Curated OER
Breaking News: English Athlete's Hairstyles
Practice vocabulary and speaking skills in this ESL reading comprehension lesson. Middle and high schoolers participate in a number of before, during, and after reading activities based on an article entitled "Footballer Sent Off for...
Curated OER
Using Words as a Way into Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief
Use the Visual Thesaurus to predict the subject matter of Rick Riordan's book The Lightning Thief. A pre-reading activity encourages middle schoolers to use context clues and word meaning to discover what the book is about. After they...
Curated OER
The Tell-Tale Hearts of Writers
Knock, knock, knock...Creep out your class with a critical thinking lesson focused on word relationships in Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." They investigate the relationship between word choice, mood, and interpretation of a...
Curated OER
Phonics Instructional Routine: Read and Write Words with Consonant Digraphs
Use consonant digraphs to introduce learners to word patterns and high frequency words. They observe a chart with the digraphs /sh/, /ch/, /th/, and /wh/. After listening to each of these phonemes, scholars watch as the teacher...
Curated OER
Antonym Snowmen
Pupils demonstrate their understanding of antonyms. They create snowmen and write antonyms on them. Then present their snowmen and antonyms to the class. This is a seasonal theme instructional activity.
Curated OER
Thesaurus Power
Give your class the advantage of Thesaurus Power! They will use a thesaurus to understand word meanings and relationships. They focus on how a thesaurus functions and how it gives the entry word, definition, synonyms, antonyms, and part...
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
It's Opposite Day
Celebrate Opposite Day by using a Visual Thesaurus to match words to their antonyms. They match a list of vocabulary words to their antonym counterparts using the Visual Thesaurus, and then they play Antonym Bingo with the words from...
Curated OER
Antonyms
Familiarize linguists with antonyms as they examine examples and match up opposites. First, scholars read a short description of antonyms, writing as many antonyms for big as they can. Then, they match up pairs of words that are antonyms...
Curated OER
Synonym Trees
Pair learners to define synonyms. They search flash cards to find a synonym partner. Then they chart pairs of synonyms on a synonym tree.
Curated OER
Antonyms, synonyms and homophones
Shed light on what antonyms, synonyms, and homophones are. In this lesson, upper elementary schoolers create pairs using an antonym, a homophone, and/or a synonym. Then they play an antonym matching game.
Curated OER
Building Character: Holocaust Survivor Testimonies
Host a fishbowl discussion to help your class recognize and articulate the relationship between words and the character traits they describe. They analyze Holocaust survivor testimonies and apply the character traits they observe. No...
Curated OER
Find the Pictures
There are hidden pictures here, but scholars must find the rhyming words to uncover them. They follow directions by coloring in only the shapes that rhyme with a given sound. Although the pictures aren't that well hidden, this puts a fun...
Curated OER
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...
Curated OER
Synonyms and Antonyms
Mix up your writing lessons by having kids look at recent newspaper articles instead of their own work. They work in pairs and rewrite sports news articles using synonyms and antonyms for a set number of words. Then they share their work...
Curated OER
Salinger and the Vocabulary of the Vernacular
Writers explore vocabulary and expressions used in the English language. They use visual word maps to become aware of the different uses of words which will allow them to more readily interpret texts. Then they listen to/read excerpts...
Curated OER
Spanish-English Cognates in the ELL Classroom: Friends or Foes?
Define the meaning of a cognate and use the concept to help Spanish-speaking ELLs connect their first language to English. Middle schoolers explore Latin roots to find cognates in both languages. They relate the Spanish and English word...
Curated OER
Vocabulary through Text
Explore word meanings. Sixth graders identify examples of words with affixes while listening to the story Paul Bunyan by Steven Kellogg. They participate in the game "Pass the Parts" and practice separating given words into their root...
Curated OER
Beach Poetry
Familiarize young analysts with the relationship between words, meaning, and visual images. They consider the relationship between the painting Beach Poetry and the poem Sandpaper. They compose and illustrate an original a beach poem...
Pennington Publishing
Vocabulary Worksheet #1 & #2
These two worksheets cover several grammatical topics. Pupils work on words with multiple meanings, Greek and Latin word parts, word connotations, academic language, and more. The result is seven quick exercises that could be used...
Beatrice Public Schools
Analogy Practice Worksheet
Clarify word relationships and practice working with synonyms and antonyms by administering an extensive worksheet. Class members determine the relationship between words and complete a series of analogies. Before assigning these...
Curated OER
If a Runner Runs, Does a Sweater Sweat?
Play with words and word meanings involving the suffix -er. After reading a sample list of words, young readers look up each one in the dictionary to decide which words refer to people, animals, or objects, or have three or more...
Curated OER
Vocabulary Extension
Group words into categories to promote word meaning associations and connections. There are 20 words and four categories. Scholars sort them into their respective lists: farm, weather, foods, and clothes. Once they've done this, consider...
Curated OER
Suffixes
Many words have suffixes, and knowing them can help scholars with vocabulary and spelling. They read a brief introduction explaining suffixes and giving two examples: -ly and -ful. Then, learners add these suffix examples to seven base...