Literacy+Tools

= Literacy Tools =

=Main Idea Ideas=

To give students practice on finding the main idea, this website has students read a passage and answer questions based on what was read. Questions are similar to comprehension and main idea questions found on the CRCT and other state exams. [|Main Idea]

Through Discovery Education I can 259 results for main ideas. This includes lessons videos and video segments, images, resources, events, handouts, quizes, and teacher guides. The only downfall is that you must be a member of discover education. [|discovered]

This website is the most helpful main idea resource. It links you to main idea worksheets, activities, learning styles, passages, graphic organizers, and much more. The best part is that it is all free! [|bestmainidea]

This song is a fun catchy way to teach main idea in writing to students. [|songmainidea]

This link provides many links to different fun online main idea activities from game aquarium. Students will love playing these main idea games! [|gamequarium]

=Cause and Effect Ideas=

Growing up matching squares was my favorite way to learn cause and effect. Quia.com has an online matching squares game where students individually read a situation, decide if it is a cause or effect, and find its other half. This online game is not only entertaining to students, but educational as well. [|causeandeffectquia]

When teaching cause and effect the what and why of a situation is the main focus rather than the proper use of the conjunction in the sentence. In the cause and effect exercise, "Finding Errors in Cause/Effect Paragraphs," students will read the passage and find the improper conjunctions. [|conjunctionerror]

This link has great information, activities, and its a great place to start a cause and effect lesson! [|greatplacetostart]

Lesson plan for teaching cause and effect and incorporates science volcanoes 3 days long. [|danger!Volcanoes]

Matching cause and effect worksheet and key. Great for independent practice! [|causeandeffectworksheet]

Fill in the blank worksheet. Great for independent practice or review for test. [|fillincauseandeffect]

This lesson plan has students of all ages and ability levels creatively expressing cause and effect relationships by drawing, writing, and creating cause and effect situations. First, as a teacher you would choose your grade level, 5th. Secondly, students on the lowest ability level would write more sentences and draw more pictures illustrating the situations: what was the cause and the outcome. The higher ability levels would use more words that drawings. To add a technology component, students could use clip art or Microsoft paint. [|causeandeffectcreate]

=Sequencing Ideas=

Online students can step by step put in order how to pop popcorn. Not only does this reduce the amount of paper used in the classroom, but students who struggle with writing can easily participate in sequencing and be assessed. Quia. com has many other great activities besides sequencing and is free with a member login. This activity could be followed up with the students actually making popcorn! [|Sequencingquia]

One of my favorite online sequencing games. Students make a Garfield comic strip by putting the correct frames in order. It is SO much fun that students forget they are learning. [|garfieldsequencing]

Students can help Tintin put his adventure back in order at the National Maritim Museum at Teachers First. This game has students learning sequencing while having fun on an online game. [|tintin]

Children of all ages with the help of a teacher or parent can put in order real or hand-drawn pictures. [|crayola]

=Text Features Ideas=

For schools using Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company this website has an excellent web resource for additional text resources. Educators can choose their subject, grade level, book, or text feature, and the company will provide tons of products and activities for the classroom available to enhance learning. Also, the website provides fun educational links and activities for students and parents to explore around the website.[|Text Features]

Growing up text books were the governing law on information in the classroom. However, in today's classroom the textbook is used more as a resource and it is important that the classroom teacher knows how to use it as a research. This link explains what text features are, why they are important they are important, and how to teach with text features. [|textfeature]

This powerpoint explains in detail what, where, and how text features are properly used. Where as the link above is in the view of the teacher, this powerpoint is in the point of view of the students.

=Questioning Ideas=

This link gives pre and post reading ideas. Although it is specifically referring to Martin Luther King Jr. the graphic organizers ideas and strategies can be used for for all texts. Students will fill out a KWL chart, an anticipatory guide, and what did you learn worksheet. Also, this site gives group reading strategies. [|readingstrageties]

This lesson plan specifically teaches pre, during, and post questioning when reading. I LOVE this lesson because it relates questioning to a topic that most students can understand, sports casting. Before a game a sports caster will tell about a team, the teams' coach, stadium, players, plays, and principles of the game. Before reading a book students question a books' cover/title, author, setting, characters, events, and genre. Next, the team will play the game just like the student will read the book. Lastly, the sports caster will review the highlights of the game and sum up the main points as well as the student will. This cute questioning technique will get ALL students to participate and love to question before, during, and after reading. [|gamequestion]

Good readers constantly ask questions before, during, and after while reading. This website gives a list of example of questions before, during, and after that students should be asking themselves while reading a story. [|examplelist]

Having trouble with getting your group start discussing what they have read? No problem! This website has countless prereading questioning ideas that even have vocabulary and visual ideas to access prior background knowledge to help answer pre-reading questions. [|prereading]