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...

What is on your pupils' "Bucket Lists" - the list of things they want to do before they die? Their choices of activities for this list could be very revealing, and is a great source of inspiration for a personal poem. The instructional...

Combine participial phrases and creative writing with this lesson, which is equally helpful for writing skills and conventions. After a mini-lesson on participial phrases and reading the picture book Dancing in the Wings, pupils use a...

A brief passage about the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo is accompanied by an array of language activities for ELD: cloze exercise, phrase matching, word jumble, multiple choice, sequencing, interview, group presentation, fluency writing,...

An overview of the history and tradition of Ash Wednesday in 2 paragraphs is accompanied by an array of language activities: cloze exercise, phrase matching, word jumble, multiple choice, sequencing, interview, group presentation,...

If your rockin' writers use Six-Trait Writing, you'll definitely want to include these displays around your classroom throughout the year. Each trait (e.g. voice, word choice, organization, ideas, sentence fluency, conventions) is...

Students are able to identify, create, and evaluate three kinds of sentences: simple, compound, and complex. They are able identify the purpose of various sentence types: declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory, and...

Students practice connecting words into phrases. They use the Declaration of Independence to help them connect phrases.

Students get in the habit of writing. They gain confidence in their ability to write and their development as a writer (padding a portfolio). They demystify the MN Basic Standards Writing Test.

Build vocabulary, fluency and confidence in your French speakers by having them participate in some of these engaging activities. Several suggestions are given, but you will have to design the actual lesson yourself.

Vamos a escribir! Your older learners will love writing a children's book for learners at the elementary level. The resource suggests having small groups write their stories and create PowerPoint slides with illustrations, but this can...

Foster reader confidence when encountering complex text and reinforce the skills readers have acquired to build and extend their understanding of text. The plan uses a section of Douglass’ narrative as an exemplar text. Directions for...

What are the elements of a personal narrative? Get your class talking by reading "The Necklace" and "A Dangerous Game." The lesson plan focuses primarily on defining certain vocabulary terms (like context clues, plot, conflict, climax,...

Build oral fluency by providing your Spanish speakers with this indirect object pronoun worksheet. There are sixteen questions that require the learner to use the correct indirect object pronoun to complete the sentence. After your class...

Incorporate technological fluency with a search for examples of active and passive voice in online resources. Discuss how use of active or passive voice influences mood or tone and contributes to author's purpose. List of...

Develop spoken fluency, persuasive speaking skills, and confidence by having your class practice their public speaking skills. They compose and deliver persuasive speeches as they participate in five different speech tasks. A...

Useful in an Of Mice and Men unit, or in a unit that focuses on descriptive writing, this lesson prompts young authors to impersonate John Steinbeck's writing style in the opening passages of the novel. A Six Trait writing activity...

“We the people . . .” Thus begins the Preamble to the Constitution. Using a close reading approach, class members examine an excerpt from Linda Monk’s article that traces how the interpretation of these words has evolved. Some of your...

Take a trip to Costa Rica with th popular song "Ella y Él" by Ricardo Arjona. After listening to the song (and possibly reading the lyrics) the class discusses the general message of the song, the political nature, and other US bands...

Circle games, energetic games, calming games, exit games. Whether used as ice breakers, warm ups, or exit strategies, or used in drama classes or content areas, the 28 games detailed in this packet deserve a spot in your curriculum...

 The narrative works of Frederick Douglass engage learners in the topic of slavery. They will experience American history in a new way, a Douglass expresses his thoughts in his own words. Pupils then interpret this literary...

Here is a strategy for groups to contribute to whole class vocabulary development. Teams (based on seating rows) work together to look up dictionary definitions of words from upcoming sections of the book (though previous sections seem...

In this online interactive English vocabulary skills worksheet, learners answer 10 matching questions which require them to fill in the blanks in 10 sentences. Students may submit their answers to be scored.

Students are able to revise their own essays for greater clarity and fluency, adding explanation where needed and cutting extraneous information where appropriate. They are able to compose an academic essay with a complete introduction,...