ReadWriteThink couldn't publish all of this great content without literacy experts to write and review for us. If you've got lessons plans, videos, activities, or other ideas you'd like to contribute, we'd love to hear from you.
Find the latest in professional publications, learn new techniques and strategies, and find out how you can connect with other literacy professionals.
Teacher Resources by Grade
|1st - 2nd||3rd - 4th|
|5th - 6th||7th - 8th|
|9th - 10th||11th - 12th|
A Portrait of Our World: Making Connections and Developing Comprehension
|Grades||6 – 8|
|Lesson Plan Type||Unit|
|Estimated Time||Nine 60-minute sessions|
San Bernardino, California
Engage middle school students in a meaningful study of the lives of students from across the globe through the use of contemporary nonfiction and fiction. Students create personal autobiographies, sequence story events, and prepare well-crafted summaries while learning to use higher-level comprehension strategies such as Question-Answer Relationships and the Bio-Cube. Additionally, students conduct a critical study of the NCSS Notable Tradebook Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story From Afghanistan by Jeanette Winter, comparing and contrasting their own lives to Nasreen’s and expanding their geographical knowledge of the Middle East.
Bio-Cube: Bio-Cube is an interactive tool that helps students to organize and synthesize information for use when writing an autobiography.
A Guide to Question–Answer Relationships: The Question–Answer Relationship strategy develops higher-level comprehension skills with both narrative and expository texts by teaching students how to answer the four levels of questions and to even create their own questions.
Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan by Jeanette Winter (Beach Lane Books, 2009): This book teaches students about a different life and culture and exposes them to the narrative format they need to use when creating their autobiographies.
Liang, L.A., & Dole, J.A. (2006). Help with teaching reading comprehension: Comprehension instructional frameworks. The Reading Teacher, 59(8), 742–753.
- There are five research-based comprehension instructional frameworks that focus on the understanding of content: (1) Scaffolded Reading Experience, (2) Questioning the Author, (3) Collaborative Strategic Reading, (4) Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies, and (5) Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction.
- The five instructional frameworks are used in various grouping formats for short and long units of study.
- They are instructional frameworks, not scripted programs, and therefore can be used with various age groups and across different content areas.
Soares, L.B., & Wood, K. (2010). A critical literacy perspective for teaching and learning social studies. The Reading Teacher, 63(6), 486–494.
- Promoting a critical literacy perspective within social studies lessons allows students to become immersed in a democratic way of life by learning to critically examine our global world and take a stand on social justice issues.
- Critical pedagogy allows students to bring their own life experiences into classroom lessons and promotes multiple perspectives on important issues.
- Five instructional themes emerge to promote comprehension and critical literacy: (1) examining multiple perspectives, (2) finding your authentic voice, (3) recognizing social barriers and crossing borders of separation, (4) finding one’s identity, and (5) rising to the call of service.