Reading

Source: Pixabay by John Hain (License: CC0/Public Domain)

 

In this activity, students use the Internet to gather information and take notes for a presentation about a civil rights leader. Students work individually or in pairs to enter information and images on a Google Slideshow (or other slideshow software) template file and make an oral presentation.

Source: Infoplease Famous Firsts by African Americans (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

This site presents a vast array of articles and images on a host of subjects .(check Browse tab)  Students can read about African American History,  History and Timelines, Contemporary Issues and Facts, Biographyies and Special Features, Holidays, Education and Awards With the information, students create a timeline of the Civil Rights movement in the United States. In this assignment, students read about Famous Firsts by African Americans.

Source: NPR Technology Entries (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

NPR's "All Things Considered" airs its series called "All Tech Considered" which explores the sometimes daunting—always-changing—world of technology. If you are baffled by your cell phone, or your students are wondering what their kids mean when they say they are tweeting on Twitter, All Tech Considered explores many of these areas and could be of help. Try sending your students here to look up information that interests them. Not all stories have an audio component, so look for ones that have "Listen to the Story" or the word "podcast." Podcasts of many of the archived shows are downloadable and the segments are usually under 10 minutes.

Source: Pixabay by Jim Jorstad (License: CC0/Public Domain)

Students have conversation about favorite places, learn about a United States national monument by watching a video and answering questions, and then select a place in the U.S. to research and present on.

Source: Cleaning Institute Cleaning Tips (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

This site offers a world of information about laundry and all types of cleaning tips, understanding products, sustainable cleaning as well as industry priorities. The example website includes a section called Cleaning Tips where you can apply learning to home, school, or work. "Information sheets" found in teacher resources are in a printable format such as PDF. The section on Soaps and Detergents History with a timeline offers another way to organize a lesson.

Source: Free Canva Account page (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

For this project, students will make an infographic to illustrate a topic of their choice. They will then present their topic using the infographic to explain to the class what they learned. Canva's motto is Empowering the world to design. At the site, you can learn to design as well as use their tools to make a vast variety of materials including logos, presentations, photo collages, menus, posters, cards, and infographics. You can illustrate social media posts, documents such as letterheads, certificates, and resumes, blogging, flyers, postcards, invitations, and advertisements.

Use of the site is free, but if you use their images, some of them have a fee. There are plenty of images that are free and you can upload your own pictures to use.

Source: Pixabay by QuinceCreative (License: Creative Commons 1.0)

Students use web sites for department stores to find product information for similar products in order to compare prices and qualities of products at different stores so that they can make wise buying decisions.

Source: 21st Century Information Fluency Project Wizard Tools (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

Teach your students how to conduct effective Web searches with the Search Wizard tool.

Designed by educators for educators (and students), this site offers three tools that make it easy to teach the essential steps of locating, evaluating, and ethically using digital resources:

1. Search Wizard: helps students learn how to build good Web searches
2. Evaluation Wizard: helps students evaluate Web sites
3. Citation Wizard: helps students build citations (in five styles) to be used in research papers or documents.

Source: Pixabay by Sergei Tokmakov (License: CC0/Public Domain)

 

Students engage in conversation about the environment, practice listening comprehension by watching a video and answering questions, read an article about the harm of plastics on the environment, brainstorm ways to preserve the natural environment, write a paragraph, and create an inforgraphic based on their ideas.

Source: 4Tests GED Practice Test page (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

A free online practice test site for the 2014 GED test with the 4 sections of the GED provided by Barrons Educational Series. It includes an explanation for the right answer.

Source: Unsplash by Natalie Pedigo (License: CC0/Public Domain)

 

Intermediate and advanced students learn about ancient and modern wonders of the world using the online information on the Google Arts and Culture site and other Web sites and then and share what they learn in a jigsaw reading/cooperative learning activity. As an optional follow-up, write a paragraph and/or make an oral presentation about a wonder of the world of their choosing (a museum, building, sculpture, statue, bridge, canal, dam, temple, church, cathedral, castle, or natural wonder or a UNESCO World Heritage Site) located in their native countries or elsewhere.

Source: YouTube Learn English with Speeches by Learn English with Speeches (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

Use the any of the video sources for student pronunciation practice. There are several speeches by famous people from around the world. Each video has large subtitles so that students can see the words and develop their vocabulary at the same time as practicing pronunciation and oral presentations.

Source: Unsplash by Jon Tyson (License: Creative Commons 1.0)

 

Students use the Internet to find information about the meaning of their first names, write a paragraph with this information and reflect on the personal connotation of their names, and make an oral class presentation.

Source: Pixabay by PublicDomainPictures (License: Creative Commons 1.0)

 

Intermediate and advanced students or students in Citizenship classes learn about national symbols of the United States through jigsaw reading and follow up by writing a paragraph and/or making an oral presentation about national symbols of their native countries (or state/city symbols if the class is relatively homogeneous).

Source: Newsela homepage (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

Newsela is a personalized reading service designed to help students master non-fiction literacy by providing daily news articles at multiple reading levels. Newsela makes it easy for an entire class to read the same article at their own reading level.

The teacher assigns an article(s) to the class. Many of the articles have quizzes available. "Write" is a feature that allows students to answer open-ended questions. The teacher can customize the prompt.

Newsela offers a free version and a premium for pay program called Newsela Pro. Pro includes many additional features including student tracking, annotation on articles, etc. June 30, 2023 Newsela offers Newsela Lite. Articles will still be available at multiple reading levels but each week four articles will be available to select from. The articles will be available for four weeks. Each week one will be replaced. When an article is selected the teacher will be able to see student actions and quiz results. It is free to any teacher. Review the new features. 

This is a good unit on consumerism. The lesson is complete with video, note-taking and practice.

Students watch a video which explains advertising strategies. Then, using a note-taking chart, they will practice identifying advertising strategies while watching various commercials. They can also use the form at home while watching TV commercials for further practice. Then as a final activity, students can make a team presentation using PowerPoint.

Source: Reading Skills 4 Today

Previously Marshall Reading,this site provides leveled reading selections that are appropriate for adult learners. These materials, combined with the research-proven strategies of repeated reading and guided oral reading, aid in building learners' fluency and comprehension skills. For First Timmer Users 

 

Source: ReadWorks (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

In this activity, students are assigned a reading passage and shown the different tools they can use during the reading. They are then introduced to a Question Set and asked to complete the activity. When the students finish the activity, it is projected so they can see the article and as a class, responses are reviewed.

Readworks is a free, non-profit site focused on improving teacher effectiveness and student achievement in reading comprehension by providing free standards-aligned content, curriculum, and tools based on the highest quality cognitive scientific research on how to learn to read.

Source: The Free Dictionary (License: CC0/Public Domain)

Use the online dictionary, The Free Dictionary as a stepping off point for developing research skills and expanding students' vocabulary and knowledge base through exploration of word of the day, today's birthday, this day in history, today's holiday and article of the day.

TheFreeDictionary.com site has many features including Word of the Day, Daily Grammar Lesson, Article of the Day,  This Day in History, Today's Birthday, Quotation of the Day, Today's Holiday, Idiom of the Day and Grammar Quiz. Word games include Hangman, Spelling Bee, Match Up and WordHub.

Source: Snopes.com (License: CC0/Public Domain)

 

While learning about urban legends, students practice reading skills, summarizing and paragraphing in speaking and writing, and hone their abilities to view media critically. Students use Snopes, a site dedicated to fact-checking news stories, past events and urban legends, to read and take notes on an urban legends. 

Source: NPR's This I Believe (License: CC0/Public Domain)

If you listen to NPR radio, you may hear both famous and unknowns discussing their core values and beliefs on weekly broadcasts of the radio spot “This I Believe,” a take-off on Edward R. Murrow’s original 1950s radio show. The site is an archive of all the modern broadcasts accompanied by the original print essays and contains a searchable database of thousands of other essays on numerous topics ranging from patriotism, to family, to sports. Each short essay that has been broadcast on NPR has a “Listen” link to hear the authors read their essays, which provides a listening component for the ABE student. The audio can be the basis for exercises on note-taking, listening for main ideas, supporting details, and cloze (listening for missing words).

Source: MyPlate (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

In this activity, students identify foods and categorize them according to food group, discuss the MyPlate image, draw a MyPlate image showing how much of each food group they typically eat, write sentences about their eating habits and what they should change, compare their eating habits with other students, and research key consumer messages for each of the food groups on the ChooseMyPlate Web site.

This activity aims to develop student understanding of healthy, balanced eating and provides practice of basic food vocabulary, the present simple tense, comparatives (more than/less than), and the modal "should."

Source: Working the Web for Education Tom March (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

In this activity, Students will read and discuss a current issue: Rise of the machines: Philippine outsourcing industry braces for AI. The emphasis is on critical thinking. Students will read, consider and discuss the future of Technology and its impact on jobs.

The Tom March Web site contains videos, political cartoons, and pictures that encourage students to think critically. 

                                                        

Source: magicschool.ai (License: CC0/Public Domain)    

 

 

Use an AI enhanced program such as magicschool.ai or web.diffit.me to level text to match the reading levels of your students

Source: Diffit for Teachers (License: CC0/Public Domain)

 Use the same AI enhanced software to select other tools to assist in teaching students reading comprehension skills.

In this lesson, students will explore savings by reading a comic book and discussing their reading. At the conclusion of this lesson, students will see how savings affect the economy and perhaps, start saving.

Source: https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plans/anne-frank-one-hundreds-thousands#sect-thelesson%22_blank%22 (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

This lesson invites you to supplement your students' reading of The Diary of a Young Girl by connecting the diary to the study of history and to honor the legacy of Anne Frank, the writer, as she inspires your students to use writing to deepen their insights into their own experiences and the experiences of others.

In the class activity, students look at a series of maps to gain an idea of the territorial changes in Europe after World War I up to the beginning of the defeat of Germany. They complete a map intended to show the speed and reach of Germany's wartime expansion. Then students share information about the German occupation in some European countries, which they then compare to the situation in the Netherlands. Lastly, students analyze a map.

Source: http://annex.exploratorium.edu/imaging_station/activities/classroom/wild_mutant/ca_wild_mutant.php (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

In this activity, students are introduced to genetic vocabulary and learn about the inheritance patterns and genotypes of fruit flies by viewing images of fruit flies and drawing conclusions.

This activity, Wild Type and Mutant from the Exploratorium is an introduction to genetics and should be used before, Genetic Crosses, which explores the topic in greater depth. Genetic Crosses goes on to use Punnett squares to predict the results of genetic crosses and determine the genotypes of the parent flies in a particular cross.

Source: My Books-Unlimited Library App (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

In this activity, students use a free iPad app to read a book they or their teacher select. Students read assigned chapters and highlight new vocabulary and important information. During a class discussion, students are able to refer to their highlighted notes. Students are then asked to look up new vocabulary words and write a short synopsis of the chapter.

The Free Books – Unlimited Library – The Ultimate Ebooks And Audiobooks Library In Your Pocket app by Digital Press Publishing provides notes, highlights, bookmarks, and dictionary support. The upgraded version ($$) includes audiobooks; however, the student is not able to see the printed text while listening to the audio.

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In this activity, students learn about the history of Women’s Suffrage through the exploration of primary sources. The American Memory Collection’s Classroom Materials section features lesson plans, themed resources, primary source sets, presentations and activities, and collection connections. The Presentations & Activities section offers media-rich historical content or interactive opportunities for exploration to both teachers and students.

The President Elect site is a great site to help your students learn about the electoral college. The "FAQ" page would be a good place to start, as these may represent most of your students questions about the electoral college and how it works. The site is per election year so check for current election

In this activity, students use an interactive quiz to correctly put the steps of how a bill becomes a law in order. They must be careful to consider ALL the steps, even those that take place when the bill doesn't go smoothly.

A screenshot of How a Bill Becomes a Law Activity.