Curated OER
Nurture Poetry
Students create a poetry book. In this poetry instructional activity, students write a cinquain poem, name poem, haiku, limerick, and preposition poem.
Curated OER
Dragonwings: Explore Chapters 1-5
If you are beginning Laurence Yep's Dragonwings, this will provide activities for the first five chapters. The objectives include making connections to oneself and the world, organizing information and events, vocabulary acquisition,...
Curated OER
Reinvigorate Your Vocabulary
Eighth graders participate in a variety of activities to examine the meanings and roots of word derivatives and the meanings of words. Using context clues, they determine the meanings of words omitted from a passage and complete a prefix...
Curated OER
Pre-Reading Preparation
Students research the English Renaissance era. In this research lesson, students complete this activity before reading the story The Prince and the Pauper to learn about the history. They pick topics and work in groups to research...
Curated OER
Affix This
Wait, what am I supposed to affix? Explore the concept of roots/affixes with your class. They use discussion questions to discover the meaning and usage of specific roots and affixes. They watch a video explaining Latin and Greek roots...
Curated OER
Fact and Opinion
Facts and opinions are clearly defined in this organized PowerPoint. Following the definitions are a few examples that students must identify as facts or opinions. Tip: After viewing this presentation, ask students to share some of their...
Curated OER
Invention (Prewriting)
Direct your class as they begin writing. Most slides contain questions that scholars can record and reference while they start the process of research and writing. Help learners get through writers' block, freewrite, and brainstorm to...
Curated OER
Glossaries
Explore text structure with a focus on the glossary feature in informational texts. Learners read a brief introduction before examining a glossary from a text about plants. They reference it while completing four comprehension questions....
Curated OER
Malapropisms
What's the difference between an allegory and an alligator? Fifth graders work with malapropisms to determine the meanings of words that sound alike. Five sentences challenge them to find the malapropism and change it to the correct...
Curated OER
Subtracting Suffixes
Take it off! Take what off? Take off the suffixes to create new words! Learners build vocabulary and spelling skills as they remove the suffixes from 20 different words. This activity can help learners begin to recognize roots, compound...
Curated OER
Word Game!
Early finishers beware! Here is a fun word game creative thinkers will really enjoy. They attempt to make as many words as they can using the word transport. Strict rules make this task a real challenge. Tip: Also great to use in a fun...
Curated OER
Man's Search for Meaning: Vocabulary Strategy
Readers of Man's Search for Meaning use context clues, create stories using words from the text, and retype these stories as part of their vocabulary study of Viktor Frankl's book.
Curated OER
Ordinary People: Desktop Teaching
Turn the pupil into the teacher to help your learners pick up and retain vocabulary from Ordinary People by Judith Guest. Each individual selects a word, studies it in depth, and then teaches their word to the rest of the class, one...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Vocabulary: Word Meaning, Word Clues
Young learners develop a deeper understanding of target vocabulary. In pairs, pupils independently complete a series of word clue cards, asking them to find information about key terms, including their definitions, synonyms, antonyms,...
One Pot Learning
Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Three annotated passages from Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay on "Nature" provide young philosophers a chance to improve their reading comprehension skills as they gain insight into Emerson's ideas.
British Council
Alphabet
Here's a packet filled with suggestions and activities for teaching the alphabet.
Novelinks
The Color of Water: Word Square Instructions
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...
Southern Poverty Law Center
Analyzing How Words Communicate Bias
Words are powerful ... can your class choose them wisely? Scholars evaluate news articles to discover the concepts of tone, charge, and bias during a media literacy lesson. The resource focuses on recognizing implicit information and...
Poetry4kids
How to Write Funny Poetry — Chapter 2: How to Rhyme
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.
Curated OER
Pet Guess Who
Est-ce que ton animal grand ou petit? Pair up your beginning French speakers for a game of Pet Guess Who! Using pet advertisements from newspapers or the Internet, pairs try to guess what kind of animal their partner has. Also, use the...
Curated OER
Thesaurus Power
Give your class the advantage of Thesaurus Power! They will use a thesaurus to understand word meanings and relationships. They focus on how a thesaurus functions and how it gives the entry word, definition, synonyms, antonyms, and part...
Curated OER
Family Album
Kids of all ages discover their family histories through pictures. First, flip through the PowerPoint provided (or consider making one of your own). It should show pictures of your family and have clear, easy to understand sentences that...
Louisiana Department of Education
Gulliver’s Travels
Gulliver's Travels tells the story of a man who goes on voyages and encounters strange people. A unit plan introduces readers to the classic text, as well as excerpts from other examples of sarcasm and satire, such as "A Modest...
Curated OER
O Captain! My Captain - Part 3
Heroic Trading Cards? Using a suggested list, class members use the Internet to find information about a memorable leader, select and transfer images, and craft a trading card celebrating their leader’s qualities and accomplishments. A...