Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Let’s Look Around!: Challenge Activities (Theme 3)
Let's Look Around! is the theme of a unit that offers a plethora of challenge activities. Enhance your scholars' learning experiences and reinforce concepts with activities such as writing a book about farm animals, an...
PBS
Reading Adventure Pack: The Lorax
Accompany a reading of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss and Tell Me, Tree by Gail Gibbons with an activity packet designed to bring awareness to nature, specifically trees. Scholars take to the outside, draw lines to create trees reminiscent of...
Great Books Foundation
Picture-Books in Winter
Five questions challenge scholars to make inferences after reading a poem, "Picture-Books in Winter" by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Curated OER
Simile and Metaphor
Middle schoolers use context clues to find the figurative meaning of similes and metaphors in writing. They practice using figurative language to help their writing come alive. Use this activity in a lesson about poetry, figurative...
Reed Novel Studies
Nim's Island: Novel Study
A deserted island, a sea lion, and a volcanic eruption ... adventure awaits! Using a helpful novel study, scholars complete a brief vocabulary exercise and answer 10 reading comprehension questions about Nim's Island. Next, they write...
Reed Novel Studies
Old Wolf: Novel Study
Do wolves ever attack humans? An informative novel study for Old Wolf helps pupils conduct research to answer the question. They also decode anagrams, learn about onomatopoeia, and write quatrain poems about themes from the novel.
Reed Novel Studies
To Kill a Mockingbird: Novel Study
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American fiction writer whose biggest claim to fame was the creation of Tarzan. Using the novel study for Harper Lee's beloved novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, pupils research and list facts about him or another...
Reed Novel Studies
The Summer of Riley: Novel Study
The Labrador retriever is America's most popular dog breed. With the novel study for The Summer of Riley by Eve Bunting, scholars learn more about the sweet, lovable animal. Additionally, they write quatrain poems, explore foreshadowing...
Reed Novel Studies
Stella By Starlight: Novel Study
Who were the Ku Klux Klan, and what role did they play in the United States during the Great Depression? Using the Stella by Starlight novel study, scholars research the organization and answer questions relating to Sharon M. Draper's...
Curated OER
A P Literary Terms
Is a list of literary terms found frequently on AP English exams of value to test takers? Now there's a rhetorical question. Here's a list that provides definitions for everything from allegory to vernacular. To say the list is...
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
Sea-ing More Clearly
Explore works of art with your class by engaging them in a variety of artistic activities including papier-mache sculpture, poetry, performance, and more. After viewing and discussing four paintings of the sea by Robert Harris, learners...
Curated OER
Lesson: Jazzy Stripes and Worlds
Every artist creates in his own unique way drawing from a variety of inspirational sources. Upper graders work to expand their understanding of the creative process by first analyzing a modern piece and then creating one. They listen to...
Curated OER
Paper Cranes
Paper folding is a great art form that can be incorporated into cultural, mathematic, and art lessons. This resource includes the full instructions needed to fold a paper crane, as well as a Haiku poetry idea. Tip: This activity would be...
Curated OER
Lesson: Weaving Words
A woven rug depicting birds and cornstalks becomes the inspiration for a lesson on critical thinking and creative writing. Learners analyze the symbolism found in the rug and then compose a descriptive paragraph or poem that embodies the...
Scholastic
Eric Carle Author Study
Learn all about Eric Carle, find out about his famous caterpillar, and try out related art, science, writing, math, and social studies activities. The resource comes with plenty of materials to support your instruction.
EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge: Planning The Two Voice Poem
Scholars build background knowledge to understand the life and work of the union leader and labor organizer César Chávez. As they read teacher-selected resources, they complete a Building Background Knowledge worksheet and engage in...
EngageNY
Launching Modern Voices: Concrete Poetry
Challenges are different for today's kids. Learners begin to think about their own challenges by examining the adversities faced by children in medieval villages. They complete a graphic organizer as they watch the...
Curated OER
Extreme Poetry Vocabulary
Challenge your class with this comprehensive list of literary vocabulary words. Learners take a pre-test, look up definitions, come up with an example, and then take a post-test. You might use this prior to a unit about poetic devices in...
Macmillan Education
Understanding Poetry
William Wordsworth's "Daffodils" provides young poets with an opportunity to examine how a poet can use powerful images and poetic devices to create vivid pictures in the minds of readers.
Curated OER
Podcasting Poetry Slam
Engage your class with a poetry slam. A poem is read aloud using a podcast. A few days are provided for learners to listen to the podcast and make a slam (connection) between the original poem and another poem. After everyone has had a...
Curated OER
Elements of the Narrative Poem: "Casey at the Bat"
Unlike the mighty Casey, you can hit a home run with this worksheet that uses Ernest Lawrence Thayer’s “Casey at the Bat” as a model of a narrative poem. Young fans must identify the characters, the time and place, the sequence of events...
Curated OER
Understanding “If”
Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" provides readers with a chance to practice their reading comprehension skills. After a close reading of the poem, individuals respond to the comprehension and critical thinking questions included in the resource.
Curated OER
Poetry and Sound
How is poetry like music? It's all in the sounds. Provided in 17 slides are over a dozen poetry terms and their definitions. Some terms offer examples, and some do not. Consider adding examples for all terms so that you're as clear as...