Do figures of speech enhance a play or story? In small groups, learners locate and describe figures of speech they find while reading a reader's theater play. After making predictions, they describe how the figures of speech make the...

Scholars use technology to explore poetry and its related elements, such as theme, figures of speech, and other literary devices. They complete four poetry projects including a poem analysis with a concept web, an interactive poem...

What do figures of speech have to do with financial literacy? Take an interdisciplinary look at The Berenstain Bears' Trouble with Money to find out. Young analysts read about the cubs' spendthrift ways and how Mama and Papa Bear...

Interpret current events using editorial cartoons and other print media. Middle schoolers explore the meanings of literary and artistic terms such as satire, irony, and caricature. They visit internet sites to develop an understanding of...

Students create pieces of writing about a creature they have created. They examine the parts of speech and how they are used in their writing to see how they can write more specifically.

Invite your class to investigate racism and civil rights by analyzing the great Dr. Martin Luther King's speech. Your learners will read the words from the "I Have a Dream" speech and analyze the political and racial overtones. They will...

Students use text and photos to visualize the delivery of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s historic "I Have A Dream" speech. They analyze Dr. King's speech for examples of imagery and allusion and create original poetry and illustrations...

Third and fourth graders study literary devices and figurative language. They view a PowerPoint presentation (which you must create) to review hyperbole, idiom, simile, and metaphor. They read and discuss the book There's A Frog in...

Animals oftentimes elicit various characteristics which make them symbolic or representative of human feeling, action, or emotion. The class creates horse characters out of clay to show character action and symbolism. This is a great...

Learners describe idioms and their use in everyday language. They describe the difference between literal and idiomatic meanings. In groups, students use iPhoto to create books that explain and illustrate a variety of idioms describing...

Take a break from vocabulary development and have your Spanish scholars immerse themselves in Spanish culture. What are common Spanish proverbs? In short sessions over the course of a few weeks, the class will learn about different...

Students practice using prepositions by writing on the tracing of a human.  In this parts of speech lesson, students create a giant poster using the tracing of a classmate's body and fill in the outline using prepositions in places...

Nonfiction texts about people on the move provide young readers with an opportunity to examine not only the problem-solving strategies employed by immigrants, but to also find examples of figurative language these writers use to tell...

Work on narrative writing with this instructional activity, in which middle schoolers analyze the characters from a selected piece of literature and write narrative diary pieces as the character. They work to understand the point of view...

A thorough lesson plan on persuasive writing takes middle schoolers through several activities, including group discussion, collaborative posters, and independent writing. They compare historical speeches and analyze the persuasive...

Art is a great way to convey or express an idea. Learners choose an idiom, draw it, and use transfer paper to create photograms. They discuss how why they chose the phrase they did, and how they expressed that idea through their...

Mermaids will sing to your class members as they engage in an activity related to T.S. Eliot's famous dramatic interior monologue. After engaging in a socratic seminar about literary devices in the poem, individuals choose one...

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...

Students create a book of sayings. In this oral language lesson, students record common sayings or idioms into a book. Students discover the meaning behind each saying.

Sixth graders discover idioms. For this idioms lesson, 6th graders evaluate idioms and discover their meaning. Students read Runny Babbit by Shel Silverstein and create unique idioms. Assessment rubric is provided.

Bring writing to life with this lesson plan in which elementary and middle schoolers create a display of the imagery they identify in a series of Gary Paulsen books. They read the suggested materials, identify imagery and descriptive...

Fifth graders write or dance a simile to show the relationship between two unlike nouns. In this simile and grammar lesson, 5th graders explore dance movements and identify smooth and sharp energy examples. Students review...

Access your young poets' senses and emotions with this activity, which guides them through the process of writing a "sense poem." After working on a sense poem as a class and modeling the procedure, individuals work on their own poems...

Write and work with authors on the Scholastic Website to promote the recognition of various genres.  Young writers will participate in activities based on the type of writing such as biography, descriptive, folktales, mystery, news,...