Cluster 2: Craft and StructureArchived

Did you know that chickens are amazing animals? You will after reading the book, From Egg to Chicken by Gerald Legg. Students will identify nonfiction text features, answer text-dependent questions, and sequence the life cycle of a chicken. They will then compose an expository piece of writing about what they've learned in during these reading lessons.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will explore different types of habitats and what animals need to live. This lesson begins with a read aloud of the text The Magic School Bus Hops Home: A Book about Animal Habitats and the class will collaboratively make an anchor chart about the diverse habitats we have on earth. Students will choose an animal to research and write an expository writing piece to share their learning. This research project will conclude with students showing their creativity by making a diorama of their habitat out of a shoebox.

Type: Lesson Plan

Using nonfiction texts, students will be able to identify and locate text features and explain how they help the reader better understand the text. They will engage in a variety of activities to search for and use text features.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson focuses on using text features to understand nonfiction text, specifically the Scholastic News Nonfiction Reader: Helping Out by Peggy Hock. The students will examine the particular text features found within the text and will organize the information read in a concept map. They will then use the concept map to write an expository paragraph about ways we can protect Earth.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will learn about the important jobs of the community helpers in their city or neighborhood. After reading Whose Tools Are These? and Helpers in Your Neighborhood, they will write an expository paragraph about a helper of their choice.

Type: Lesson Plan

This unit focuses on using text features to understand non-fiction text, specifically National Geographic Reader: Frogs! by Elizabeth Carney. The students will participate in a whole group activity where a portion of text will be analyzed for its topic and details and the teacher will write a paragraph about it using shared writing. The students will then apply the skills they learned as they create a topic and detail table and write an expository paragraph.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students, will read three informational texts about fruit. Students will identify key ideas and details in each text and use illustrations to help them identify the key ideas. This lesson also incorporates a science standard that asks students to sort objects by color, shape, and size. After reading each text, students will participate in several hands-on activities to sort fruit.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will identify the text features of non-fiction books and use several informational texts on meat-eating plants to answer text dependent questions. Students will become "text detectives" and learn how to use the text to find the evidence to prove that their answers to questions are right. The students will learn to use evidence from informational texts to write explanatory paragraphs.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will work with two texts, Starfish by Edith Thacher Hurd and Discovering Starfish by Lorijo Metz. As they learn facts about starfish, they will also discuss an important text feature that readers use. Students will write an expository paragraph about starfish to culminate their learning.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson focuses on using text features to understand nonfiction text, specifically the National Geographic Reader: Polar Bears, by Laura Marsh. The students will use a text features anchor chart to support student understanding of how these features contribute to the meaning of a text. Students will read and take notes to answer specific questions about the text and use those notes to write a paragraph about polar bears.

Type: Lesson Plan

Explore the parts of a book in this interactive tutorial. Join Li as she learns to locate and use the text features on the title page, table of contents, and glossary in informational books.

This is part 2 of a 2-part series. Click HERE to open Part 1.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Explore the parts of a book in this interactive tutorial. Join Li as she learns to locate and use the text features on the title page and table of contents in informational books.

This is part 1 of a 2-part series. Click HERE to open Part 2.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Use titles and headings to predict the topic of informational text and to find specific information within the text in this interactive tutorial. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Use titles, headings, illustrations, and photographs to predict and confirm the topics of texts in this interactive tutorial. Join Jose' as he explores the text features of informational text in his search for new books on a variety of topics.

This is part 2 of a 2-part series. Click HERE to open What's the Topic? Part 1: Titles and Headings. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Use titles and headings to predict and confirm the topics of texts in this interactive tutorial. Join Jose' as he reviews the parts of a book and explores the text features of informational text in his search for new books on a variety of topics.

This is part 1 of a 2-part series. Click HERE to open What's the Topic? Part 2: Illustrations and Photographs.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Identify information found in the illustrations and the words in a text with this interactive ocean-themed tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

In this activity, students will brainstorm words related to a topic and use books and/or reference materials to answer questions about unknown words on a semantic map.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will describe a vocabulary word using a four square map.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will locate specific text features in an informational text.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will locate text features and explain how they help the reader understand the text.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will determine the meaning of words of interest in text.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will describe a target word using a graphic organizer.

Type: Student Center Activity

In this activity, students will write simple definitions, sentences, and synonyms of targeted words found in content-area text.

Type: Student Center Activity