Presenting CommonLit’s New Target Lessons

Get ready for our new easy-to-use, highly engaging lessons that build students’ comprehension skills!

At CommonLit, we’re always thinking of new ways to support students and teachers. That’s why we’re excited to present our new Target Lessons!

Target Lessons are short, easy-to-use, highly engaging lessons that support reading, writing, and classroom discussion. Each lesson teaches students a key skill — like identifying the main idea — that they’ll use to deeply understand the text. They include scaffolded Pre-Reading, During Reading, and Post-Reading questions that give students multiple opportunities to practice the skill and build comprehension.

Target Lessons will be available later this spring 2022. In this blog post, we’ll explore how they work by diving into “How Jackie Robinson Changed Baseball,” a middle school lesson.

Pre-Reading Activity

Each lesson begins with a quick, engaging Pre-Reading activity. These activities include videos, connection questions, and gallery walks to spark students’ interest and provide them with the key information they need to understand the text.

For “How Jackie Robinson Changed Baseball,” students will watch a short video about segregation in baseball in the 1940s:

Then, students will read a brief description of the skill they will practice and how it will help them understand the text. As they read about Jackie Robinson, students will practice identifying the main idea of each section.

During Reading Questions

As they read, students will answer questions aligned to the focus skill. These questions scaffold up in difficulty over the course of the text. For example, the first question in this lesson is a multiple choice question. Students must identify the main idea of the first section of the text from four options.

The second question has students complete a scaffolded main idea sentence starter.

Toward the end of the text, students will show that they can apply the focus skill by stating the main idea of each section on their own.

With this gradual release, your students will quickly acquire tons of new skills!

Post-Reading Questions

Once they have read the text and practiced the focus skill, students will answer a few questions to synthesize their learning.

In this lesson, students are asked to write a paragraph where they describe Robinson’s legacy. Students can refer back to the scaffolded During Reading questions to collect evidence for their response.

Then, students must synthesize what they have read to identify a central idea of the whole text. This is a great opportunity for students to apply the focus skill and demonstrate their comprehension.

CommonLit’s Target Lessons will be available starting in spring 2022. We’re excited for you to explore our selection of new lessons and target the comprehension skills your students need!