Sometimes the best way to understand a concept is to break it down. Young vocabulary pupils work with word parts in a hands-on activity that prompts them to connect flash cards with affixes to their root and base words....

Break out the slide whistles, triangles, and tambourines. It's time for a punctuation lesson. This richly detailed plan is loaded with ideas and activities for using rhythm instruments to accent the punctuation in folk tales. A...

Students examine the history of the Olympics and their athletes. In this interviewing skills lesson, students role play the parts of reporters and athletes as they conduct interviews based on research of the Olympic games and athletes.

Play a classroom version of the classic game show Jeopardy, to review and discuss the novel your class has been reading. Questions about plot and other story elements are written on cards and given point values. Divide the class into...

Learners create a word tree poster that illustrates the way a root word can serve as the basis for many related terms. Although designed for a Latin language class, the concepts here could be used with any class study of Latin or Greek...

Games are great ways to motivate. The class is split into two teams; each team earns points by correctly spelling given words. To score bonus points, teams get to shoot baskets with a small ball. Tip: This game could be used to reinforce...

Students correct, explain, and recognize grammatical mistakes. They complete worksheets, and play a Grammar Casino game. Students check sentences for correctness and discuss what is right or wrong about each sentence. Students justify...

Foreign language learners work in pairs to translate the daily routine of celebrities or everyday people, presented in daily planner format, into English. They then illustrate and record their own daily routines in storyboard (film...

In this journal writing worksheet, students brainstorm about violence they have seen on TV and in video games. Students write about the harmful effects this violence can have on society.

Students discover the history and rules to the classic board game, Scrabble.  In this spelling lesson, students complete a KWL chart on Scrabble and present their findings in an oral report.  Students work in pairs to reenact...

A great way to gain proficiency when learning a new language is to prepare an oral presentation.  In this foreign language lesson plan, pairs collaborate to develop a Time Capsule which they present to their class using their target...

As a prequel to a research assignment, class members explore writing citations in the modern Language Association (MLA) and American Psychological Association (APA) formats. In pairs, or individually, researchers use books and magazines...

Students identify and describe what consequences are and how they affect others. Then they play the "Kids' Court" game as a class as outlined in the lesson. Students also identify how consequences and their actions are linked using their...

Students explore similarities and differences between people. In this diversity and literacy activity, students read Maniac McGee and consider character traits. Students play a game in which they locate classmates with similarities and...

Elementary schoolers explore writing conventions. First they play a ball toss game to practice spelling high frequency words. (A link to a 2nd grade list is attached.) The class works together to correct spelling, punctuation, and...

Bring this fun presentation about the first half of the alphabet to your beginning ESL class. Each slide features one letter, along with a word that starts with the letter and a picture. The slideshow could accompany a lesson about the...

It's time to identify these sentences as interrogative, exclamatory, or declarative based on their ending punctuation.

Sometimes the simplest ideas foster a lot of different skills. To boost social skills, group participation, identifying others by name, and dressing skills, learners play the hat game. They take turns wearing a hat while...

Bingo! Combine the thrill of bingo with Lois Lowry's The Giver in a fun vocabulary activity. Kids write selected vocabulary words from the novel onto a bingo chart, and then listen for the correct definitions in order to mark off...

One of these words is not like the other! Test grammarians' knowledge of synonyms and antonyms with an activity that challenges scholars to locate three synonyms, an antonym, and record their findings on a worksheet. 

Students love the opportunity of going to the library to jump into that one comfy chair in the whole room with a book, or be a lucky one to get to the computers before anyone else. But knowing how to locate books and other reference...

Is it do'nt or don't? How about doesn't or does'nt? A lesson on contractions helps learners identify, form, and use contractions. Components within the plan include direct instruction on decoding and encoding contractions, as well as...

Individually, letters have their own sounds, but when combined with other letters, those sounds completely change. Introduce letter combinations with a lesson that asks learners to search for combinations in familiar words and use oral...

A reading of What's The Big Idea, Ben Franklin? provides an opportunity for class members to practice paraphrasing, quoting, and citing sources. An exercise on how to avoid plagiarizing is also included.