Language learners use the debate format to practice formulating, expressing, and defending their ideas. Working in teams, class members develop resolutions, use opinion indicators to express their opinions and reasons, and prepare...

“We alone regard a man who takes no interest in public affairs, not as a harmless but as a useless character.” Pericles’ comment, part of a funeral speech, sets the tone for a unit study of Ancient Greece. A series of activities...

Animals oftentimes elicit various characteristics which make them symbolic or representative of human feeling, action, or emotion. The class creates horse characters out of clay to show character action and symbolism. This is a great...

Spice up your writing! Your amateur writers will benefit from concentrating on understanding and improving verb use in writing. An introductory activity addresses weak verbs. A second exercise helps them see the importance of strong...

Are you teaching the comma rules in your classroom? This resource packet covers several comma rules, gives examples of each, and provides short practice opportunities for your learners. Answers are not included. 

For this idioms worksheet, students examine 7 pictures and read the first half of sentences about them. students read the 4 choices of common idioms and select the one that best completes the sentence. Example: Before exams students...

What is the "Faurisson Affair”? What is “Holocaust Revisionism”? What does freedom of speech entail? Do revisionists have a right to voice their ideas? Such questions are at the heart of a richly detailed, thought provoking activity...

Why is it important to use precise language? Participants explore this question in the fourth activity in a series of 15 on effective instruction. Perfect for all content areas, the activity promotes appropriate language choice through...

Young scholars translate and define idioms between English and Spanish.  In this ageless idioms lesson, students discuss elements of expression and how a language's vernacular does not always make sense.  Young scholars...

Sixth graders research railroad idioms.  In this idiom lesson, 6th graders read through a glossary of different railroad idioms and their meanings. They illustrate a chosen idiom.

What are some of life's most tried-and-true lessons? Pupils listen to examples from the book Live and Learn and Pass It On by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. They write down their own life lessons to later compile in a class booklet. As...

Everyone wants to feel like they belong. James, in James and the Giant Peach, finds a feeling of belonging in a very odd place—inside a peach! Scholars read the story of James and the Peach and work through vocabulary, language, and...

Beauty is more than skin deep. Auggie, the main character in Wonder, has a facial defect, but his inner beauty shines. Taking a cue from Auggie, scholars learn how a person is more than outer appearance. To finish the resource, they...

A poem is compressed speech, like a can of frozen juice with all the water pressed out. An interactive teaches users how to reconstitute the language, the structure, and the literary devices to appreciate all the subtleties the poet...

"Timid, scared, terrified." High school scholars examine words, their denotations and connotations, in a series of exercises that use lines from Shakespeare to explore figurative language and word relationships. Participants then...

In this ESL picture to idiom matching worksheet, students examine 7 small clip art images before matching them to the idioms they best represent. They work with idioms such as "blood is thicker than water," and "as you make your bed, so...

Students explore the use of common idioms and deduce the correct meanings of idioms.

In this idioms worksheet, students choose the answer that is closest in meaning according to the preceding conversation. All of the sentences include different idioms and slang.

Pupils research why people wear hats, caps or bonnets. They investigate various occupations, world costumes, sports, or idioms around hats. Students become more aware of cultures different from their own within this lesson.

In this ESL complete the idiom worksheet, students fill in the endings to common idioms. They see a small, colorful clip art picture that shows the meaning of the idiom before they complete the sentence.

Now that your class has read all of Esperanza Rising, take the time to tackle big metaphors and themes. Pupils will participate in an activity called Chalk Talk, in which they circulate around the room in small groups and add...

They say when you are told something enough times, you eventually begin to believe it's true. Sadly, Max in Freak The Mighty believed he was stupid and dumb, so he learned to be alone. That changed when he met another outcast, Freak....

Sixth graders write descriptive narratives about animals. For this descriptive writing lesson, the teacher models how to write a paragraph with interesting sensory words and exciting verbs. Students choose a picture of an animal they...

Third graders read and discuss the poem, "April Rain Song" by Langston Hughes. After brainstorming examples of vivid verbs, figures of speech, language patterns, and imagery used in the poem, 3rd graders write a poem on a topic of...