Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4
The fourth standard for reading literature in the Common Core calls for young readers to be able to determine the figurative and connotative meanings of words and phrases. Use this resource, a continuation of a series of Common Core...
Curated OER
The Kid in the Red Jacket Question Booklet
A thorough guide to all ten chapters of Barbara Park's The Kid in the Red Jacket would be a great addition to your reading unit. Each page covers one chapter of the book, complete with vocabulary and content questions, and...
Reed Novel Studies
The Twits: Novel Study
The dictionary defines twit as a foolish person. Mr. and Mrs. Twit, in The Twits, definitely live up to their name! The foolish couple dislikes everything and enjoys playing cruel jokes on each other. Scholars read about the Twits...
Curated OER
Olympic Report Planner
Use this worksheet to research a future or past olympian. There's a space for researchers to brainstorm things they'd like to know, a space for them to record notes, and a KWL chart. There's also an open space to write a cumulative...
Curated OER
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs-Part I
Here is a lesson plan that gives learners a chance to practice using context clues. They read the story, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Students use different word strategies (base words, synonyms, antonyms) to decode and understand...
Curated OER
Metaphor and Metonymy
If you are teaching metaphors in your language arts class, consider using this presentation to illustrate several examples of classic metaphors. Body metaphors, war metaphors, and comic metaphors all help learners understand the...
Worksheet Web
Where do Bears go in Winter?
Do bears really sleep for an entire season? Six multiple choice questions and a drawing activity make up a worksheet that tests scholars' comprehension skills after reading about bears during winter.
Curated OER
Finders Keepers: Vocabulary Instructional Routine Guide for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
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,...
Curated OER
Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban Magic Square!
Readers of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third in J. K. Rowling's series about the young wizard, complete a magic square using words drawn from chapters six and seven of the novel.
Curated OER
I Spy Poetry
Explore the components of rhythm and form through a reading of Jean Marzollo's I Spy books. After discussing Marzollo’s format, the class agrees upon a theme for a class book and topics that fit with that theme. Pupils write a poem,...
Curated OER
Ballet and Classical Music
Fourth graders explore ballet. In this dance and music humanities lesson, 4th graders practice ballet positions and play a card game using French ballet vocabulary. Students count beats in rhythm patterns and listen to classical music...
Curated OER
Connecticut Firsts Word Search
In this word search about the state of Connecticut instructional activity, students read terms about things that were invented or used first in Connecticut and find them in the crossword. Students find 10 words.
Curated OER
Let's Discuss Current Events
Investigate articles from the daily news and share opinions with classmates. Using current events, learners view a news program without sound and predict what news is being discussed by analyzing the visuals. Then they read news articles...
Curated OER
Writing Myths I
Explain a natural phenomenon in an original myth. After researching the phenomenon they have chosen, young readers use factual information to include in their myth. They find synonyms and new phrases to create vivid images as they...
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
Reading Study Guide: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Meant for use with Maya Angelou's first autobiographical volume I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the materials here are designed for a homeschool setting, but they'd suit any classroom or text. Graphic organizers, chapter summary...
Curated OER
Literature Study Guide: To Kill a Mockingbird
Teaching tools designed to support student-centered literature study. Geared toward homeschoolers reading Harper Lee's book To Kill a Mockingbird, I would use these in my classroom. The materials are applicable to any text: graphic...
Institute for Humane Education
Not So Fair and Balanced: Analyzing Bias in the Media
Life is not always fair. Who's heard that before? This same concept moves to a larger scale using prejudice and bias. Pupils discuss where prejudice attitudes derive and how they develop throughout life. Reading comprehension...
Curated OER
Dialect
With a list of popular British slang words, this worksheet prompts pupils to define their colloquialisms as if they were in the dictionary. Because the words are so specifically regional, American students might not recognize them, but a...
Curated OER
Dictionary Details
This clever lesson has students practice finding a variety of types of information in a dictionary by playing a "Dictionary Scavenger Hunt" game. Students must use the guide words at the top of a dictionary page, determine what part of...
Curated OER
Nonsense Dictionary
Third graders explore various media. They identify the characteristics of various sources and use that material effectively. Students identify the characteristics of Dr. Seuss' work and the characteristics of a dictionary. They create a...
Curated OER
Negative Prefixes
Although only three slides long, this presentation does a good job in introducing negative prefixes to upper elementary writers. Pupils are encouraged to use a dictionary and a thesaurus in order to help them come up with the proper...
Curated OER
Vocabulary Development
By utilizing a graphic organizer called a bubble map, young readers work toward developing their vocabulary. After reading a story, a word that has something to do with the story is put in the middle circle. Then, other words that have...
T. Smith Publishing
Space Vocabulary Dictionary Skills
Show your class how to use a dictionary and teach class members vocabulary related to space travel along the way. Pupils must place vocabulary words that pertain to space travel between the correct dictionary guide words. Next,...