The engagement is in the details. Young scholars learn the benefit of weaving descriptive and sensory details into the fabric of their writing through the activities in this lesson plan. As their hands explore items concealed in bags, a...

Animals oftentimes elicit various characteristics which make them symbolic or representative of human feeling, action, or emotion. The class creates horse characters out of clay to show character action and symbolism. This is a great...

Dander from the show Twisted Whiskers and characters from My Little Pony are featured in this three part activity that explores using story pyramids to scaffold ideas, adding sensory details to enrich writing, and editing using common...

Recycling and green living isn't just for the environment anymore. Studying the use of metaphors and metonymies, especially in reference to environmental sustainability, this presentation provides viewers with plenty of food for thought....

Build vocabulary skills by teaching learners how to figure out the meaning of words by using clues in the surrounding text. Given a sentence, learners determine the definition of the bolded word and then note the clues that helped them...

Teach kids about the beginnings of the Braille writing system with a lesson plan about Louis Braille. A series of discussion questions guide young readers though A Picture Book of Louis Braille by David A. Adler, and once they...

Jack the Ripper terrorized London in the late 1800s. An educator's guide for the novel The Name of the Star places the historical figure in a modern context. Readers complete a pre-reading activity before answering a series of discussion...

Can you believe there have already been 100 days in the school year? Help your learners document their time in your class with a newspaper format. They write about the 100 Day celebrations, as well as drawing what they will...

Monster trucks, action figures, and video games. Are these toys designed for boys or girls? Scholars work in small groups to find and categorize examples of boy and girl toys from catalogs. Next, learners analyze the two sets of pictures...

The big idea in this poetry unit plan is that structure and content work together to create meaning. Class members learn how to identify and mark the metrical patterns and line lengths used in poems. They study the structure of various...

Sixth graders explore geometric figures. In this geometry lesson, 6th graders manipulate properties and relationships of geometric figures to identify objects on the coordinate planes and describe where figures sit on the planes.

Twelfth graders read and discuss poems by Jewel., Sylvia Plath, and Langston Hughes They examine poems for examples of metaphors and similes. After discussing Jewel's poem Lost, they write their own poems. They hold a poetry reading in...

In this writing prompt worksheet students are asked to use personification in discussing the redefinition of "planet Pluto" to "dwarf planet." Students are asked to communicate the feelings of the planet as it pertains to its...

In this onomatopoeia worksheet, students study 9 pictures that depict noises. Students write the word (such as pop, buzz, zip) that describes the noise in each picture.

In this banking terminology worksheet, students fill in a crossword puzzle as they figure out the answers to fourteen clues associated with banks.

In this poetry writing worksheet, students identify the topic, similes, metaphors, onomatopoeia, rhyme scheme, and alliteration in a poem. Students fill out this information in a given diagram.

Here is an effective way to have your charges practice and model important listening skills. After a short review of effective active listening concepts, such as using body language, summarizing what the other person said, and asking...

Provided here are activities and questions for Part I of To Kill a Mockingbird (although one activity is also included for Part II). Readers study the novel's plot, characters, and setting. I wouldn't recommend using this as the sole...

Who would you love to see at your table? Groups research a decade, ranging from the 1840s to the 1960s, read a short story associated with that decade, and plan a dinner party, complete with table set-up and menu. After researching...

While music lyrics are often used to teach literary elements, the richness of this resource comes from the wealth of exercises, activities, and support materials provided in the packet.  Although designed for gifted learners, the...

What is the "Faurisson Affair”? What is “Holocaust Revisionism”? What does freedom of speech entail? Do revisionists have a right to voice their ideas? Such questions are at the heart of a richly detailed, thought provoking activity...

A reading of a New York Times review of the movie Beloved launches research into how the Civil War affected the lives of people living during this period. Creative thinkers select a person from an included list of historical figures and...

Write what you know, sound advice for any writer and something many famous authors are known to have done. Use these materials to explore how Shakespeare's life influenced his plays. This resource is packed with readings, video segments,...

Henry David Thoreau and Linda Ronstadt? Ann Tyler and Pete Townshend? Joyce Carol Oates and Pearl Jam? This richly detailed plan pairs classic literature with contemporary music and asks learners to analyze how the theme of conformity is...