Curated OER
Language Arts, Word Choice
Third graders practice replacing words in a sentence to make it more interesting. In this word choice instructional activity, 3rd graders listen to the story The Hard-Times Jar by Ethel Smothers and discuss the author's word choice....
Curated OER
Varied Word Choice
Fifth graders examine how to use a variety of word choices when writing. They discuss how using more descriptive words leads to a more varied word choice, watch a teacher-created PowerPoint presentation, and using a Thesaurus replace...
Curated OER
Dead Word Wall Kills Overused Words
Have your class attend a funeral for the words they overuse in their writing. They develop a list of alternate words for those overused words, and make an effort to employ alternatives whenever possible. This is a great way to improve...
Curated OER
A Hurricane Blowing In
Students write a scene. In this creative writing instructional activity, students read The Lightning Thief and discuss the sentence fluency and word choice in the writing. Students complete a writing assignment where they create an...
Curated OER
Using Word Referents
Students edit an existing piece of writing focusing of improving word choice. They create lists of words that can be used in place of the main topic and rewrite the piece using the new vocabulary.
Curated OER
Using a Dictionary
What can we find in a dictionary? Your scholars may be surprised to hear that it's more than just definitions. They explore this resource by finding word meanings, uses, and origins in this vocabulary worksheet. Learners look up five...
Curated OER
Word Roots 7: SPECT, STA, VERT Intermediate Synonym or Antonym Word Puzzle
Use word roots to help your class develop vocabulary acquisition skills. This particular resource focuses on the word roots SPECT, STA, and VERT. Leaners choose an antonym and a synonym from a word bank for each of 6 given words, keeping...
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...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1: Unit 3, Lesson 14
After watching the scene from Romeo + Juliet in which Juliet argues with her parents because she does not want to marry Paris, groups do a close reading of Act 4, scene 1, lines 44-88, examining the word choices in the conversation...
Curated OER
Propaganda
How does word choice affect the reading of a text? Compare two headlines that were written about the same event. Is one biased? Discuss how word choice often reveals the author's feelings about a topic. Then look at different techniques...
K12 Reader
Christmas Tree Add an Adjective
The star on the top of a Christmas tree can be beautiful, or it can be gold, or it can be shiny—or, in fact, it can be all three! A picture of a decorated Christmas tree encourages pupils to choose from a list of 18 adjectives to...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 13
Finish Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" with an instructional activity focusing on the story's conclusion. After participating in literary analysis discussions with small groups, ninth graders complete a Quick...
Curated OER
Goldie Girl and There, Their, and They're: Homophones and Homographs
Instruct your class on homonyms and homophones. Learners take a pre-test and examine a list of homophones. They also play online word games to practice spelling and usage and write a fairy tale in which they use at least 10 homophones....
K12 Reader
Adding Alliteration to Poetry
Alliteration can make the language of a poem flow. Add adjectives to several blanks in two poems to form alliterative phrases.
Curated OER
Defending Great Literature
Young scholars defend Mark Twain and the study of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn using persuasive techniques, appropriate word choice, and correct letter format, in response to a fictional letter by an upset parent.
Curated OER
Tips for Improving Transition
Vary, bury, pull, fit. These tips for improving transitions in writing are found on a template designed as a teacher resource. A clever way to make memorable these suggestions for improving transitions in writing, the language in the...
Curated OER
More Choices
Fourth graders create onomatopoeia for a variety of things such as a mean dog, a crying baby or a doorbell ringing after exploring word choice as used by authors in selected books. They complete a Word Choice worksheet that is attached.
Curated OER
Quick Writes
Students write on a variety of topics, maximize creative and expository writing skills, develop focused writing, organize ideas, incorporate detail in writing, and exhibit varied and precise word choice.
Curated OER
Introduction to the Visual Thesaurus
Students examine the basic functions of the online Visual Thesaurus, exploring how simple words may sometimes have multiple meanings. In small groups they select words and explore the Visual Thesaurus, and write a short play using the...
PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: Learning About Opioids
Feeling high is not the only side effect of abusing prescription opioids. Middle and high schoolers learn more about specific painkillers, including Fentanyl, Oxycodone, and Clonazepam, as well as their common brand names and extensive...
Curated OER
The Problem with Prejudice
Third graders read and discuss "The Hangman" by Maurice Ogden and answer questions about the poem. They list things they can do to combat prejudice using each of the letters in the word and create a small poster with a slogan against...
Curated OER
Portfolio Autobiographies
Third graders create an autobiography on the computer. They write, design and illustrate using word processing and graphic tools on the computer.
Curated OER
Editing
Are your writers ready to edit their papers? Present them with these editing tips including reading papers out loud, varying sentence openings and lengths, and using action verbs. While the tips are worthwhile, consider supplementing the...
Curated OER
The 3 R's of Common Denominators (Language)
Students solve various word problems that deal with common denominators, and write the mathematical explanations they used to obtain the solutions.