Literacy Skills Lesson Library
This Literacy Skills Lesson Library was created as a set of student-facing explanation tools for isolating and clarifying individual literacy skills. Each entry is built to explicitly teach what the literacy skill is, why it matters, and how to use it—making the skill concrete and accessible to learners. The aim is not to run these as full lessons, but to use them as focused, explanatory models that demystify reading, writing, and analysis. These literacy skills can be used for all readings in all subjects.
Skills covered include core competencies found in all subjects, such as citing textual evidence, analyzing textual details, integrating quotes, and evaluating bias—all foundational to comprehension, analysis, and written expression.
The tools are built to work alongside the diagnostic process described in Chapters 3 and 4 of AI in the Classroom. When paired with district-level or classroom data, they help teachers pinpoint a precise skill gap and then pull the matching explanation to address it directly.
Each entry follows a consistent format: the skill is explained three different ways—first with a direct definition in plain language, then with a guided example showing it in action, and finally with a metaphor or analogy that offers another way to conceptualize it. This “triple exposure” ensures students encounter the idea from multiple angles, increasing the chances it will stick. The explanation is followed by short, focused practice drills that give students an immediate opportunity to try the skill themselves, complete with answer keys that include reasoning to reinforce metacognition. Common pitfalls are addressed explicitly, highlighting typical errors and showing students how to avoid them.
Although the library is still evolving, and improvements are still currently being made to the language and drills of the lessons, its current entries are differentiated for emergent, intermediate, and proficient readers, and can be adapted for whole-class, small group, or one-on-one use.
Teachers can print them, project them, or integrate them into guided reading and writing conferences. By combining clear explanation, multiple representations, immediate practice, and error analysis, the Literacy Skills Lesson Library offers a flexible, ready-to-use toolkit for building student proficiency one skill at a time, with room to grow as new entries are added.
Sample Literacy Skills Lessons and Resources
Full List of Literacy Skills Found in the Library
Vocabulary Acquisition
Use context clues to define academic words
Apply / expand knowledge of vocabulary
Clarify technical words using context clues
Expand / use academic and content vocabulary
Use analogies to infer meanings of words
Use multiple-meaning words / homophones correctly
Use word relationships to clarify word meanings
Explain how grade-appropriate synonyms differ
Craft and Language
Analyze nuances in author's / own word choices
Analyze the aesthetic impact of word choice
Analyze aesthetic / rhetorical effect of language
Analyze how author uses devices and techniques
Analyze impact of specific words / phrases on text
Analyze how synonyms help convey author's intent
Evaluate effects of voice, persona, and narrator
Analyze narrator's point of view on meaning
Analyze impact of word choice on author's purpose
Analyze how author's word choice fits purpose
Analyze cumulative impact of figurative language
Explain impact of patterns of imagery / symbolism
Explain literary device impact on meaning / reader
Analyze how narration affects a text's meaning
Critique author’s mode to convey a message
Analyze how word choice impacts tone / purpose
Key Ideas and Details
Analyze development of characters
Analyze characters' contribution to a text
Analyze how plot development impacts meaning
Analyze development of multiple central ideas
Analyze the impact of the setting
Cite text details in literary text analysis
Weigh ideas / motifs to conclude a text's meaning
Analyze details to conclude texts' meaning
Evaluate the impact of setting on text's meaning
Infer themes and analyze how they are shaped
Analyze key idea / details to draw conclusions
Draw larger conclusions based on text analysis
Analyze how character development affects plot
Analyze how character relationships affect plot
Analyze how the central idea relates to details
Evaluate how much setting plays a role in a text
Analyze in detail how themes emerge and develop
Analyze how themes develop and interact
Note where a text leaves matters uncertain
Conclude meaning based on evidence
Analyze textual evidence based on its relevance
Knowledge Integration / Rhetoric
Explain a thesis, how it's supported / developed
Evaluate how author assessed intended audience
Analyze an author's values and beliefs
Analyze how author's choices affect the purpose
Evaluate the use / misuse of persuasive techniques
Evaluate how author intends to affect audience
Analyze different forms of argument
Analyze logical fallacies and their effects
Evaluate argument's validity using text evidence
Analyze supported and unsupported assertions
Analyze how an author develops an argument
Analyze connections in modes of discourse
Analyze how author's choices further the purpose
Evaluate an argument's inferences / conclusions
Analyze effects of manipulated / false evidence
Analyze an author's response to counterarguments
Evaluate an argument's logic / assess the evidence
Analyze credibility of an argument / sources cited
Know that facts / opinions can be manipulated
Cite strong textual evidence to support analysis
Apply a generalization to a specific situation
Analyze how purpose / audience affect a text
Identify values / beliefs revealed by an author
Determine how sequenced ideas are connected
Analyze order of points made in an argument
Analyze connections drawn between ideas / events
Analyze logic and evidence given in a claim
Analyze author's response to opposing evidence
Identify logical fallacies and explain the error
Evaluate an argument's reasoning and evidence
Analyze bias / quality of information of a text
Analyze use of facts, opinions, and inferences
Generalize to show connections between ideas
Evaluate the clarity / logic of a text's structure
Informational Texts and Science/History Skills
Analyze use of language in informational text
Analyze how an author explains a complex process
Analyze thesis development in informational text
Historical / cultural influence on literature