Homographs can be a source of great confusion and frustration for young readers as they work to expand their vocabulary. Help them to overcome this challenge with this collaborative vocabulary activity. Given a deck of cards with...

Teach children how small, simple words can join together to make large compound words with a fun vocabulary game. Working in pairs, students take turns drawing definition cards as they attempt to identify all of the compound words on the...

Young readers get to the root of unfamiliar vocabulary with a collaborative learning activity. Given a deck of root word cards and a copies of a graphic organizer, pairs of students take turns flipping over cards and brainstorming...

Activate the prior knowledge of young scholars as they expand their vocabulary with this language arts activity. Given a deck of cards containing new vocabulary words learners sort them into four categories ranging from Don't know the...

Young learners develop a deeper understanding of target vocabulary. Working in pairs, students independently complete a series of word clue cards asking them to find various information about key terms including their definition,...

Explore the multiple meanings of common homographs with this fun language arts activity. Given a series of word webs and a pile of definition cards, children complete each web by matching four different definitions to each target word. A...

Young readers learn how to get at the root of new vocabulary with this fun language arts activity. Working in pairs, children begin by taking turns matching unknown vocabulary words to their Greek or Latin roots. When all the vocabulary...

Engage young learners in expanding their vocabulary with these fun games and activities. Children learn how compound words, root words, and affixes provide clues about the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary. These six activities get...

Expand the vocabulary of young readers with this series of five activities based the children's book Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback. From playing bingo to group storytelling, a variety of different approaches are presented...

Developing fluency in young readers is a long and difficult journey. This series of eight activities adds a little fun to the process as children play matching and board games, piece together puzzles, and make flip books. Covering a...

Monitor the learning of your second graders with this checklist of Common Core language standards. Each standard is rewritten as an I can statement, providing children with clear learning objectives.

Crawl into the world of the darkling beetle with this scientific investigation. Watch as the insects move through the larval, pupal, and adult stages of life, recording observations along the way. Discuss the necessities of life as young...

Turn young learners into conservationists with the first lesson of this series on waste management. Use the included pictures and definitions to teach the key vocabulary reduce, reuse, recycle, and compost. Search magazines, newspapers,...

You're as cute as a bug. But are you really as cute as a bug? Bugs aren't cute! Idioms are fun nonliteral phrases that mean something different than the words they contain. Second graders learn about idioms as they read the book, More...

As the title says, the lesson presented focuses mostly on math; however, pupils also complete related language arts activities. Learners read about the history, domestication, and transport of grapes, and then use actual grapes to...

Provide an opportunity for scholars to play around with words. They start with 12 root words and add prefixes to them to create new ones. There are five prefixes here, and learners list the new words beside each. Consider reviewing the...

This is a vocabulary activity with a twist! Young elementary-schoolers put these 13 words into alphabetical order before finding their meanings, uses, and origins. They will need to use reference materials, and may need some help...

Explore text structure with a focus on the glossary feature in informational texts. Learners read a brief introduction before examining a glossary from a text about plants. They reference it while completing four comprehension questions....

Pare, pair, or pear? Learners explore homophones with this dictionary skills worksheet. They look up definitions to five sets of homophones to see how words can sound the same but have completely different meanings. There are plenty of...

There are eight homograph riddles here: can your scholars figure them out? For each, there are three definitions and a picture. Learners use the picture and multiple meanings as clues, recording a word that matches all three. They read...

Compare and contrast while challenging your class with this higher-level thinking and reading comprehension lesson. After observing the teacher model comparing and contrasting bats and birds, learners read passages about two towns. They...

Using The Life Cycle of an Emperor Penguin by Bobbie Kalman, second graders practice defining unfamilar words with context clues.  They come across new vocabulary words and read the entire sentence and the sentence before to find the...

Who can match three words first? Using a tic-tac-toe template, kids fill in nine words from their vocabulary word wall, and listen for the teacher to call out words that match their game boards. The first to get three in a row wins!

What is a daily routine, and how can it be important for our growth and development? Introduce youngsters to their daily routines and habits, from the moment they awake in the morning through their meals and bedtime.