get your students ready to dive into literature.

As students reread nonfiction, have them draw or write new information they learn. Students then share these new learnings with reading partners.

Every storyteller needs to understand beginning, middle, and end. The same goes for young readers. Help your students grasp the concept of story sections with this hands-on sequencing lesson.

Help your kindergarten students learn about comparing and contrasting nonfiction texts in this fun under-the-sea-themed lesson plan.

In this fun Easter-themed lesson, students will get to practice identifying characters, setting, and events, all while learning about a very silly cat!

Who doesn’t love learning about animals? Engage students in research as they write informational books about animals.

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

Get your students excited about expository text through this fun introduction to text features! Students will create their own glossary of nonfiction text features.

Catalina Magdalena Hoopensteiner Wallendiner Hogan Logan Bogan Was Her Name, and students will have a blast writing persuasive sentences about her. This quirky lesson is sure to please young, creative minds.

Ask an important question this month: What does an activist do? This engaging lesson can be used leading up to Martin Luther King Jr. Day (and year-round). It supports students in understanding what it means to be an activist and how Martin Luther King Jr. used collaborative action to change the world and speak out against oppression. Perfect for first graders and second graders, this activity explores word meaning and other reading and writing skills.

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

Use this lesson plan as an introductory activity to kick-off a short, project-based learning unit where students will research black visionaries and share what they learned.

This lesson plan teaches students about Jean-Michel Basquiat and his life as a child. First, students will listen to a story and figure out the main topic and details. Next, students will be asked to think deeply about what it means to be an artist and some of the types of art they like to create. Perfect for first graders and second graders, the lesson Black Artists: Basquiat highlights reading informational texts and building vocabulary.

This engaging lesson plan provides students with an opportunity to learn all about America's prima ballerina, Maria Tallchief.

In this lesson, students will learn the steps in solving a problem, discuss solutions from the story "Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present," and use these same problem-solving skills when they build shapes with pattern blocks.

It's time to make—and hide—animals! In this lesson, students read a story about camouflage and then create their own animals to hide. Finally, students write an informational paragraph to describe their animals' hiding powers.

From seed to flower, students will learn all about the life cycle of a plant in this science lesson. Your class will discover what living things need to grow, and learn the various stages of a plant’s life span, with new vocabulary words.

Young detectives will have a blast as they find context clues and solve a mystery in this fun-filled lesson plan. By paying close attention to a story, students will figure out missing letters to decipher a hidden message.

To help develop independent readers, we need to make sure our students are able to identify books they can read independently. Teaching students to pick "just right" books helps them develop reading fluency by reading books at their level.

Your students will deepen their understanding and build their vocabulary through reading nonfiction texts and identifying unknown words.