After reading "The King of Mazy May" by Jack London, learners reinforce their literary analysis skills in this SMART board lesson. The provided SMART board file allows themto define elements of a short story, and then add it to the plot...

With the songs "My Hometown" by Bruce Springsteen and "Allentown" by Billy Joel, learners examine external versus internal conflict. When they have finished the first part of the instructional activity, they create their own poem (or...

What items would you need to survive if you were stranded in a remote place? Using chapter 10 of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, middle-schoolers work through a Six Trait writing activity to create a story about their own survival in a similar...

Explore the paradox of the universe - or, at least, of popular music - with this lesson. Using the songs "Inaudible Melodies" by Jack Johnson and "She" by Green Day, your class will complete a graphic organizer to help them understand...

Are you looking for a way to bring writing into your history lesson - or history into your writing lesson? This cross-curricular activity is helpful and fun, no matter what class you're teaching! Using "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by the...

Do research projects at your school look like a class of eighth graders staring at a blank screen? Use the Big 6 research method to guide middle schoolers through the process of finding a topic, searching for and evaluating sources,...

Build the writing skills of your junior high wordsmiths with activities that introduce many essential skills of writing.  As a class, they develop working definitions of formal vs. informal writing, explore different categories of...

Have everything you need to know about the elements of poetry with a nine-page handout. Split into four categories—word sounds, meanings, arrangement, and imagery—budding poets may reference terms, read definitions, descriptions, and...

Thirty pages of grammar activities? Your young grammarians will be well versed in the parts of speech, basic verb tenses, and much more after completing even a handful of these exercises. 

When should you use "fewer" instead of "less?" Reinforce this grammatical nuance in your class with this handy reference sheet. A short explanation guides students through the process of choosing one word over the other, and a series of...

After a review of what suffixes are and how they are used, middle schoolers utilize a worksheet that is embedded in the plan to work in pairs to strengthen their understanding and skills in using these very important parts of our...

A delightful lesson on poetry is here for you and your middle schoolers. Learners are instructed to write a Halloween poem. They get to choose the age range for the audience of the poem. So, it may be scary (for older kids), or humorous...

Poetry is everywhere you look! Create found poems using headlines from newspapers and magazines. Young poetry focus on creating alliterative phrases with words they find in headlines, tying their poems to a central theme.

Analyze various excerpts from Hamlet and read articles to develop an argument about his sanity. Middle and high schoolers write an argument essay defending whether or not they believe Hamlet is insane. You could modify this assignment...

Go over the basics of restrictive and non-restrictive clauses with this grammar worksheet. After reviewing the concepts, as well as the definitions of parentheticals and appositives, young learners label ten sentences as restrictive or...

Eliminate run-on sentences! This practice opportunity highlights run-on sentence errors and how to fix them. Examples are shown, and learners are given two options: using semi-colons or commas and coordinating conjunctions. Help polish...

Motivate your class with this interesting presentation. As a way to explore persuasive writing, learners discuss the information found in a series of slides with advertisements. They identify the persuasive language found in each picture...

Could have, should have, would have learned your auxiliary verbs! Use this resource to describe the meaning of each set of words, and then let your kids try to complete the given sentences. Since most people don't actually take the time...

Should you use which or that when using a restrictive clause? What about a non-restrictive clause? Young writers practice their grammar skills with this resource, which provides a straightforward guide to which vs. that, as well as ten...

Need a prereading activity in line with the Common Core Standards for Language? Although designed for grades 11 and 12, the procedure detailed in this resource could be used with most grade levels. Prior to reading, select 20 – 25 words...

Middle schoolers engage in a lesson plan which reminds them that root words indicate the base meaning of a word, and that those roots are found in many different words that have similar meanings. Pairs of pupils use construction paper...

The opportunities are endless with a worksheet containing 24 biographical narrative writing prompts. Although there are no directions or specifications for the writing process, the prompts promote the use of narrative writing...

Learners are presented with three paragraphs with missing articles. Students must supply the correct article using "a," "an," or "the."

Review the rule "i before e except after c, or when it sounds like 'ay' as in neighbor and weigh" with your class and then set your learners to practice with this basic exercise. They fill in blank spaces with either ie or ei in 25...