Explore how language is used for comic effect. Middle schoolers determine which of the three formulas for jokes (double meanings, unexpected outcome, humorous mental image) make each of 18 classic, corny examples funny. They complete a...

Detailing the stages of language, sound, word, and grammar acquisition for babies, this presentation is a great addition to a lecture that focuses on how the English language is developed in small children. Additionally, the slideshow...

Get a giggle from this presentation about puns and ambiguity. From ad campaigns to old jokes to pictures of animals made out of vegetables, the slides are amusing, informative, and bizarre. The presentation spends more time providing...

What can happen if you eat too much cafeteria food? Or wear dirty clothes every day? Or talk back to your mother? Use a lesson on humorous poems as a way for students to practice silly rhymes as fictional epitaphs.

You've got your topic—now how do you make your poem funny? Explore ways to make a poem humorous, including puns, exaggeration, silly words, and surprising endings, with a helpful poetry lesson.

Funny poems don't have to rhyme—but it helps! Learn how to use rhyming words to add humor to funny, clever, or just plain silly poems.

Always try to make an excellent first impression. As scholars begin to write their argumentative essays, they learn the importance of a good introduction. Writers also begin to add in-text citations to their papers. After reading a model...

Put a silly spin on making amends with an apology poem. Budding poets think of a time they were made to apologize although they didn't mean it. They then turn their experience into a poem that offers details and ends with an explanation...

Define and understand what stereotypes are by reading an article with stereotyping in it. Young scholars will locate how it shows stereotyping and answer questions about the stereotypes. Finally, they will write their own pieces of...

Students create a holiday card using computer software.  In this computer card making lesson, students design an original holiday card using a variety of tools.  Students navigate the software utilizing various tools.

In this reading comprehension instructional activity, students respond to 9 short answer and essay questions based on Lewis Carroll's Alice’s Adventures Through the Looking Glass.

Humor can often be found in everyday life. Young analysts critically examine a sculpture and apply what they discuss to their own life experiences. They perform skits of daily activities, such as brushing their teeth. Next, they make a...

Does Mark Twain’s satire become sarcasm and does he cross the line of propriety in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? As an introduction of satire, class members view an excerpt from The Daily Show and discuss Stewart's use of this...

Encourage more pun-derstanding of word play in your literary scholars as they explore Brian P. Cleary's book Rhyme and Punishment: Adventures in Wordplay. Although this isn't suggested, consider beginning this study by simply showing...

Bring the fun and whimsy of Beverly Cleary into your classroom with a teaching guide created to accompany the Ramona series. The guide offers several ideas for classroom use, including independent reading, reading aloud, and literature...

There may be some little lambs, itsy bitsy spiders, and pumpkin eaters in your language arts class! An online poetry lesson takes learners through the steps of writing a nursery rhyme with easy-to-follow steps and explanatory examples.

Poetry is all about sound and rhythm. The sound of the words, the rhythm of the lines, and the emotional atmosphere created by these elements and the literary devices poets use, compress whole stories into a few stanzas. The specialized...

"I'd like to thank the members of the academy . . ." Kids craft an acceptance speech in which they identify what the award is for, their qualifications, and how they feel about being the recipient.

Have hearty humor with a handy, helpful handout! Kids work on their alliteration skills with a figurative language worksheet that focuses on alliterative adjectives and phrases. After kids add nouns to ten adjectives, they create five...

"Life is like a box of chocolates. . ." "Barack is a Mac, Hillary is a PC." Literal and figurative analogies are featured in a presentation that models how to use analogies to bolster arguments.

From dragons to dwarves, from riddles to rings, the great adventure story of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien has captivated generations of readers of all ages. An educator's guide explores the novel's literary elements,...

To underscore the importance of being informed consumers, kids check out youth consumer magazines and websites and then create their own. Although no detailed plans are included in the resource, it is packed with ideas and suggestions.

Standing up for beliefs sometimes leads to trouble! The father in Flush takes knows this all too well when he sinks a boat in protest to its illegal dumping. With his dad behind bars, the son, Noah, takes matters into his hands by...

Scholars take part in two exercises to boost their knowledge of personification. After reading a detailed description and excerpts from famous poems, writers list action verbs and objects then combine words to create a humorous...