Curated OER
Constructing Narrative from the Migrant Experience in Literature
Excerpts from John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and from John Fante's Ask the Dust, as well as a variety of primary source documents provide the background for an examination of the migrant experience from 1920-1945.
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Vocabulary Activity
Talk about a menu! Who would have thought SAT prep could be so delicious? Treat your class to a full course of SAT words with a timed activity that asks groups to create clues for dishes on their bill of fare. Distained veggies anyone?...
Curated OER
1984 by George Orwell
Readers of Nineteen Eighty-Four engage in a close reading exercise that directs their focus to the key details Orwell provides in the opening paragraphs to introduce his dystopian society. The included worksheeet is divided into three...
Curated OER
Vocabulary Comic Strips
Who says comic strips aren’t educational? Prove these naysayers wrong by asking your class members to create a comic strip for a selected vocabulary word. Using online technological tools that provide access to an array of options for...
Shakespeare Uncovered
Merely Players
“. . . one man in his time plays many parts,/His acts being seven ages.” Jaques famous speech from Act II, scene vii of As you Like It sets the stage for an examination of the roles people play. Class members not only consider the roles...
Curated OER
Words In The News
A complete resource from BBC World Service provides informational text for English or ESL classes to teach vocabulary, grammar, and reading skills. Learners participate in small group work, whole class discussions, and role-plays to...
Curated OER
"Shooting an Elephant"
Study selected vocabulary terms in George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant." A chart includes five selections, and learners must record the connotative and denotative meaning for each. A great look at using the context to define vocabulary...
Curated OER
Exploring the Power of Puns
Read and analyze a variety of Shakespearean and contemporary puns using Visual Thesaurus computer software. Middle and high schoolers analyze a pun as a class; in small groups they analyze a Shakespearean pun using contextual clues and...
Curated OER
Figures of Speech Slide Show
This slide show on figures of speech includes definitions, images, and examples from real texts for several common terms: metaphor, simile, personification, alliteration, irony, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, and imagery. The presentation is...
Curated OER
Shades of Meaning
Examine and distinguish between words that have similar definitions but different connotations. Middle schoolers define connotation and denotation and participate in a "shades of meaning" contest in small groups. Groups use the...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Beauty of Anglo-Saxon Poetry: A Prelude to Beowulf
Riddle me this! What do kennings, caesura, and alliteration have to do with the Nowell Codex? Introduce class members to Anglo-Saxon poetry and prepare readers for a study of Beowulf with a series of activities that...
Prestwick House
Vocabulary Lesson
Vocabulary instruction works best when taught within a larger context. A vocabulary activity builds connections by using synonyms to help learn the meaning of new words. This helps connect the words to prior knowledge and give them context.
One Stop English
Brexit
Brexit. Eurosceptics. Titanorak. Frankenstorm. Check out a neat worksheet and the attached article. It's all about buzzwords and how they are birthed. Whoda thunkit.
Curated OER
My Antonia: Magic Squares (Vocabulary Strategy)
Help your pupils discover the power of context clues by teaching the this vocabulary strategy. Designed to go with words from Willa Cather's My Antonia, this exercise focuses on having individuals use their own words to define new...
EduBlogger
Vocabulary Squares
As part of their vocabulary study, readers select unfamiliar words from their current reading assignment, record the etymology and part of speech, variations, the definition, and draw a symbol, logo, or icon. They then create a sentence...
Curated OER
SAT Preparation
The verbal and quantitative sections of the SAT can be a challenge for even the most erudite logophile. Prepare your test takers for the vocabulary they will encounter on standardized exams by providing them with a helpful list of roots,...
Curated OER
It's All in the Way You Say It
High schoolers unearth multiple meanings based on connotation and cadence. After defining denotation, connotation, and cadence, readers evaluate similar words to compare connotations. They then play with how cadence affects meaning by...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Charles Baudelaire: Poète Maudit (The Cursed Poet)
After learning the main ideas of the Decadent movement, high schoolers work in small groups to read and translate poems by the French poet Charles Baudelaire using basic etymology skills. They then read the accurate English translations...
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Diction
This lesson uses text and an accompanying audio to discuss diction including its definition, what it includes, and an explanation and an example of how word choice, word order, and phrasing can change the tone of writing.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Using Sentence Structure (Part of Speech)
This slideshow lesson focuses on using sentence structure and parts of speech to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words. It explains how to look for parentheses or commas after unfamiliar words to help determine meaning; it also shows...
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Vocab Tip: Create a Sentence
This video lesson provides a tip to learn new vocabulary. Look up the word in online dictionary, and then create a short sentence using the word including context clues and a familiar topic. Real Player is required.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Using Context Clues (English Iii Reading)
[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] This lesson focuses on ways of searching through the context for clues to illuminate unknown words. Unknown words interrupt the flow of your reading, and, like a bump in the...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Applying Word Study Strategies (English I Reading)
In this lesson, students will practice applying word study strategies to improve your reading fluency and comprehension. L.9-10.5b nuances
US Department of Education
Literacy Information and Communication System (Lincs): Signal Words
This resource page provides twelve long lists of signal words and what they mean. Covers signal words for continuation, change of direction, sequence, time, illustration, emphasis, cause of condition or result, spatial,...