You will learn how to synthesize and make logical connections between ideas within a text and across two or three texts representing similar or different genres (including literary text) and support the findings with textual evidence.

You will learn how to summarize the main ideas and supporting details in text and understand that a summary does not include opinions.

You will be able to explain how different organizational patterns (e.g., proposition and support, problem and solution) develop the main idea and the author’s viewpoint.

You will learn how to determine the meaning of grade-level academic English words derived from Latin, Greek, or other linguistic roots and affixes.

You will learn how to use context (e.g., cause and effect or compare and contrast organizational text structures) to determine or clarify the meaning of unfamiliar or multiple-meaning words.

You will learn how to infer the implicit theme in a work of fiction, distinguish theme from topic, and make complex inferences using textual evidence.

In these two lesson plans, students will learn to identify issues of importance, form their opinions, and support those opinions with evidence and reason. They will also learn how to state their feelings in a persuasive manner.

In this 3rd through 5th grade video, students connect exercise and literacy. The teacher reads a sentence aloud and students must identify the action verb that was read and then act it out accordingly. This is a great lesson to combine focus on cognitive and psychomotor skills.

In this video segment from Nature, witness the joy an elephant family experiences when a new baby elephant is born. This birth was a celebration within elephant society. 

Find out how young Thomas Edison’s curiosity got him into trouble, and how, during his teen years, he lost his hearing but gained confidence as an aspiring inventor, in this video adapted from AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: Edison.

Using textual evidence, you will be able to explain how authors create meaning through stylistic elements and figurative language emphasizing the use of personification, hyperbole, and refrains in prose and poetry.

Nature Cat and friends visited the marsh in the story segment Muck Amok. Now, learn along with them as they discover more about marshes and conservation. 

You will be able to identify the literary language and devices used in memoirs and personal narratives and compare their characteristics with those of an autobiography.

You will learn how to explain a playwright’s use of dialogue and stage directions.

Nature Cat and friends learned some map skills as they searched for treasure in the story segment The Treasure of Bad Dog Bart. Now learn about compasses, landmarks, and maps with Nature Cat, Squeeks, and more. Finally, help Hal remember exciting new words from the reader and episode.

Nature Cat and the team learned about the power of wind in the story segment Breezy Rider. Read along with Nature Cat, Daisy, Squeeks, and Hal as you explore all the things that wind can do! 

You will learn how to make connections between and across texts, including other media (e.g., film, play), and provide textual evidence.

You will learn the importance of graphical elements (e.g., capital letters, line length, word position) in the meaning of a poem.

You will learn how the setting in a story can influence the development of the plot.

Help children understand point of view in storytelling and build vocabulary using this Martha Speaks video! Martha and friends discuss what the words "certain" and "sure" mean, and Martha shares her version of how a game they played ended.