Curated OER
Lesson Plan: Communicating With Body Language
The Olmec were an ancient people native to Mexico who lived from 1000-500 BC. Young artists examine the Olmec piece Seated Figure to analyze the use of body language to communicate a tone or feeling. They then use clay or play-dough to...
Curated OER
Using Por and Para
Clear up confusion around por and para. These words can be very difficult, especially for learners who are native English speakers. The information section describes when to use each word and provides examples of specific situations....
Curated OER
Borrowing Narrative Skills from Mr. Fletcher: Using a "Prompts in Reverse" Technique to Inspire Your Writers
Help your class find their writing voices with this instructional activity which uses the work of Ralph Fletcher to guide a "Prompt in Reverse" activity. Using the chapter "First Pen" from Fletcher's Marshfield Dreams, learners decipher...
Achieve3000
Figurative Language
Similes and metaphors make writing more beautiful and detailed, but can be a little harder to decipher during a first reading. Use a passage from The Man Who Loved Words to show young readers how to think through passages that contain...
K12 Reader
Using Similes
Your class will find using similes as easy as pie after completing this figurative language exercise. Provided with a list of incomplete similes, young writers must use their creativity to fill in the blanks with nouns that accurately...
Curated OER
Using Figurative Language
Adding details and figurative language makes any story more fun to read! After reading two versions of the same story, one devoid of figurative language and one embellished, young writers are asked to add alliteration, hyperbole,...
University of North Carolina
Gender-Inclusive Language
In the past, if writers weren't sure of a person's gender, they simply used masculine pronouns. Today, however, as a handout on gender-inclusive language explains, writers must choose pronouns carefully. To promote the use of gender...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Give It All You’ve Got!: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 2)
Go beyond the textbook to gain a better appreciation for the English language. A series of ESL lessons help expand the concepts found in Theme 2: Give It All You've Got. The second lesson in a three-part unit incorporates strategies such...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
One Land, Many Trails: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 5)
English is not the only subject that requires its own set of vocabulary words—geography does too! A series of language development lessons designed to be used with Theme 5: One Land, Many Trails helps introduce readers to key vocabulary...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
We Can Work It Out: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 7)
Listen, look, speak, and move are the routine steps of the English language development lessons found in a We Can Work It Out themed unit. Language proficiency is reinforced through picture cards, poems, and grand discussions about...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Incredible Stories: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 3)
English language learners get extra help understanding the language and concepts in a thematic unit on fantasy and realism from a 40-page packet filled with activities, exercises, and tips.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Friends Together: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 4)
Enjoy this thematic friendship unit compiled with ESL lessons to develop strong language development while listening, speaking, looking, and moving. Class members participate in activities covering topics like making friends, asking for...
PBS
Figurative Language and Foreshadowing in The Outsiders
S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders is still relatable to teenagers today, even though it was written more than 50 years ago. Explore how the figurative language of the story works to establish characterization, and how foreshadowing lays out...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Telling a Painting's Story
Use art museum paintings as inspiration for your class's creative writing works. Observing the paintings closely, middle and high schoolers list details and write descriptions. Their completed stories are displayed on bulletin boards...
Curated OER
Seeing the Image in Imagery: A Lesson Plan Using Film
In our increasingly visual society, it is often difficult for some readers to create a mental picture of a picture created only with words. An image-rich text like F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby can therefore, present a real...
Curated OER
Using Poetry As Inspiration for Composition
A reading of Robert Frost’s "The Road Not Taken" launches an interdisciplinary study of the connection between the meters of a poem and a melody. After identifying the number of beats in each line of the poem, young musicians use...
Curated OER
The Study of Theme and Figurative Language in Poetry and/or Prose
Identify and analyze the use of figurative language used in select pieces of writing. These pieces of literature will represent at least two pieces by one writer and at least two pieces by different writers. This instructional activity...
Curated OER
Daily Academic Language Development
Five minute mini-lessons designed to expose learners to high-frequency academic language.
K12 Reader
Figurative Language: Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Bells”
Bells, bells, bells abound in a worksheet designed for Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem "The Bells." Middle schoolers are asked to identify the various poetic devices Poe employs.
New York State Education Department
English Language Arts Examination: January 2018
Excerpts from classic novels make great material for standardized tests. A sample English language arts examination, part of a larger set of assessments, mixes excerpts from classic novels and more modern texts. The test includes three...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Around Town: Neighborhood and Community: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 3)
Here is a unit designed to support English language development. Scholars speak, move, and write to learn more about topics that focus on community and local concepts. The series of lessons aids to reinforce concepts including consonant...
National Constitution Center
AP English Language—Precision of Language
Say what you mean and mean what you say. The Precision of Language addresses the importance of words, especially when they concern a person's rights. Scholars take a look at many different examples and complete questions analyzing the...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment: Developing the Narrator’s Point of View, Figurative Language, and Connecting Passages across the Novel Dragonwings
Let's get creative! As part of a mid-unit assessment, scholars create a piece of artwork illustrating the theme from Laurence Yep's novel, Dragonwings. Additionally, pupils use a graphic organizer to identify figurative language in the...
EngageNY
Analyzing Point of View and Figurative Language: Noah’s Point of View of Lice Peeking
Read along with me. Two learners read the parts of Noah and Lice in Flush as the rest of the class follows along. Readers look for unfamiliar words and the use of figurative language in the text. They complete graphic organizers and...