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Organizing Writing to Convey a Central Idea
Fourth and fifth graders practice the skill of organizing their writing to convey a central idea by sorting 14 facts about the dogwood tree into four categories of facts. The categories, which are written on the board, are; Governmental...
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Follow the Drinking Gourd
Students create an art project based on "Follow the Drinking Gourd," a song used to guide slaves to freedom during the Civil War. They read a picture book to learn the story of how Harriet Tubman and Peg Leg Joe led slaves to freedom.
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What's the Big Idea
Discuss the concept of main idea in a story or other reading material. Middle schoolers identify the main idea in a passage using a technique that eliminates unnecessary words not relevant to the main idea.
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Mythical Monsters
Students design mythical creatures and write poems about them. They take digital pictures of their artwork and create a digital picture book. They record their readings of the poetry to be added a class recording.
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Literature Review Paragraph
Tenth graders review the structural elements of a literary paragraph and organizational paragraph formats. They author a paragraph examining and reviewing a piece of literature currently being read in class. Students peer-review the...
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Speak Write! Understanding the Hidden Meaning of Words
Students investigate connotation and denotation as a basis for greater examining of language. They identify the literal meaning of words and explore the greater implications and impact of word usage.
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Book: The Southern Colonies: Quest for Prosperity
Students, after reading Chapter 1 in the book, "The Southern Colonies: Quest for Prosperity,"begin to analyze the motivation behind European colonization. They convey the setting of the scene into a writing piece to illustrate the...
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The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe: Literature and Theater
Students read and discuss the literary elements of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis. They explore the elements of dramatic performance and create a TV news program based on life in Narnia. They videotape their...
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Seasonal Poetry Reflective Journal
Pull quotes from a text and craft responses to the quotes you chose. First, read a short excerpt from Mary Claire Wilfert's oral history. Then, read the contemporary poem "Robert's Cove," pulling quotes and writing responses as...
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Introduction to Victorian London and A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley
Immerse your class in Dickens's London and classic story of A Christmas Carol. Here, a SMARTboard presentation and WebQuest build background of the setting for the novel (or the play A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley.) Learning about...
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Interpreting Meaning in Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”
Launch a study of Maya Angelou's "I know Why the Caged Bird Sings" with the Youtube video of Alicia Keys singing her "Caged Bird." Groups then read Angelou's poem and discuss the symbols employed. Although the text of the poem is not...
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Comparison and Contrast - D. H. Lawrence
Read The Horse Dealer's Daughter and The Rocking Horse Winner by D. H. Lawrence, then write an essay comparing and contrasting the two stories. Learners choose some aspect to write about, such as themes, characters, setting, or plot.
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Combining Syllables to Form 2- and 3-Syllable Words
Students practice combining consonant-vowel-consonant sounds to form words. They read closed and silent "e" syllables. Students construct two-syllable words. They arrange syllables to form three and four syllable words.
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Literary Elements: Storytelling Techniques
Students think about what makes a story interesting to read or hear. What kinds of details make a story come to life? How can a storyteller create a feeling of excitement or suspense? What kinds of characters do students like? If anyone...
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Comparing Themes
Compare and contrast the themes of two works by J.R.R. Tolkien. High schoolers read The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, Then they write an essay that compares the themes found in each novel.
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Literary Skills
Develop their literary skills. In this literature instructional activity, students collaborate to read portions of books and examine settings, plots, main ideas, and conclusions.
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Literary Terms
"Is that your final answer?" Challenge and thrill your class with this language arts game, which is based on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." The game covers literary terms such as point of view, alliteration, and protagonist, and is...
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Inferring Character Traits
Here is a activity which is "flexible," and can operate as an individual or whole class activity. After reading a book of their choosing, with the use of a semantic map, learners identify character traits. They infer how their feelings...
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Sentences In Motion
Explore the elements needed to make up a sentence (the sentence itself, the period, the comma, the question mark, and the exclamation point), with this language arts lesson plan. A loco-motor activity is embedded in the teaching of the...
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Finding Captain Hook's Treasure
Learners use their map-reading skills to find Captain Hook's treasure. They see how the directions on a map correspond with "real-life" directions, and that symbols on a map represent real things.
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An Author Study on Kevin Henkes
To better understand how the author Kevin Henkes uses the theme of friendship throughout his books, learners engage in several compare and contrast activities. The class reads several Henkes titles and discusses the similarities in...
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Book Stars
Learners create a Star Book report in 30 minutes or less using exactly 15 words, computers, and the Kidspiration or Inspiration educational software. This quick Language Arts lesson is ideal for assessment of each student's reading...
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A Raisin In The Sun
Tenth graders complete a brief journal entry explaining what they would do with one million dollars. They read and discuss "Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes. Students finish reading Act I of A Raisin In The Sun and identify the...
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Getting the Word Out
Discuss and generate blogs in this technology lesson plan. Middle and high schoolers explore examples of blogs and create their own blogs. Use this lesson plan throughout the year to reinforce concepts from your language arts class (or...