Curated OER
Fall Similes
Fall is like a beautiful painting come to life—or is it more like an overflowing cornucopia? Practice writing similes with a lesson on figurative language. As learners review simile structure, they come up with their favorite similes for...
K12 Reader
Writing Valentine Poetry
The rose is red, the violet is...what comes next? Write a beautiful Valentine's Day poem based on the rhyme scheme and format of "The Valentine" by Joseph Ritson.
K12 Reader
Adventures with Alliteration! - Nouns
Create poetry with a instructional activity based on alliterative phrases. After reviewing ten nouns, kids add an adjective to each based on the first letter of the noun. They then rewrite five sentences to involve more alliteration.
Florida Center for Reading Research
Vocabulary: Morphemic Elements, Meaningful Affixes
Invite learners to determine which affix and base word combinations create new words. This activity allows pupils to play around and create words that match specific meanings.
EngageNY
Deepening Your Research
Give credit where credit is deserved. Scholars discuss what makes a credible source as they take a look at "An Apparel Factory Defies Sweatshop Label, but Can It Thrive?" Learners read the article to look for answers to the research...
ReadWriteThink
Alliteration All Around
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,...
ReadWriteThink
Scaffolding Methods for Research Paper Writing
Rome wasn't built in a day, but researchers can be with proper scaffolding. This writing unit has scholars write a research paper through scaffolding of various parts of the process. Learners begin with identifying a topic and crafting a...
Novelinks
Words by Heart: Guided Imagery
Sad, depressed, miserable, inconsolable, forlorn: so many synonyms have a lot of variety with their connotations. Through the guided imagery activity, writers explore the use of connotation and its influence on imagery and description by...
Fluence Learning
Writing an Argument: Is Electronic Communication Helpful or Harmful?
Technology has undoubtedly improved the lives of people around the world—but has it improved communication? Seventh graders read two informative passages about the rise of texting and emailing versus in-person conversations before...
Novelinks
Walk Two Moons: Story Impressions
Story chains connect literary concepts, reinforce context clues, and even help learners predict what's coming next! Using words from the next chapter of Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons, middle schoolers craft story chains to...
ELT-Connect
Happy Valentine's Day
Shelves filled with heart-shaped boxes of chocolates. Bouquets of red roses. Racks of romantic cards. Stores are preparing for Valentine's Day. Has the holiday become too commercialized? That is the question asked by a lesson designed...
Read Theory
Analogies 2 (Level 7)
Determining the relationships between words is the purpose of this analogy worksheet. Learners puzzle through 10 different analogies by using bridge sentences and types to determine which pairs of words share the same relationships.
Reed Novel Studies
The Summer of Riley: Novel Study
The Labrador retriever is America's most popular dog breed. With the novel study for The Summer of Riley by Eve Bunting, scholars learn more about the sweet, lovable animal. Additionally, they write quatrain poems, explore foreshadowing...
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
The Writer’s Toolbox: What You Need to Master the Craft
Strengthen your high schoolers' writing with a series of steps for writing successfully. With sections on organizing an essay, choosing a topic, crafting a thesis statement, and revising a draft, the lesson encourages your class to...
Curated OER
The Sound of…Poetry!
Scritch, scratch, scritch. It's the sound of pupils writing poetry! Focus on sensory language and onomatopoeia with a writing lesson. After listening to some sounds, learners examine a couple of poems that include sound words and then...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Songwriting Skill - Finding Your Voice: The Academy Is - “About A Girl”
The seventh in a series of nine exercises focusing on songwriting models for young lyricists on how to find and develop their unique voice. Class members suggest songs that they feel sound authentic and contrast the wording with songs...
Curated OER
The Pearl: Found Poem
It's hard to beat the beauty of John Steinbeck's prose, so borrow a little of it to form your own found poetry. After kids finish Chapter One of The Pearl, they select the most evocative and vivid words to create found poems.
Incentive Publications
Building Proofreading Skills
Designed to build proofreading skills in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and language usage, as well as proofreading for clarity, transition, and order, this workbook is packed with activities for all kinds of writing.
Busy Teacher
The Phantom of the Opera
It's no masquerade! If Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera is part of your curriculum, check out this three-page packet loaded with suggestions for before, during, and after reading activities.
Poetry4kids
How to Write a “Roses are Red” Valentine’s Day Poem
Compose a Valentine's Day poem! Practicing their rhyming skills, scholars follow the traditional format to create a happy poem for a friend or family member.
Read Theory
Analogies 1 (Level 6)
Get your middle schoolers up to scratch with analogies using this activity. Pupils complete 10 analogies by determining the associations between the words and using the provided bridge sentences.
Read Theory
Analogies 2 (Level 6)
Activate analogy skills with a straightforward exercise. Learners complete 10 analogies, using the bridge sentences provided as support while they determine word relationships.
Read Theory
Analogies 3 (Level 6)
Positive and negative may be opposites, but what does that have to do with the words clean and filthy? Ask your pupils to consider word relationships as they complete the 10 analogies presented here. Note that the exercise gradually...
Read Theory
Analogies 3 (Level 7)
Master word analogies with a straightforward exercise. Pupils match word pairs to one another based on the relationships represented in each pair. The worksheet provides bridge sentences that learners fill out as they determine the...