6th Grade Close Reading Resources (by date, latest first)

The Secret of Star Hill is an exciting graded reader for young learners aged 9–12. It is perfect for A2-level English students. The story follows Lena and Tom, two curious children who love adventure. One night, they ride their bikes up Star Hill and meet a friendly alien named Zuri. He needs help to fix his spaceship and return home. Together, the children and Zuri go on a journey through a dark forest and a scary cave.

This story teaches values like friendship, teamwork, and courage. It also helps children talk about feelings such as fear, surprise, and happiness. The book uses simple words and short sentences. It supports reading skills and builds confidence in English.

Beautiful cartoon-style illustrations bring the story to life. At the end, learners will enjoy fun activities to check understanding and use new words. The Secret of Star Hill is not just a story—it’s a great way to inspire young learners and show that helping others makes a big difference.

A great choice for class or home reading!

Boost your students' understanding of story elements and plot structure with this comprehensive printable pack of 10 reading comprehension passages designed for grades 4-6. Each passage explores story elements like characters, setting, plot, and structure through engaging, age-appropriate content. Perfect for reinforcing plot comprehension and encouraging students to delve deeper into narrative details.

With two activity worksheet options per passage, this pack provides flexibility and variety:

• Worksheet 1: Includes 10 multiple-choice questions focusing on plot comprehension and story elements.
• Worksheet 2: Features 12 higher-order questions in multiple formats to boost higher-order thinking skills.

This resource contains 50 pages total, making it easy to print and go for fast, effective lesson planning. Ideal for ELA classrooms in grades 4-6, each activity comes with an answer key for efficient assessment.

Why You’ll Love This Resource:

• Focus on Key Story Elements: Each passage highlights plot structure and essential story elements.
• Print and Use: No prep required—simply print and go!
• Versatile Formats: Choose from multiple-choice or mixed-question worksheets to meet diverse learning needs.
• Grades 4-6 Comprehension: Aligned with common ELA standards for upper elementary grades.

Use this story elements pack to deepen plot comprehension and improve students’ ability to analyze and understand story structure—all while fostering a love of reading!

I hope you find this resource just as helpful for your students as it has been for mine!

How to Earn TeachShare Credits for Future Purchases:

• Visit Your My Purchases Page: Navigate to your TeachShare account and locate your purchase history.
• Submit Feedback: Click the “Provide Feedback” button next to each purchase.
• Rate and Comment: Give a quick rating and leave a brief comment about the product.
• Receive TeachShare Credits: Your feedback will earn you credits for future TeachShare purchases.
• Report Errors or Suggestions: If you notice any errors or have suggestions, please let me know in the Q&A section before leaving negative feedback. I’m committed to improving my products and appreciate the chance to address any issues. Thank you for your support!

©mrsbaileyandherclass2024

What’s Included?

• 20 Bookmarks, each featuring a critical reading skill or strategy for grades 3 - 8:

  • Main Idea & Supporting Details
  • Summarizing
  • Making Inferences
  • Context Clues
  • Identifying Theme
  • and many more!

Why You'll Love This Resource

• Student-Friendly Format: Each bookmark simplifies complex skills into bite-sized, actionable steps.
• Versatile Use: Perfect for guided reading groups, independent practice, or homework aids.
• Aligned with Curriculum Standards: Helps reinforce essential reading skills aligned with Common Core and other standards.
• Durable and Reusable: Print, laminate, and reuse for years!

The book, Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas is great for children ages 7 - 13 years old, as they can relate with Bree as she moves to a new state, starts a new middle school, makes friends along the way and the challenges with friendships she struggles to maintain, the lack of self confidence she has, and she becomes more confident along the way, how she solves disagreements with friends, tries her best, shares her talents with others, adjusts to changes that occur in her life, learning that it is okay not to be friends with everyone, the importance of friendship, doing things that you want to do - being a leader instead of a follower, and how to handle stressful situations, anxiety, conflict, and bullying.

The comprehension questions in this product relate with the text as well as students own experiences. Vocabulary words, their meanings, and example sentences are presented in the packet. Students can also write vocabulary words in sentences. As the book is being read aloud, as students are reading the book or after the book has been read, students can answer the comprehension questions in this packet. Comprehension questions are broken down into chapters that match the book's 9 chapters. An answer key is provided at the end of this product. Students can also answer comprehension questions towards the end of the packet as well that relate with the entire book.

If you download this product, and found it useful, please leave me a positive review! :)

Looking for a winter-themed, engaging and informative reading comprehension activity full of useful tips on how to stay healthy during flu season? This scavenger hunt is designed to help students practice skim reading, looking for context clues, and learn some useful vocabulary.

It’s perfect for EFL / ESL students at the B1/B2 level and can also be used for native English classes at grade levels 5 - 7. With low prep, just print and hang, it contains 10 tips on how to stay healthy during flu season.

The scavenger hunt is designed so that students have to revisit and reread the reading passages multiple times when looking for code words. The answer to each question is located on a different reading passage card. Once students have answered all the questions, they unscramble the letters to reveal the final answer - the name of the murderer.

WHAT’S INCLUDED:

♥ 10 reading passages

♥ answer sheets

♥ mission page

♥ directions

♥ teacher answer key

♥ conclusion

Options for use:

☻Independent Work

☻Pair Work

☻Sub plan

☻Stations

If you loved this product, please be sure to come back to my store and leave feedback.

Set your student's up for success with this Learning Strategies Bundle. With Reading, Writing and Mathematics Strategies to assist with your students reading, writing and ability to work mathematically.

This Bundle is a great way to keep your student's focused and working towards a learning goal. They can also be used as a bulletin board display.

All Strategy Posters are made to match my Geometric Design theme, so you can create a stylish environment for your students to learn, grow and achieve.

If you are liking this Design theme or my resources, please write me a review or tag me on Instagram @visual_vibe_classroom.

Help you students explore the different features found in fiction and non-fiction texts with these 'Text Feature Templates.'

These templates are a great way to assess your students understanding of the different features, while also finding text evidence/ examples to support their understanding.

Download this free resource TODAY!

If you like this resource, please leave me some feedback. Additionally if you would like to stay updated on future resources, please follow me @visual_vibe_classroom on Instagram.

Reading strategies enable our students to comprehend a text in a variety of ways and develop a deeper understanding of how texts are constructed. They use these strategies to express what they have just read, make connections, draw conclusions and further engage with a text.

These posters can be used to display the learning focus for a lesson, unit or student goal. Created to match my Geometric Design theme, they are also an interesting way to display reading strategies in your classroom.

What's Included:

• British and American Spelling
• Two different Reading Strategy Designs
• 10 Different Reading Strategies.

Reading Strategies Include:

• Visualising/Visualizing
• Questioning
• Adjusting
• Summarising/Summarizing
• Inferring
• Predicting
• Synthesising/Synthesizing
• Connecting
• Analysing/Analyzing
• Critiquing

This Reading Comprehension - Summarizing Pack can be used with any text, both fiction and nonfiction. With differentiated graphic organisers, to build your students 'summarizing' skills and depth of understanding.

What's Included:

• 6 Different Summarizing graphic organisers (American and British Spelling)
• Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then Poster
• Summarizing Bookmark

If you like this resource, please leave me some feedback. Additionally, if you would like to stay updated on future resources, please follow me @visual_vibe_classroom on Instagram.

This Reading Comprehension - Synthesizing Pack can be used with any text, both fiction and nonfiction. With differentiated graphic organisers, to build your students 'synthesizing' skills and depth of understanding of the texts they read.

What's Included:

• 9 Different Synthesizing/Synthesising graphic organisers (American and British Spelling)
• Fiction and Nonfiction sentence frames - to guide your students thinking

If you like this resource, please leave me some feedback. Additionally, if you would like to stay updated on future resources, please follow me @visual_vibe_classroom on Instagram.

These main idea short passages with main idea questions worksheets help students practice identifying the main idea. It is designed for students in 4th to 6th grade and can be used in a variety of settings including small group instruction, independent work, and homework assignments.

Benefits:

• Engaging content about interesting animals

• No prep needed for teachers

• Versatile resource for various types of instruction

Instructions/Tips for Implementation:

Teachers can read the passages aloud to students and then review the answers together. Alternatively, students can work on the worksheets independently. This resource can also be used for whole group instruction, small group work, as a reward activity, or as homework assignments.

Related Products

⭐ Main idea short passages WH Questions 3rd grade Special Ed comprehension passage

⭐ Non-fiction writing templates special education checklists elementary project

⭐ Reading Passages with WH questions Main Idea Short Passages wh questions 3rd

⭐ Special Education Reading Passage worksheets WH comprehension Questions 3rd-4th

⭐ WH Questions 3rd grade main idea short passages Special Ed Comp 4 seasons read

⭐ basketball reading passages special education comprehension WH question 2nd- 4th

Thank you for checking out my products!

-Laila

Looking for a Friday the thirteenth-themed, engaging and informative reading comprehension activity about superstitions and their origin? This scavenger hunt is designed to help students practice skim reading, looking for context clues, and learn some useful vocabulary.

It’s perfect for EFL / ESL students at the B1/B2 level and can also be used for native English classes at grade levels 5 - 7. With low prep, just print and hang, it contains 10 reading passages about superstitions and Friday the 13th.

The scavenger hunt is designed so that students have to revisit and reread the reading passages multiple times when looking for code words. The answer to each question is located on a different reading passage card. Once students have answered all the questions, they unscramble the letters to reveal the final answer - the name of the murderer.

WHAT’S INCLUDED:

♥ 10 reading passages

♥ answer sheets

♥ mission page

♥ directions

♥ teacher answer key

♥ conclusion

Options for use:

☻Independent Work

☻Pair Work

☻Sub plan

☻Stations

If you loved this product, please be sure to come back to my store and leave feedback. 

Product Features:

• 20 Unique Bingo Cards: Each card features a variety of words derived from key Latin roots like sens (feeling), habitare (to live), port (to carry), and trans (across/beyond). No two cards are the same, making every game exciting!
• Root-Based Vocabulary: Includes over 20 words such as sensitive, habitat, portable, and transport, each tied to its Latin origin to deepen understanding.

• 10 Winter Holiday Narrative Essay Picture Prompts & Planner: Engage students in narrative writing with holiday-themed picture prompts and a structured planner to develop plot, character, and setting in alignment with creative writing standards.
• Christmas Hip Hop Lyrics Analysis: Teach figurative language, rhyme schemes, and tone through an engaging analysis of hip hop lyrics, blending music and ELA standards for Grades 6-8.
• St. Nick: Informational Text Structures: Explore main ideas, text structures, and author’s purpose with this winter-themed set of informational texts designed to strengthen critical reading skills.
• Unraveling Krampus: Text Structures and Critical Analysis: Develop students’ ability to identify text structures and analyze information critically with this high-interest resource focused on the Krampus folklore.
• Informational Text Structure Coloring Sort: Combine creativity and learning as students sort and color-code winter-themed informational texts to practice identifying text structures.
• Winter Wonders: Exploring Text Features Through Snow-Themed Articles: Strengthen comprehension and analysis skills by examining text features in engaging snow-themed articles, perfect for enhancing nonfiction literacy.
• Christmas Winter Holiday Characters from Around the World Research PBL: Dive into global holiday traditions with this project-based learning activity that encourages research, critical thinking, and presentation skills.
• Holiday Figurative Language & Movie Clip Standard-Based Learning Activities: Analyze figurative language through fun, holiday-themed movie clips that align with ELA figurative language standards for middle schoolers.
• Virtual Winter Sports Exploration: Engage students in a digital exploration of winter sports, focusing on informational text comprehension and analysis for Grades 4-6.
• Analyzing Narrative Point of View Winter-Themed: Develop higher-order thinking with winter-themed narrative texts that challenge students to analyze and compare points of view using Bloom’s Taxonomy.
• Winter Vacation PBL: Inspire creativity and practical application with this low-prep, project-based learning activity where stude

1. Winter Holiday Informational Text Coloring Sort Engage middle schoolers with this unique Winter Holiday Informational Text Coloring Sort! This print-and-go resource combines reading comprehension with creative coloring, helping students identify key text structures while learning about diverse winter celebrations. Ideal for visual and kinesthetic learners.
2. Thanksgiving Text Structure Coloring Sort Lesson Bring Thanksgiving themes into your classroom with this Text Structure Coloring Sort Lesson! Students can identify and color-code different text structures in Thanksgiving-themed passages. This hands-on activity not only enhances reading skills but also adds a festive touch to learning.
3. Hands-on Text Structure Sorts & Coloring Activities This resource offers 3 Hands-on Text Structure Sorts and Coloring Activities, perfect for kinesthetic learners. Middle school students can physically manipulate and sort texts, then color-code them, making text structure analysis interactive and engaging.
4. Middle School Text Structure Print-and-Go PowerPoint, Handout, Answer Key This comprehensive resource provides a PowerPoint, handout, and answer key focused on text structures for middle school students. It's a complete print-and-go solution that simplifies teaching text structures, making it easy to deliver and understand.

Bundle together five dynamic New Year's resources for an enriching learning experience in your middle school classroom. Here's a brief overview of each component in this comprehensive package:

New Year's Informational Text Set: Structure, Central Idea, Author's Purpose!
A collection of five diverse articles, each exemplifying a different text structure like Description, Chronological, Problem and Solution, Compare and Contrast, and Cause and Effect. This set focuses on Times Square New Year’s celebrations and includes STAAR-aligned questions on the central idea, author's purpose, vocabulary, and text structure.

Classroom Synergy: Resetting Expectations in the New Year – 4 Engaging Activities!
Kick off the new year with four activities designed to reinforce classroom expectations and promote a positive learning environment. This resource includes expectation role-playing, creating expectations posters, and connecting expectations to SEL with reflective writing prompts.

Global Bites: New Year’s Celebrations and Food Traditions – Inquiry Based Learning
Explore New Year's traditions and food customs from around the world with this inquiry-based learning project. This resource encourages research and presentation skills as students delve into diverse cultural celebrations and their unique culinary traditions.

Cheers to A New Year: How to Write A Toast Workshop
Enhance public speaking skills with this engaging workshop on crafting toasts. Perfect for New Year celebrations, this resource guides students through the process of writing and delivering a meaningful toast, fostering both creativity and confidence in public speaking.

Spill the Tea: 2023 Year in Review – Google Slides Photo Project
A fun and engaging Google Slides project that allows students to reflect on the year 2023. Students create a photo-based presentation, capturing key moments, trends, and personal experiences from the year, making it an excellent activity for New Year reflections.

This bundle is perfect for middle school teachers looking to add a mix of educational and engaging activities to their New Year curriculum. Each resource is designed to be cross-curricular, supporting skills in reading, writing, research, public speaking, and social-emotional learning.

This bundle includes a great range of activities perfect for grades 5-8 for all of February!

1. Speed Friending Activity: A dynamic classroom icebreaker designed for middle and high school students. It includes a comprehensive teacher protocol, an interactive Google Slides presentation, engaging conversation rounds with embedded timers, a note-taking sheet, and a reflection writing prompt. Ideal for building classroom community, enhancing behavior management, and fostering open communication.
2. ELA Matchmaker Review Game: An 81-page ELA review resource covering synonyms, antonyms, figurative language, literary elements, and affixes & roots. It includes printable and digital versions for flexible classroom use, promoting interactive learning and critical thinking in literary concepts.
3. Black History Month Digital Resource: A set of 45 Google Slides featuring 15 influential African American artists. This resource includes detailed informational texts, short videos, and interactive response prompts. It's a comprehensive tool for exploring African American history and art, ideal for daily classroom activities.
4. Civil Rights Movement Song Analysis: Titled 'Harmony of Hope,' this resource integrates Valentine's Day and Black History Month themes for middle schoolers. It includes a Google Slides presentation and a comprehensive PDF packet, featuring analysis of seven influential Civil Rights era songs.
5. GenZ Valentine's Day Cards: A collection of 24 unique, humorous, and inclusive Valentine's Day cards suitable for middle school students. These printable cards are gender-neutral, featuring relatable puns and high-quality graphics, adding a fun twist to traditional valentine exchanges.
6. The Science of Crushes and Heartbreak: An educational resource that blends science with Valentine's Day themes, targeting middle schoolers. It includes an article, a mini-lesson in Google Slides, a graphic organizer, and analytical questions. This resource enhances understanding of text features and author's purpose.
7. Valentine's Day Argumentative Writing Resource: A tool for grades 4-8 to enhance argumentative writing skills. It features 28 'Would You Rather' prompts, available in both PDF and Google Slides, to encourage debate and persuasive writing. Ideal for various classroom activities, including warm-ups and group discussions.

Craft the ultimate narrative writing journey for your students with our Seasonal Narrative Writing Bundle! This comprehensive collection is designed to spark creativity and enhance writing skills across grades 4-6 throughout the year. Each season brings a unique set of picture prompts that invite students into worlds of imagination, exploration, and storytelling.

Spring Picture Prompts: Dive into the renewal and wonders of spring with our Spring Picture Prompts resource. It features 23 engaging slides that guide students through the elements of a plot diagram, the importance of showing vs. telling, and offers 10 unique, spring-inspired photo prompts. Each image is paired with a comprehensive writing guide to brainstorm settings, characters, and conflicts, cultivating well-structured stories that bloom like the season.

Summer Picture Prompts: Turn up the heat on narrative writing with our Summer Picture Prompts toolkit. This sun-drenched resource walks students through the narrative writing process with warmth and adventure as their backdrop. From mysterious summer camps to beach escapades, the 10 vibrant, summer-themed photo prompts are sure to ignite the spark of creativity. In-depth writing guides accompany each prompt, ensuring students can craft captivating stories under the summer sun.

Winter Holiday Narrative Essay Picture Prompts: Cozy up to the winter season with 10 Winter Holiday Narrative Essay Picture Prompts. This festive resource is perfect for inspiring stories of winter wonderlands, holiday adventures, and heartwarming family traditions. With a focus on narrative essays, this print-and-go package includes planners and engaging slides that help students capture the essence of the winter season in their writing.

Autumn Narrative Essay Picture Prompts: Fall into storytelling with our Autumn Narrative Essay Picture Prompts. This collection captures the essence of fall with 10 autumn-inspired photo prompts, from the mystical to the mundane. Accompanied by a planner and print-and-go slides, it provides a seamless transition into autumnal narratives, encouraging students to explore the rich colors, themes, and emotions of the season.

Narrative Essay Planning Guide with Engaging Picture Prompts: Lay the foundation for effective storytelling with our Narrative Essay Planning Guide. This essential resource is packed with engaging picture prompts that cover various themes and settings, making it a versatile tool for any narrative writing activity. It includes a planning guide to help students structure their stories, focusing on character development, setting, and plot, ensuring a deep and engaging writing experience.

This bundle offers a year-round solution to narrative writing, equipping educators with everything needed to foster creativity, enhance writing skills, and teach critical writing concepts in an engaging and adaptable format. Whether used for creative writing classes, homework assignments, or extension activities, these resources provide a gateway to imagination and critical thinking that will keep students engaged and excited about writing all year long.

1. Examination Day Full-Week ELA Unit Plan: Socratic Seminar, Choice Board, Slides

• Dive into Henry Slesar's thought-provoking short story, "Examination Day," with a full-week ELA unit plan designed for middle school. This comprehensive package includes detailed Socratic seminar procedures, engaging choice board activities, and dynamic presentation slides to encourage critical thinking and student-led discourse on themes of intelligence testing and government control.

1. Harrison Bergeron Full-Week ELA Plan: Socratic Seminar, Choice Board, Slides

• Explore Kurt Vonnegut's classic dystopian tale, "Harrison Bergeron," in this complete week-long ELA unit. Middle school students will engage deeply with themes of enforced equality and individuality through structured Socratic seminars, creative choice board activities, and informative slides, all designed to foster critical analysis and vibrant classroom discussions.

1. All Summer in a Day Comprehensive Week-Long Lesson Plan: Seminar, Choice Board

• Immerse your students in Ray Bradbury's poignant story, "All Summer in a Day," with this extensive unit plan. The curriculum includes everything you need to facilitate meaningful discussions around themes of isolation, bullying, and the longing for sunshine. Engaging seminars and diverse choice board activities provide varied learning opportunities that cater to different student interests and learning styles.

1. The Pedestrian Full-Week ELA Unit Plan: Socratic Seminar, Choice Board, Slides

• Step into the futuristic world of Ray Bradbury's "The Pedestrian" with this detailed unit plan for grades 6-8. Through thoughtful Socratic seminars, a creative choice board, and educational slides, students will analyze the story's critique of technological dependency and societal conformity, developing critical thinking skills that transcend the classroom.

Transform your middle school ELA classroom with this comprehensive bundle of 12 highly engaging short story units. Each unit is meticulously designed to provide a full week of dynamic lessons, complete with detailed plans, interactive slides, a choice activity board, Socratic seminar questions, three STAAR-aligned essay prompts, a film vs. text Venn diagram, and the text PDF. These short stories will captivate your students and enhance their literary analysis skills, making learning both fun and meaningful.

Included Short Stories:

1. The Most Dangerous Game
2. Sorry, Wrong Number
3. The Hitchhiker
4. The Way Up to Heaven
5. Lamb to the Slaughter
6. The Landlady
7. The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street
8. Harrison Bergeron
9. Examination Day
10. The Pedestrian
11. All Summer in a Day
12. There Will Come Soft Rains

Bundle Features:

1. Comprehensive 5-Day Lesson Plans: Each story unit includes a detailed five-day lesson plan, ensuring a structured approach to teaching. Lessons are aligned with educational standards and include clear objectives and outcomes.

2. Interactive Slides: Engage your students with interactive slides that guide them through the story, provide context, and facilitate discussions. These slides are designed to keep students focused and involved.

3. Choice Activity Board: Each unit comes with a creative choice board, allowing students to demonstrate their understanding through various projects such as writing an alternate ending, creating a comic strip, designing a literary brochure, and more.

4. Socratic Seminar Questions: Encourage critical thinking and in-depth discussion with six thought-provoking Socratic seminar questions for each story. These questions help students delve deeper into the text and analyze its themes, characters, and literary elements.

5. Three STAAR-Aligned Essay Prompts: Each unit includes three essay prompts (argumentative, correspondence, and informational) that are aligned with STAAR standards, helping students practice their writing skills and prepare for standardized assessments.

6. Film vs. Text Venn Diagram: Enhance your students' analytical skills with a film vs. text Venn diagram activity. Students compare and contrast the short story with its film adaptation, focusing on key similarities and differences.

7. Text PDF: Each unit comes with a PDF of the short story, making it easy to provide students with the text for reading and annotation.

Why Choose This Bundle?

• Engaging Content: These short stories are highly engaging and perfect for capturing the interest of middle school students. The diverse selection of stories includes suspense, science fiction, dystopian themes, and more.
• Comprehensive and Ready-to-Use: Save time with ready-to-use lesson plans, activities, and resources. Each unit is designed for easy implementation, ensuring you can focus on teaching and engaging your students.
• Develop Critical Thinking: The activities and discussions included in each unit promote critical thinking, literary analysis, and deeper understanding of the text.
• Flexible and Adaptable: The bundle provides flexibility in teaching, with a variety of activities and assessment options to suit different learning styles and classroom needs.

Perfect for middle school humanities teachers, this bundle offers everything you need to deliver engaging and effective ELA lessons throughout the year. Enrich your curriculum and inspire your students with these timeless short stories and comprehensive teaching resources.