This understanding text exemplar ‘Analogies’ shows students how to use this figure of speech to improve their writing. It is aimed at introducing students to the principles of comparing two pairs that have the same relationships to help students make their writing more interesting and includes an exercise for students to practise forming analogies.
This content area reading learning activity, ‘Analysing the Author,’ helps students determine the purpose for writing. It has students record text information that reveals the author’s purpose for writing and then react to the information.
This reading comprehension activity, ‘Androcles and the Lion’ asks students to answer questions about a tale in which a runaway slave and a lion become friends. It is aimed at increasing students’ awareness of semantics and encourages students to recall information, draw conclusions, form opinions and think about word meanings.
This reading comprehension activity, ‘Animals Match the Picture’ asks students to write words to match pictures that relate to animals. It is aimed at developing students’ awareness of semantics and encourages them to recognise the association between a picture and a word describing it.
This reading comprehension activity, ‘Animals Match the Word’ asks students to identify words and pictures that relate to animals. It is aimed at developing students’ awareness of semantics and encourages them to recognise the association between a picture and a word describing it.
This reading comprehension activity, ‘Ann Plays in the Spring Concert’ asks students to answer questions about a story in which a girl plays in an orchestra. It is aimed at increasing students’ awareness of semantics and encourages students to recall information, draw conclusions, make predictions and form opinions.
The fictional newspaper article, ‘Annual Kite Day’ reports on a high school kite day. The report includes instructions for making a simple kite. It provides opportunities for students to practise vocabulary and comprehension skills. Answer sheet provided with file download.
This fictional magazine article, ‘Annual Neighbourhood Book Sale’ reports on the preparations made to support the public library. It provides opportunities for students to practise vocabulary and comprehension skills. Answer sheet provided with file download.
This content area reading learning activity, ‘Anticipation Guide,’ can be used to create tension between students’ prior knowledge and what they will learn from reading the text. It is aimed at helping students set a purpose for learning and kindling their interest in the topic.
This content area reading learning activity, ‘Anticipation Guides,’ helps students set a purpose for reading. It is aimed at activating students’ prior knowledge about a topic, helping them set a purpose for learning and kindling their interest in the topic.
This content area reading learning activity, ‘Anticipation Guides,’ features a list of statements pertaining to a particular topic in a piece of text students are going to read. It is aimed at activating students’ prior knowledge about a topic, helping them set a purpose for learning, and kindling their interest in the topic.
This reading comprehension activity, ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ asks students to answer questions about a story in which a man named Phileas Fogg takes a wager to go around the world in no more than 80 days. It is aimed at increasing students’ awareness of semantics and encourages students to recall information, form …More
This content area reading learning activity, ‘Dramatic Definitions,’ helps students express the relationship between a word and its synonyms through art. It has students find the definition of an unknown word and then draw an illustration of the word interacting with other ideas, people, places or things.
This reading comprehension activity, ‘Arts and Crafts Projects’ asks students to answer questions about recipes for paste and puff paint. It is aimed at increasing students’ awareness of semantics and encourages students to recall information and form opinions.
This content area reading learning activity, ‘Ask the Writer,’ has students engage in an independent dialogue with the text. It is aimed at enhancing students’ comprehension of the text by having them write questions as they think of them and then decide whether or not they were answered in the text.
This understanding text exemplar, ‘Asking Questions’ provides a model of a completed understanding text worksheet. It is aimed at developing students’ awareness of semantics and how asking questions will help them clarify or make sense of what they have read and predict what might happen next.
This reading comprehension activity, ‘Asking Questions’ supports language development by encouraging students to practise the comprehension strategy of asking questions and searching for answers as they read.
This reading comprehension activity, ‘At the Back of the North Wind’ asks students to answer questions about a tale about a boy named Diamond and his adventures with the North Wind. It is aimed at increasing students’ awareness of semantics and encourages students to recall information, draw conclusions and think about word meanings.
This reading comprehension activity, ‘Atalanta and the Prince’ asks students to answer questions about a Greek tale in which a beautiful girl will only marry a man who can run faster than her. It is aimed at increasing students’ awareness of semantics and encourages students to recall information, make predictions, draw conclusions and form opinions.
This reading comprehension activity, ‘Athena and Arachne’ asks students to answer questions about a tale in which Athena, the goddess of wisdom, turns vain and conceited Arachne into a spider. It is aimed at increasing students’ awareness of semantics and encourages students to recall information, form opinions and think about word meanings.
These paired articles, ‘Athletes Vie for Top Spots’ and ‘Athletics Meet’ report on the same competition from two different points of view. They provide opportunities for students to practise vocabulary and comprehension skills. Answer sheet provided with file download.
This content area reading learning activity, ‘Attacking the Appendix,’ teaches students about the purpose and features of an appendix. It has students select topics from the appendix of a nonfiction book that match their purpose for reading.
This content area reading learning activity, ‘Author and Me Analysis,’ helps students understand that they read for a variety of purposes and authors write for a variety of purposes. It has students record important information as they are reading and make connections to their purpose for reading and the author’s purpose for writing.
This content area reading learning activity, ‘Author on Trial,’ helps students understand that there are often different ways to look at a concept. It has students evaluate a text to determine whether the author created a balanced opinion.
This content area reading learning activity, ‘Author’s Meaning,’ helps students interpret the author’s meaning. It has students discuss information from the text that is implied but not directly stated and write two clues they used to make that inference.
This quick reference chart ‘Author’s Meaning’ shows students the possible different meanings of a text without context. It encourages students to use their personal experience and clues from tone and expression to guess the meaning of a sentence with little or no context.
This quick reference chart ‘Author’s Meaning’ shows students the possible different meanings of a text without context. It encourages students to use their personal experience and clues from tone and expression to guess the meaning of a paragraph with little or no context.
This quick reference chart ‘Author’s Meaning’ shows students the possible different meanings of a text without context. It encourages students to use their personal experience and clues from tone and expression to guess the meaning of a paragraph with little or no context.
This understanding text reference worksheet, ‘Author’s Purpose and Reader’s Opinions’ explains to students how to form an opinion and the different purposes an author writes for, such as to inform, persuade, entertain and teach.
This reading comprehension activity, ‘Autumn Moon Holiday’ asks students to answer questions about the Chinese Autumn Moon Holiday and a story in which a princess lives on the moon. It is aimed at increasing students’ awareness of semantics and encourages students to recall information, form opinions and draw conclusions.
This reading comprehension activity, ‘Awesome Adventures’ asks students to answer questions about different adventure day programmes. It is aimed at increasing students’ awareness of semantics and encourages students to recall information, form opinions and think about word meanings.
This reading comprehension activity, ‘Awesome Expeditions’ asks students to answer questions about different adventure day programmes. It is aimed at increasing students’ awareness of semantics and encourages students to recall information and draw conclusions.
This reading comprehension activity, ‘B – Match the Picture’ asks students to write words to match pictures that that start with the letter B. It is aimed at developing students’ awareness of the alphabet, sound-letter relationships and word knowledge.
This reading comprehension activity, ‘B – Match the Word’ asks students to identify words and pictures that start with the letter B. It is aimed at developing students’ awareness of the alphabet, sound-letter relationships and word knowledge.
This short nonfiction text, ‘B: Butterfly’ provides factual information about the Butterfly, exploring where they live, what they eat and other interesting facts. The resource also provides a photo of the insect and guided handwriting practice that can be used to supplement the informational text.
This reading comprehension activity, ‘Baby Brother’ asks students to answer questions about a short story, which is about a girl’s crawling baby brother. It is aimed at developing students’ awareness of semantics and encourages them to recall details from the text.
This sequencing activity, ‘Baby to Adult’ develops comprehension through sequencing images about the growth of the human body.
This reading comprehension activity, ‘Basketball’ asks students to answer questions about a short story, which is about children playing basketball. It is aimed at developing students’ awareness of semantics and encourages them to recall details from the text.
This sequencing activity, ‘Bedtime’ develops comprehension through sequencing images about getting ready for bedtime.
This reading comprehension activity, ‘Bellerophon’ asks students to answer questions about a story in which Bellerophon slays the dreadful monster Chimera. It is aimed at increasing students’ awareness of semantics and encourages students to recall information and think about word meanings.
This story, ‘Benny and Sam’ is about two boys who are building a treehouse. It provides opportunities for students to practise vocabulary and comprehension skills. Answer sheet provided with file download.
This content area reading learning activity, ‘Biased and Non-Biased Storytelling,’ helps students identify bias in texts. It is aimed at teaching students the importance of using reasonable, rational language and examples when presenting information in order to prove their credibility as writers.
This content area reading learning activity, ‘Big and Small Questions,’ gives students practice with different types of questions. It is aimed at helping students distinguish between big and small questions.
This report, ‘Big Cousins’ describes prehistoric animals that were the ‘cousins’ of the elephant. It provides opportunities for students to practise vocabulary and comprehension skills. Answer sheet provided with file download.
This sequencing activity, ‘Big, Bigger, Biggest ‘ develops comprehension through sequencing images about different sizes of an object.
This sequencing activity, ‘Bike Safety’ develops comprehension through sequencing images about bike safety.
This reading activity, ‘Bikes and Cars’ provides opportunities for practice with reading advertisements and then completing the comprehension questions.
This article, ‘All About Animal Homes: Billabongs’, describes different types of animals that make their homes in billabongs. It provides factual information about these animals and includes colourful and engaging photographs.
This content area reading learning activity, ‘Biography,’ helps students develop an understanding of the author’s point of view using context. It is aimed at showing students how the author’s life affects his or her ideas and viewpoints that they encountered in the text.
This reading comprehension activity, ‘Black Beauty’ asks students to answer questions about a tale of a beautiful black horse. It is aimed at increasing students’ awareness of semantics and encourages students to recall information and think about word meanings.
This content area reading learning activity, ‘Bold the ‘Golden’ Words,’ helps students identify important words in texts. It has students read a text in which important words are not bolded or italicised and challenges students to underline, circle or highlight the ‘golden’ words.
The report, ‘Bonnie Blair’ tells readers about the speed skater who once held the record for the most gold medals won by an American athlete at the Olympic Games. It provides opportunities for students to practise vocabulary and comprehension skills. Answer sheet provided with file download.
This content area reading learning activity, ‘Book Jacket,’ teaches students about how examining the book jacket can yield useful information in deciding whether or not to keep reading. It encourages students to identify the information in the book jacket that matches their purpose for reading and connections to prior knowledge and personal experience.
This content area reading learning activity, ‘Brainstorming,’ has students tell all they know about a topic. It is aimed at helping students access their prior knowledge about a topic.
This content area reading learning activity, ‘Brainstorming,’ involves students telling all they know about a topic. It is aimed at helping students access their prior knowledge about a topic.
This content area reading learning activity, ‘Brainstorming,’ helps students set a purpose for reading. It is aimed at enhancing students’ comprehension of the text by having them generate a list of words and sort them into different groups.
This reading comprehension activity, ‘Break Time’ asks students to answer questions about a short poem, which is about the things that a child likes to do at school. It is aimed at developing students’ awareness of semantics and encourages them to recall details from the poem.
This story, ‘Breakfast’ tells what happens when children surprise their father on his birthday. It provides opportunities for students to practise vocabulary and comprehension skills. Answer sheet provided with file download.
This content area reading learning activity, ‘Breaks in Text Practice,’ helps students notice, read and understand breaks in text. It is aimed at teaching students how breaks in text are related to the meaning of the text.
This content area reading learning activity, ‘Buddy Reading,’ helps students work together to understand the purpose and function of text organisers. It is aimed at maximising students’ learning through structured group work.