Use a Courbet painting of a cave or tunnel opening to reinforce the importance of descriptive writing. Writers of all ages use sensory details to describe what the scene depicts as they pretend to be in the painting. Then they imagine...

Kids practice using five types of context clues (definition, synonym, antonym, example, and general) to decode idiomatic language.

Put the fun back in reading fundamentals with an interactive set of lessons about homophones. Learners of all ages explore the relationships between words that sound the same but have different meanings, and complete a...

Bring this lesson into your unit about creative writing and precise language. First, middle schoolers create a piece of writing with the help of their classmates. In the second part of this workshop, they edit their own piece of writing....

Improve writing skills by finding a personal writing style, using descriptive language effectively, and using precise language. Middle schoolers discuss individual style in writing and formal and informal language. They utilize figures...

Readers decode and deconstruct political cartoons to heighten critical thinking, extra-textual literacy, and making meaning from symbolism and metaphor. A compatible activity to use in English class when your 8th or 11th graders are...

Does your class love The Simpsons? It might seem dated, but with reruns constantly popping up on television, this show still holds the attention of most of your learners. Play the opening sequence of an episode, and brainstorm any...

Talk about what you bought last weekend with plenty of activities centered around the theme of shopping. English language learners have the opportunity to listen, speak, write, and read over the course of these exercises. The resource...

Consisting of a thorough and straightforward list of poetry terminology, the first part of this presentation would be a good introduction to a poetry unit, or a review for an upcoming poetry project. The list of terms is quite extensive,...

Set your class up for success with writing descriptive settings with these two graphic organizers. On the first page, writers note specifc details about their chosen setting and comment on how each character views the setting. The second...

Thanksgiving is a cherished tradition in the United States and Canada. Introduce the beginnings of the Thanksgiving celebration with a resource that features reading comprehension activities, vocabulary exercises, and a short...

A Three Threes in a Row note catcher enables class members to dig deeper into the theme in Unbroken. They work with partners for 10 minutes and then rotate around the room to work with others. After regrouping and class discussion,...

What do Jeep advertisements and Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath have in common? They both employ the art of the extended metaphor! Using the Six-Trait Writing model, learners begin to work on their own extended metaphors. Development...

Break this presentation into two or three days so as not to overwhelm your kids. Fifty-four slides is a lot of slides, but the PowerShow is well-organized, and terms are defined clearly and illustrated in examples provided. A general...

Practice a, an, some, and any with a straightforward instructional activity. Kids fill in the blanks for 20 sentences, using context clues and their knowledge of each word.

Prepare for an interview project with a set of worksheets about asking questions and quoting people. After completing a grammar exercise about quotation marks, kids write out the questions they want to ask their interviewee, and record...

Vocabulary really adds up with magic squares! Using words from Shizuko's Daughter by Kyoko Mori, kids line up words and definitions to come up with the same sum across and down the square.

After processing notes from research or an interview, middle schoolers turn the information into a script or dialogue for narrative, persuasive, or expository text. Use this lesson in any writing unit to reinforce proper writing skills.

Bring a time machine into your classroom with this writing lesson, in which young writers project themselves back in time and have a variety of choices from that point forward. They either write a conversation with a historical figure,...

Middle schoolers use context clues to find the figurative meaning of similes and metaphors in writing. They practice using figurative language to help their writing come alive. Use this activity in a lesson about poetry, figurative...

One of the most famous and well-crafted speeches of all time, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, consists of rich metaphors and rhetorical language. Using a provided graphic organizer, students analyze five quotes...

Eight graphic organizers to choose from? That's right! Each of these organizers relates to writing or reading. From narrowing a writing topic, to responding to literature, to planning a writing project, you'll find many purposes for...

Open-ended and intriguing, a writing prompt about two people from history is sure to get your young scholars thinking. Have them choose two historical figures, and after brainstorming their similarities and differences, successes and...

Write about another time and place to live with an interesting writing prompt. It presents young writers with the challenge of choosing another time and place in the past and explaining what the advantages and disadvantages of that time...