Curated OER
Circle the Simile
Figurative language is a welcome addition to creative writing. Clearly describe similes with this worksheet. For each of 10 example sentences, learners have to identify what is being compared. An answer key is provided with this great...
Online Publications
Become a Journalist
Explore the newspaper as a unique entity with a detailed and extended unit. The unit requires learners to consider the newspaper's role in democracy, think about ethics, practice writing and interviewing, and examine advertising and news...
Achieve3000
Context Clues and Idioms
Kids practice using five types of context clues (definition, synonym, antonym, example, and general) to decode idiomatic language.
EngageNY
Understanding Douglass’s Words: An Escape Attempt
Make a match! Scholars play a matching game after looking at excerpt five from Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass. Learners match types of figurative language with example sentences, and add to their powerful language word wall...
Education World
Every Day Edit - Ederle Swims English Channel
In this everyday editing instructional activity learners correct grammatical mistakes in a short paragraph about the first woman to swim the English Channel. The errors range from punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and grammar.
Curated OER
Basic English Sentence Patterns
A simple set of practice sheets deals with sentence structure and patterns. The 117-page packet includes 10 units of skills, varying from identifying parts of speech in a sentence to writing the correct part to make a sentence complete....
Tune Into English
Yellow Submarine – The Beatles – Notes
Enhance English language skills using the fan-favorite song, "Yellow Submarine" by The Beatles. Scholars predict what the song is about then listen and mark specific words they hear. Playing the song again, participants unscramble lyrics...
Newspaper in Education
Lesson 10: Studying Content-Specific Language
Stanchion, spar, spinnaker. Right wing, sweeper, hip check. Every subject has specialized vocabulary. Here’s a fun way to introduce your learners to this jargon. Provide class groups with newspapers and have them search pre-selected...
Curated OER
Past Perfect or Present Tense
A great resource for English language learners! They fill in the blanks with verbs in the past tense or past perfect tense. There are 15 sentences, and learners can check their answers with the click of a button.
Curated OER
Formal and Informal Language
Words carry connotative baggage and some suitcases are bigger than others. Learners consult the Chambers School Dictionary to identify the formal, informal or slang words used in a series of exercises.
Curated OER
Focus on Figurative Language
Using the poems "First Snow" by Ted Kooser and "Eating Alone" by Yi-Young Lee (or other suggested poems by Robert Frost or Sara Teasdale), middle schoolers search for examples of figurative language. Guide your learners by discussing...
Curated OER
Figurative Language: Similes
How does one identify a simile, and why is it important to understand what they are? Here's a very basic review. This short presentation defines the term, provides examples, and gives learners a chance to identify which two things are...
Curated OER
Teaching the Written Word to Those Whose Words are Limited
Get your learners' pens moving by emptying their thoughts onto the page.
English Enhanced Scope and Sequence
Research Project Embedded with Media Literacy
Here is a phenomenal language arts lesson on media literacy for your middle and high schoolers. In it, learners produce a research product in the form of a public service announcement (PSA). First, they view examples of these PSA's to...
Curated OER
Similes and Metaphors
This fantastic presentation on similes and metaphors would be ideal for blossoming writers. Learners receive excellent instruction on these terms and are given a meaningful activity to do in their workbooks at the end of the PowerPoint....
Curated OER
The Tell-Tale Heart
Readers listen and critically read fictional prose to answer prediction questions at designated stopping points, and then they give a summary of the short story. This lesson is ideal for English language learners developing English...
Curated OER
Speaking and Listening Skills
Build oral fluency with your English language learners. They use the topic of vacations or holidays to practice posing questions and creating answers. A long list of subtopics is included here. Consider breaking your class into pairs and...
Curated OER
Proverbs
Introduce your English language learners to some of our common proverbs with this online activity. There are 10 proverbs listed here, and the user much match the beginning of each proverb given to its correct ending. There are only two...
One Stop English
A Lesson on Register
The classroom might not be the best place for informal language, but it's a great place to teach middle and high schoolers how to identify the correct language register for their audience. A short lesson on formal and informal language...
Pearson
The Simple Present: Affirmative and Negative Statements
The present tense is a helpful skill to review in any language arts classroom. Focusing on statements made in the affirmative and in the negative, a slideshow presentation guides pupils through grammar rules and examples for the simple...
British Council
An English Action Plan
Language learners discuss ways they can increase their use of English in the new year and brainstorm with peers ideas to practice language. Scholars finish by completing a worksheet to create their own English Action Plans to increase...
Hampton-Brown
Esperanza Rising
Accompany a reading of the novel, Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan, with a series of lessons that dive deep into the literary world of a young girl and the journey she takes to start a new life. Lessons and their...
Curated OER
Travels With Charley By John Steinbeck
A paragraph from John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley provides English language learners with an opportunity to practice strategies for answering guiding questions about the academic text. Class members locate keywords in the annotated...
Roald Dahl
The Twits - Dirty Beards
The problem with beards is that they collect a lot of food. The first instructional activity in an 11-part unit related to The Twits by Roald Dahl explores the hairy jungle that is Mr. Twit's beard. A concluding project has learners...