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Dead Word Wall Kills Overused Words
Have your class attend a funeral for the words they overuse in their writing. They develop a list of alternate words for those overused words, and make an effort to employ alternatives whenever possible. This is a great way to improve...
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Does Mother Nature Know Best?
Investigate herbal medicine in the science or health classroom with this instructional activity from the New York Times. After a discussion about class members beliefs about and experiences with herbal medicines, pupils read an article...
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Jeffrey and Sloth: Six Traits of Writing
Use drawings as inspiration. Have learners doodle for 10 minutes before beginning the lesson. Then, have them use their doodles to inspire a story. Several writing activities are included here to play with writing. One of my favorites...
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Connotation and Denotation: How Word Choice Affects a Paragraph
Review the terms denotation, connotation, diction, and mood in paragraph writing. After defining the terms, middle schoolers practice writing examples of both connotation and denotation. They complete a connotation and denotation graphic...
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Vivid Verbs
Spice up your writing! Your amateur writers will benefit from concentrating on understanding and improving verb use in writing. An introductory activity addresses weak verbs. A second exercise helps them see the importance of strong...
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Changing Seasons
Explore expository writing and using precise language in this descriptive paragraph writing lesson plan. Learners brainstorm prior knowledge about the changing seasons in Ohio. They describe seasonal items, view seasonal pictures from...
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Further Improvements of Writing Skills
Improve writing skills by finding a personal writing style, using descriptive language effectively, and using precise language. Middle schoolers discuss individual style in writing and formal and informal language. They utilize figures...
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Setting the Tone with Figurative Language
Explore figurative language with your secondary class. Extending a language arts unit, the activity prompts middle schoolers to examine how an author's word choice establishes a story's tone, possibly using metaphors, similes,...
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Sentence Completion 10
Can your English language learners pick up on the subtle hints imbedded in each sentence? There are eight sentences provided, and your learner must read each and identify the best possible answer from five multiple-choice options...
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Reading a Dialect
Reading a dialect can be difficult; show readers that it can also reveal fascinating details! They read two extracts from Jane Gardam's The Hollow Land, which is written in a British dialect. Readers answer comprehension questions,...
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Choose the Homograph
Practice homographs with this fun worksheet! Learners choose the meanings of ten homographs based on the sentence's context clues. The worksheet has a picture of bats - one flying mammal, and one used in baseball. Use this resource as a...
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Less vs. Fewer
When should you use less, and when should you use fewer? Straighten out this dilemma with a helpful resource about using less vs. fewer based on sentence context clues. After reading detailed instructions and examples, young learners...
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Grammar Worksheets: Using Strong Verbs
Strengthen your pupils' writing with this worksheet, which provides a reference guide to using strong verbs instead of forms of is and have. Learners then rewrite twelve sentences to make them stronger. This is a great activity to work...
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Analyzing Poetry
Use this poetry analysis worksheet to help your learners understand a poem of their or your choosing. This resource asks class members to summarize the poem and analyze it by looking at voice, word choice, imagery, and theme. The...
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Compare and Contrast Poems vs. Lyrics
Combine your pupils' love of music with their growing knowledge of poetry! First, have them bring in their favorite songs for a discussion on word choice and literary devices. Then, use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the...
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Character Impressions
Whether you are planning a unit on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, or simply want to improve your pupils' descriptive writing, this lesson could be a good addition to your class. Using the Six-Trait Writing process, pupils use...
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Color My World Grey and Blue
Can colors help to convey a mood in writing? Explore this question with your class using the songs "Grey Street" by the Dave Matthews Band and "Blu is a Mood" by Blu Cantrell. After analyzing the effect of the color words in these songs...
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So Much Depends Upon...Sixteen-Word Imagery Poems Inspired by Love that Dog by Sharon Creech
After reading Love That Dog by Sharon Creech (and possibly shedding a few tears), middle schoolers work on their own sixteen-word poems with a Six Trait writing activity. They focus on word choice in this activity to capture an...
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Using a Dictionary
What can we find in a dictionary? Your scholars may be surprised to hear that it's more than just definitions. They explore this resource by finding word meanings, uses, and origins in this vocabulary worksheet. Learners look up five...
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Example of a Description of Action
Read the descriptive paragraph (included) with your middle schoolers, and have them study the stylistic elements included. They'll look for vivid verbs, alliteration, assonance, similes, and personification. Before writers craft their...
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Synonyms
Help keep your writers from using the same words in their writing: introduce them to synonym. Learners read a brief explanation of synonyms with examples. Then, they fill in a chart by writing synonyms for six adjectives. Consider having...
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Reading a Classic Novel
Charles Dickens offers an excellent example of sensory writing in this reading comprehension worksheet. Learners read excerpts from the novel Hard Times in which he describes the New England industrial city of Coketown. They consider why...
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Poetic Word Choice
Groups or pairs choose ordinary objects from a bag and rename them based on traits, so that a stapler becomes a "paper cobra." Then they connect this exercise to the way authors use language to emphasize certain traits through word...
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Whittling Out Haiku
Inspired by magazine photos, your young writers hone word choices to create a meaningful haiku. Charged with brainstorming 100 words associated with a photo of their choosing, they whittle their list to the top 10%, make three sentences...