Words are interesting things—you can change them by adding or subtracting phonemes. Here, emergent readers change the pictures on their phoneme pie by removing or adding various final phonemes. A fun way to build phonetic competency!

Scholars practice blending syllables by playing a matching game. Pairs flip two cards and blend syllables; if they create a word, the player writes it on a worksheet; if not, the cards return to the collection.

Extend your lesson on Christopher Myers' H.O.R.S.E with a series of activities about basketball. After kids read the book, they match basketball terms with their definitions, find as many words as they can with the letters H, O, R,...

Endeavor. Qualm. Stolid. Fortitude. Filial. Bingo! As part of their study of Pearl Buck's The Good Earth, class members engage in a vocabulary bingo game.

"What did you do yesterday?" Language learners engage in carefully scaffolded activities that review past tense regular verbs, that introduce new vocabulary words, and that permit practice of using the past tense of...

How often do you ride a bike? Time frequency words are featured in a lesson designed for ESL/ELD classrooms. 

Go fishing for initial sounds with this engaging phoneme game! Similar to the card game Go Fish, pairs use picture cards and try to match initial sounds. They set aside any pictures that are a match and ask their partner for specific...

Sometimes the hardest thing about an argument essay writing assignment is coming up with a question. A four-page list of prompts includes a range of topics, from social media and smart phones to video games and sports. The list is a...

Early readers get together and match medial phonemes. They take turns picking picture cards from a pile; they say each word, then determine whether the pair has matching medial sounds.

Readers of The House of the Scorpion try to stump their teacher in a QAR questioning game. Pairs craft Right There, Think and Search, On Your Own, and the Author and You questions and the class members then take turns responding to...

Individuals match vocabulary words within a magic square, a concept that ties in nicely with math class. The words are all located in Zach's Lie and were specifically selected to increase comprehension of the text. Fifth in a series...

Is it do'nt or don't? How about doesn't or does'nt? A lesson on contractions helps learners identify, form, and use contractions. Components within the plan include direct instruction on decoding and encoding contractions, as well as...

Closed syllable words contain short vowel sounds. A phonics lessons introduces readers to consonant-vowel-consonant words. Guided instruction introduces the words with a series of dictation activities, and then learners practice reading...

Acrostic poems are perfect for any topic! A quick tutorial guides learners into writing acrostic poems with the basics and key examples.

John Knowles' A Separate Peace is the subject of a literary crossword puzzle that asks readers to identify key events and characters in this coming-of-age story.

Practice letter recognition using this fun alphabet game! Focusing on a suggested six target letters, this partner activity has learners saying and recognizing letter names as quickly as possible. Using a randomly chosen letter as the...

In pairs, pre-readers take turns holding up objects from a bag. As one child holds up an object, the other names it and says its initial letter sound. They work together to sort the objects into piles based on how they isolated and...

Try to match the final sounds in this memory game! Learners place all 24 cards upside down and take turns flipping them to see if the final phonemes match. If they do, remove them; if not, put them back. Partners play until all cards...

Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House introduced the novel idea that women are independent people, and that their first duty is truly to themselves. Review the important details of the dramatic play with a short crossword puzzle activity.

The world in Lois Lowry's The Giver is one without pain or suffering. Similiarly, your classroom review of the novel can be painless with a simple and straightforward crossword puzzle that covers characters, details, and setting...

If your class is getting ready to read the fantastic book, Ruby the Copycat, then you'll love this resource. It includes images and definitions for some of the robust vocabulary found throughout the story. Not only does each slide...

Run quickly. Walk slowly. Jump high. As part of their study of English parts of speech, language learners engage in a series of activities designed to introduce them to the descriptive power of adverbs.

Synonym dominoes, anyone? As part of the activities designed for kids who have mastered the basic concepts in the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt thematic unit That's Amazing! kids are offered a variety of activities that include...

Here's a metaphor activity that asks kids to identify the two things being compared and then to explain the similar characteristics that are being identified.