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...

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...

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. 

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,...

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.

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,...

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...

In this word search about the state of Connecticut worksheet, students read terms about things that were invented or used first in Connecticut and find them in the crossword. Students find 10 words.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

To get to the heart of a writer's purpose, remember to have some PIE (Persuade, Inform, or Entertain)! And, appropriately, here is a PIE chart that leaves room for pupils to identify each letter of the acronym and any other ideas or...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

Pupils explore healthy foods and dictionary organization. Students create a list of healthy foods. They construct their own food dictionary, with illustrations. Pupils model how a dictionary page should be filled with a picture,...

For this dictionary worksheet, students use a dictionary to answer the questions or complete the sentences. There are 5 questions on this page.

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...

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...

In this dictionary worksheet, students look up the following five words to find the definitions of each word in order to choose the correct multiple choice answer that correctly completes each statement: esteem, chalcedony, serene,...