ESL Library
Intermediate Kwanzaa
As part of a study of holiday traditions, language learners read about the creation of Kwanzaa, the seven-day festival created by Dr. Maulana Karenga to celebrate traditional African values.
Education World
Every-day Edit: Rubber Duck Voyagers
Learners correct errors in spelling and usage in a quick, six-line proofreading exercise. Makes a nice warm-up and reinforces editing skills. I've seen work like this called Daily Oral Language (D.O.L) practice; the class reviews the...
Have Fun Teaching
Synonyms (Thesaurus Search)
Smart, intelligent, perceptive. Here's a activity that asks kids to use a thesaurus (an online one, perhaps?) to find a series of synonyms for the six words listed.
Teach It Primary
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Six tasks make up a lesson plan designed to reinforce comprehension and language skills using the poem "The Pied Piper" by Robert Browing. Scholars discuss and define unknown words, identify adjectives and onomatopoeia, review...
Curated OER
Painting Faces: Interpreting Portraits
Over the course of four sessions, upper elementary learners explore the elements of visual art and portraiture and the work of Canadian painter Robert Harris (links included). (Paintings by any portrait artist will fit the plan; choose...
Curated OER
Geography of South America
Young explorers study South American geography. They study maps and create a physical map of the Andes themselves! They also research the geography, environment, and the culture of the Andes and present a report to the class.
Warren County Public Schools
Small Group Discussion Questions
Support a class reading of the novel Song of the Trees by Mildred D. Taylor with this series of discussion questions. Covering a variety of topics from character and setting to historical accuracy and symbolism, these questions...
Curated OER
This Is Tanzania
Young scholars explore Tanzania. In this geography skills activity, students read This is Tanzania by Richard Lupinsky, Jr. and discuss the impact that volcanoes have had on the nation. Young scholars analyze the imagery in Lupinsky's...
Curated OER
Impromptu Speech
Polish proper public speaking skills! Each speaker makes a short speech without getting the opportunity to rehearse it. There are 46 topics on small cards which can be cut apart, put in a hat, and drawn out to be used as a speech topic....
Media Smarts
Taking Charge of TV Violence
Encourage your class to become aware of the violence that is present in children's television programs and how this violence can influence children. Do this by holding the planned class discussion in this lesson plan and providing...
Curated OER
Musical Mystery Words
Young scholars study the letter names for the treble clef and create words using the letters that represent the lines and spaces on the staff.
Curated OER
Presidents Picture Book
Students create a picture book of the U.S. presidents. They study general information about the U.S. presidents, write a sentence about each president, and create a picture book about the U.S. presidents.
Curated OER
The Sons of Sultan Bey (Libya)
Imagine you could increase reading comprehension and social media skills at the same time. Learners can read and then respond to the tale "The Sons of Sultan Bey." Their comments are guided by comprehension-style questions and can be...
Curated OER
Scrambled Sentences
Here's a clever classroom game that will help learners with their sentence writing skills. It's a fast-paced game that is played in groups. Each makes up scrambled sentences that the other groups must solve. There are plenty of examples...
Curated OER
Frame Story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"
Mark Twain's frame story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" provides an opportunity for a study of this story-within-a-story pattern. Using an illustrated template, class members record a plot summary of the frame story...
Curated OER
Writing Newsletters!
A reading of Gail Gibbons’ Deadline! leads to a discussion of the differences between newspapers and newsletters. Class members then choose a favorite topic and create the front page for their own newsletter.
Curated OER
Pendemonium: The Great African Surfari
Young scholars discover the importance of matching verbs to their subjects through a discussion of a whimsical video on verb agreement and a read aloud of the book, "To Root, To Toot To Parachute". They practice verb agreement in...
Curated OER
Labor Day Workers Cube
Students examine the history of celebrating Labor Day and discuss the important role blue-collar workers play in the country's economy. After discussion, they create a cube displaying drawings of various jobs they admire. Panels of cube...
Curated OER
Telling My Tale
Students brainstorm a list of their primary interests and skills and depict their ideas and attributes by creating a conversational painting that profiles them. They can create a cartoon strip using multiple images as well and...
Curated OER
Venn Diagrams: Contrasts in Color
Compare and contrast two topics with your class. They will pick a topic of their choosing, create color-coded Venn diagram to visually organize their information, share diagrams with classmates, and write well-organized essay on...
Curated OER
Introducing Synonyms to Early Writers
Upper elementary schoolers examine the concept of synonyms and how using a variety of vocabulary through synonyms can expand their writing skills. They revise a paragraph using synonyms located on the Visual Thesaurus and participate in...
Curated OER
What Is a Euphemism?
In this euphemism worksheet, students study about this writing convention. Students guess what 5 euphemisms mean, then complete some writing and evaluating questions about euphemisms.
Curated OER
Persuasion Map
The Persuasion Map, a one-page graphic organizer from Houghton Mifflin, not only makes visual the logical organization structure of persuasive writing, but also provides young writers a chance to organize and record facts they will use...
Curated OER
Character Analysis Chart
This versatile graphic organizer could be used alongside any novel, poem, play, or story through which your class in studying character. Class members can get characters straight or describe particular characters in more detail with this...