Curated OER
Dead Word Wall Kills Overused Words
Have your class attend a funeral for the words they overuse in their writing. They develop a list of alternate words for those overused words, and make an effort to employ alternatives whenever possible. This is a great way to improve...
EngageNY
Analyzing Word Choice: Atticus’s Closing Speech (Chapters 20-21)
Choose your words carefully. Scholars begin by reading a line of Atticus's closing speech in To Kill A Mockingbird. Readers work independently on their note catchers, then complete a Think-Pair-Share activity with partners. They finish...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Poems vs. Lyrics
Combine your pupils' love of music with their growing knowledge of poetry! First, have them bring in their favorite songs for a discussion on word choice and literary devices. Then, use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the...
Curated OER
A Hurricane Blowing In
Students write a scene. In this creative writing lesson, students read The Lightning Thief and discuss the sentence fluency and word choice in the writing. Students complete a writing assignment where they create an interesting scene...
Curated OER
Analyzing Poetry
Use this poetry analysis worksheet to help your learners understand a poem of their or your choosing. This resource asks class members to summarize the poem and analyze it by looking at voice, word choice, imagery, and theme. The...
Curated OER
Character Impressions
Whether you are planning a unit on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, or simply want to improve your pupils' descriptive writing, this instructional activity could be a good addition to your class. Using the Six-Trait Writing...
Curated OER
Setting the Tone with Figurative Language
Explore figurative language with your secondary class. Extending a language arts unit, the lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine how an author's word choice establishes a story's tone, possibly using metaphors, similes,...
Curated OER
Color My World Grey and Blue
Can colors help to convey a mood in writing? Explore this question with your class using the songs "Grey Street" by the Dave Matthews Band and "Blu is a Mood" by Blu Cantrell. After analyzing the effect of the color words in these songs...
Curated OER
Beautiful Noise Poetry
"What a beautiful noise comin' up from the street; got a beautiful sound, it's got a beautiful beat..." Use Neil Diamond's "Beautiful Noise" to guide your class through a Six Trait writing activity, in which they write an original poem...
Curated OER
The Power of Words in Charlotte's Web
"How can a few good words save a pig's life?" Posed with this question, your ELD students explore E.B. White's Charlotte's Web in a meaningful, valuable way. By analyzing specific word choice from the book, especially the excerpts...
Curated OER
Connotation: Three Lessons for Effective Word Choice
Over the course of three days, middle schoolers explore the concept of connotation. They differentiate between the connotative and denotative meanings of sports team names, develop their own team names, logos, and text, and revise a news...
Curated OER
Analyzing Word Use Through Guided Wordle
Even though this lesson is just a basic way to review verb usage, it takes a novel approach. First, pupils identify verbs that they use too often in their writing, and then they create a Wordle. Wordle is a website that provides graphic...
Curated OER
Word Choice: Descriptive Verbs
In this word choice activity, students will read a 5 paragraph essay about an igloo hotel. Then students will replace 10 verbs with more descriptive verbs. Next, students will use strong verbs from a word bank to complete 14 sentences...
Curated OER
Writing About Talking
The story of King Arthur is a fascinating one, and this retold excerpt offers an excellent example of narrative word choice in a dialogue. Learners read the text and examine the way the author uses synonyms for said. They write down all...
Curated OER
Grammar Worksheets: Using Strong Verbs
Strengthen your pupils' writing with this worksheet, which provides a reference guide to using strong verbs instead of forms of is and have. Learners then rewrite twelve sentences to make them stronger. This is a great activity to work...
Curated OER
Letter of Complaint
Learners analyze this letter of complaint to the city council by answering nine short-answer questions. They examine author's purpose, word choice, claims, rhetorical questions, and general observations. There is a focus on constructive...
Literacy Design Collaborative
Catching a Grenade: How Word Choice Impacts Meaning and Tone
Beyonce's "Halo" and Bruno Mars' "Grenade" provide eighth graders with an opportunity to consider how a writer's choice of words can create a very different tone even when the subject is the same. After a close reading of both lyrics,...
Curated OER
Word Choice
Although this presentation does not have a clear purpose, it could be used as a reading, vocabulary, or poetry exploration. The presentation focuses on three poems, one of them by Edgar Allan Poe. Furthermore, it could be used as a...
Curated OER
Reading a Classic Novel
Charles Dickens offers an excellent example of sensory writing in this reading comprehension worksheet. Learners read excerpts from the novel Hard Times in which he describes the New England industrial city of Coketown. They consider why...
Curated OER
Validating Votes
Explore the discrepancies in Florida's vote counting process in 2000 and 2002 with this New York Times reading lesson. Middle schoolers study the viewpoints presented in informational text, paying attention to how word choice can...
Curated OER
Does Mother Nature Know Best?
Investigate herbal medicine in the science or health classroom with this lesson from the New York Times. After a discussion about class members beliefs about and experiences with herbal medicines, pupils read an article that might impact...
Curated OER
Create a Word
Brainstorm new words for a class dictionary. In small groups, young learners read and discuss an article about how words get into dictionaries. They then develop a new word, use it in a sentence, and share their creations with their peers.
Curated OER
Sparkle Words
Students are introduced to "sparkle words," which are really adjectives! They consider ten sentences which have a word missing, and choose the best of the three sparkle words on the slide to complete the sentence. A nice, motivating...
Curated OER
Teaching Word Meaning Synonyms, Antonyms, and Analogies
Strengthen and enhance your class's vocabulary with a guided lesson on word relationships. Focusing on synonyms and antonyms, the lesson demonstrates ways to compare and define different words, including word analogies and thesaurus skills.
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