Learners identify their beliefs and values and compare how these values relate to those of their community. They then determine how their values affect the roles they play in different situations. A quiz about values and beliefs...

Bring dictionaries back into your classroom! Although it's often preferred to look up a word's definition on a computer or smart phone, we still need to practice this important skill. Middle and high schoolers investigate how to use the...

Do you hear what I hear? Encourage scholars to use their listening skills and participate in a series of activities that demonstrate how the sense of hearing is crucial to the human and animal world. Activities guide learners...

Use Greek roots, suffixes, and prefixes to create polysyllabic words. Readers use the dictionary to identify what the word's prefix, suffix, and root or base word mean. They define what a syllable is and how one is formed using Greek...

Students explore how to use the dictionary. They practice finding words in the dictionary. Students find the word that is between two listed words and they find the word that does not belong in between the two listed words.

Students complete the Frayer Model. In this literature instructional activity, students review the concept of theme in literature. Students identify major themes in books they've read. Students learn the attributes of the Frayer Model...

Young scholars familiarize themselves with the construct and measure menus. They demonstrate how to use the Sketchpad Calculator. They draw a triangle and construct the centroid. They shade in each of the small triangles and measure the...

Discover how to use prefixes and suffixes to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words. The group views a jovial video on the topic, and then they create a chart of prefix and suffix meanings to identify the meanings of words in a social...

The fourth in a five-instructional activity unit examining human rights and personal responsibility asks class groups to investigate a current rights issue, and using the provided graphic organizer, summarize the issue, consider which...

Discover alliteration found in picture books by Pamela Duncan Edwards. Then, dive into a read aloud of Alligators All Around by Maurice Sendak. This practice sets the stage for budding poets to create their own acrostic poem,...

What elements are needed to have a revolution? How do historical revolutions from across the globe and generations compare with one another? This is an excellent activity that incorporates group work, source analysis, and an engaging...

While the lesson plan focuses on right triangles, this activity offers a great way to practice the area of all triangles through an interactive webpage. The activity begins with the class taking a square paper and cutting in in half; can...

Second graders examine the use of entry words in the dictionary. For this dictionary use lesson, learners look at guide words in a children's dictionary as the teacher/librarian describes the characteristics of each entry. They complete...

Develop study skills and improve spelling at the same time. Every time I teach this mnemonic device, the kids thank me. It makes memorizing more manageable, and fun. To remember how to spell difficult words, make up a sentence using...

Riddle me this! What do kennings, caesura, and alliteration have to do with the Nowell Codex? Introduce class members to Anglo-Saxon poetry and prepare readers for a study of Beowulf with a series of activities that...

Chanclas, muerto, cuando. Spanish words are plentiful in The House on Mango Street and may be unfamiliar to many readers. A vocabulary words squares activity will help kids remember the meaning of these words and add to their...

When do we use dictionaries? Provide this dictionary scavenger hunt for your youngsters. Third and fourth graders search for words, recording the number of syllables or definition for a variety of words. Get your class using dictionaries...

Students analyze the archetype of 'the fall' in Shakespeare's Macbeth. In this literary analysis lesson plan, students work in tiered learning groups to analyze the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Students use the book of Genesis...

Immaculate, accumulation, dissipation. Vocabulary drawn from chapter 16 of James McBride's memoir, The Color of Water, can prove to be challenge for readers. To help kids understand the meaning of these words and what they add to the...

Watch the damage from a forest fire in this interactive simulation activity that challenges learners to estimate the burn area using different approaches. Learners are given a worksheet to track the different burn patterns and practice...

In this language activity, scholars use Greek root meanings to determine the meaning of words. After being shown how Greek roots are used in many words, such as, photosynthesis, pairs are given two excellent black line masters...

Finding engaging ways to help your middle schoolers build their vocabulary is not easy to do. The lesson presented here offers a great way to motivate them to build vocabulary by making it into a game. Teams of pupils use a dictionary...

What fun! As part of a vocabulary exercise designed for Victor Martinez's Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida readers create word trees with the trunk representing the root word and the branches representing prefixes that can be added to the...

Fourth graders, after brainstorming what the word "guide" means, examine how to use guide words in a dictionary to locate words. They define "guide," identify guide words in a variety of dictionaries and locate words using guide words....