Readers of Man's Search for Meaning use context clues, create stories using words from the text, and retype these stories as part of their vocabulary study of Viktor Frankl's book.

An activity promotes reading comprehension. Readers analyze a text of their choice while activating prior knowledge and asking and answering questions. Scholars enforce multiple strategies to improve comprehension.

Like Oskar, the curious boy in Jonathan Safran Foer’s story, class members journey through other “stories that the mouth can’t tell” to find another sentence that uses a word found in novel. Individuals create their own vocabulary list,...

What fun! As part of a vocabulary exercise designed for Victor Martinez's Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida readers create word trees with the trunk representing the root word and the branches representing prefixes that can be added to the...

Readers read more closely when they think critically about a text. Discuss the words and concepts from Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea with a class activity that asks readers to not only record...

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...

Here is a strategy for groups to contribute to whole class vocabulary development. Teams (based on seating rows) work together to look up dictionary definitions of words from upcoming sections of the book (though previous sections seem...

Explore the power of words with your class by analyzing the connotations of fictitious sports team names. Learners discuss team names and the mental images they convey. They create logos to illustrate the meanings and...

Scholars demonstrate their knowledge of root words aqua and aud, and develop vocabulary skills by completing of a chart, handout, and worksheet using creative thinking skills, a dictionary, and a thesaurus.   

Study the vocabulary from Carl Hiaasen's Hoot with an activity featuring synonyms and antonyms. Kids fill in a graphic organizer for each word, prompting critical thinking as they find additional ways to put the word into context.

Invite your pupils to do the teaching when it comes to the vocabulary in Pudd'nhead Wilson. Each individual is assigned one word to research in depth and teach to classmates, one pupil at a time.

Venn diagrams are helpful in understanding the idea of a set and using attributes to sort items. This basic plan is an introduction with an added bonus of an applet that can be used to demonstrate the activity. If a classroom of...

Learn from experience. As part of their study of Unbroken, scholars use a turn-and-talk strategy to discuss Louie's experiences and the presence of God while he is lost at sea. They then read quotes from the text and infer what the words...

Turn the pupil into the teacher to help your learners pick up and retain vocabulary from Ordinary People by Judith Guest. Each individual selects a word, studies it in depth, and then teaches their word to the rest of the class, one...

Scholars learn about the Hero's Journey as they read Ray Bradbury's "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh." They analyze the story's structure and narrative techniques. Finally, they write summaries of the text's central idea and use their...

Pupils receive an index card, and they write down jobs and hobbies that interest them. Then, they get together in groups and are assigned the task of researching the jobs and hobbies that are of the most interest to the entire group....

Having a hard time defining bullying with your seventh graders? Discuss the different types of behavior one would see in a bullying situation with a series of lessons, worksheets, and group activities.

Bingo! Practice vocabulary from William Shakespeare's The Tempest with a fun matching game. As you call out the definitions, class members mark the new vocabulary words that match and try to get five in a row.

Here is a lesson that takes an interesting approach to analyzing data using box and whisker plots.  By using an applet that dynamically generates Venn diagrams, the class forms a strategy/algorithm for guessing the rule that fits...

Your class continues to explore the history of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In addition to learning about the background of this text, learners work on the skill of identifying and understanding key academic vocabulary....

Readers of Voltaire’s satire create a word square for vocabulary drawn from Candide. The first box contains the word, the second a picture or illustration of the word. The definition is written in the third box, and learners write a...

How is Louisiana connected to the Holocaust? After reading The Diary of Anne Frank, eighth graders complete a research report about a survivor of the Holocaust who currently resides in Louisiana. Though the idea is a good way to...

Double click that mouse because you just found an amazing lesson! This cross-curricular Ornithology lesson incorporates literature, writing, reading informational text, data collection, scientific inquiry, Internet research, art, and...

"Ye who believe...List to a Tale of Love in Acadie." Longfellow's epic poem, "Evangeline," launches a study of tragic heroines, epic poetry, the expulsion of the Acadians from Canada, and their subsequent migration to Louisiana. The...