Scholastic
What’s the Good Word? Etymology Project Guidelines
Who named the shapes, or the days of the week? Should words be removed from the dictionary if they're no longer commonly used? Are there too many words in the English language? Language arts students explore these and additional...
Curated OER
Using Prefixes, Suffixes and Root Words to Improve College Level Vocabulary
Grow vocabulary skills with an understanding of affixes and word roots. Included here are a few activities and plenty of materials you can use to support your learners as the focus on building vocabulary.
Road to Grammar
Understanding the -ED Ending
English is a complex language, so take some time to clarify one aspect that is often confusing for English language learners: the -ed ending. This resource includes information about the different ways the -ed ending is used and provides...
Curated OER
Use Or Abuse?
Students explain the meaning of "use value" of nature's resources by researching and writing studenT books personifying an aspect of nature. They produce public service announcements regarding use value for their local community.
Curated OER
The Last Word: Using Critical Thinking and Analysis to Reach a Decision
Want to explore the process of writing a persuasive essay and tie it in with the upcoming elections? Class members use Venn diagrams and the hamburger model of persuasive writing to write a five-paragraph essay on elections and...
Curated OER
Unlikely Diary keepers Using Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
Put your class in the shoes of someone - or something - else with this lesson, which encourages writers to keep a diary from the perspective of a living creature or an abstraction. Use Doreen Cronin's Diary of a Worm and the Six Trait...
Curated OER
Self-Control Meters for Volume, Space and Levels of Formality
If your pupils have difficulty producing the appropriate voice volume in various settings or respecting personal space, refer to this "control-o-meter" device. This resource includes materials to create three meters for you to clearly...
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
From Ben’s Pen to Our Lives
What would Ben do? Jumping off from the pseudonymous letters Ben Franklin fooled his older brother into publishing when he was still a teenager, young literary lovers dive into acting, writing, and addressing a local issue with wit and...
Indian River State College
Comma Rules and Practice
Keep those commas in line by applying the rules! Pupils can use the first page here as a reference (it includes thirteen comma rules and examples for each) as they work through the two exercises provided for practicing proper punctuation.
Curated OER
Georgia CRCT Online: 8th Language Arts Quiz
Review word choice and grammar skills with this practice test for the Georgia Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT). Fifteen multiple-choice questions prompt eighth graders to recall writing strategies, grammar skills, and...
Polk Bros Foundation
Answer the BIG Question with Cited Examples and Evidence
Close up your unit of study with an examination of one of the guiding or essential questions as it relates to what your class has studied and other research. Class members first write down the question. Then they note down information...
University of North Carolina
Commas
Every time you pause while reading, you should insert a comma, right? Not necessarily. Using a comma to indicate a pause is just one of the myths addressed in a handout related to the pesky punctuation mark. After reviewing common...
University of North Carolina
Sentence Patterns
In an ideal world, sentences in a college-level essay should feature a variety of sentence types. In reality, most papers stick to simple and compound sentences, two of the types a handout on sentence patterns discusses. Part of a larger...
Trinity University
Explain Yourself: An Expository Writing Unit for High School
Introduce expository writing with a unit that asks writers to craft an essay to explain a belief, value, or priority that is important to them. Mini-lessons within the unit focus on crafting thesis statements and conclusions, selecting...
Curated OER
Informative Speech Assignment
Allow your pupils to take on the role of the instructor with an informative speech that covers a new topic related to your unit of study or new information on a subject your class has already studied. Pupils fill out the provided outline...
California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc
Poetic Devices
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...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 11: The Historical/Biographical Approach to Literature
How affected is Thinks Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe's personal biography? Using a four corners strategy, and evidence from their readings, class members debate the degree of biographical influence in Achebe's novel.
Scholastic
Persuasive Communication (Grades 9–12)
Before your students reached your morning class to learn about persuasive writing, they probably saw dozens of examples of persuasive communication in the form of advertisements. A short, introductory lesson inspires class members to...
Scholastic
Choose Your Words Wisely (Grades 9-12)
Words, words, words. The function of words in persuasive writing is the focus of a group activity that asks members to analyze how words advertisers use are designed to influence targeted audiences.
Curated OER
Covering the News
Students compare the coverage of two crime stories Using local or national newspapers, news magazines and other reference materials, each group trace the "unfolding" of two crime stories: The Laci Peterson investigation plus one students
Arts Midwest
The Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe: Biographical Criticism and the Speaker of a Poem
Author's are often influenced by events in their own lives as they write. Use Edgar Allan Poe's poems "Ulalume" and "Annabel Lee" to take a look at how the death of Poe's wife affected his poetry. Ask students to discuss and compare the...
Oakland Writes
Exploring Thematic Motifs in The House on Mango Street
Explore identity and community through an expository essay based on The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. This two-week unit on writing an essay provides a brief description of each day and all of the worksheets and materials you...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 6: Culture Clash
To prepare for a Quickwrite on the question, "How do different points of view create cultural conflicts?" class groups draw examples of religious, cultural, and political conflicts from Things Fall Apart and The Poisonwood Bible to use...
Curated OER
Grammar - Revise Your Symbols
Explore the different symbols of grammar. Middle schoolers write two sentences using different symbols, including asterisks, apostrophes, and ellipses. They also read and answer guided questions.