Institute for the Professional Development of Adult Educators
Using Context Clues with Signal Words
When you come across an unfamiliar word in a text, do you skip it and move on? Practice using context clues to identify words you don't know with a thorough set of language arts lessons. The resource reinforces close reading and critical...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Vocabulary Activity
Talk about a menu! Who would have thought SAT prep could be so delicious? Treat your class to a full course of SAT words with a timed activity that asks groups to create clues for dishes on their bill of fare. Distained veggies anyone?...
Curated OER
"Snapshot" Exercises & Sensory Detail Word Bank
Read a sample of creative descriptive writing to your science class. Discuss how writing can be used to record and communicate observations that scientists make. Reading selections and thought-provoking questions are suggested. Also...
Curated OER
Using Descriptive Language
Students examine the use of adjectives in a product review, then write their own descriptive review. In this writing and word usage lesson, students first analyze the choice of adjectives in a New York Times article about the iPhone,...
Nosapo
Writing about a Meal
You don't need to be a food critic to describe your meal accurately! A series of activities introduce learners to vivid adjectives when writing about the taste, smell, and feel of food. After working with word choice, parts of a...
Curated OER
I See and I Think (It's A Wonderful World)
Students analyze song lyrics (by listening to the song) to pick-out descriptive vocabulary. They use this descriptive vocabulary to create a drawing of the images they "see" in the song. They compare their drawings to find similarities...
Curated OER
1984 by George Orwell
Readers of Nineteen Eighty-Four engage in a close reading exercise that directs their focus to the key details Orwell provides in the opening paragraphs to introduce his dystopian society. The included worksheeet is divided into three...
Curated OER
Words That Hold Court
Students recognize the importance of the Supreme Court. In this legal terminology lesson, students define a list of words to understand the Supreme Court and the language used in cases. Students revise a case summary.
Blogger
Frayer Model
When learning new vocabulary, it is helpful for many learners to have a graphic organizer. With the Frayer model, the vocabulary word is placed in the center, then surrounded by a definition, facts or a description, examples, and...
Curated OER
Word Scramble on The Hobbit
Students complete a word scramble activity for vocabulary from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. In this word scramble lesson plan, students unscramble the letters from the novel to form the name of the character or his habitat. Students...
Curated OER
Vocabulary / Writing Strategies
Students will increase spelling and vocabulary skills. Then they will develop critical thinking skills. Next, they will develop expository writing skills. Finally, students will practice language skills with non-traditional text: a...
Curated OER
BBC Learning English, Vocabulary (People)
In this vocabulary activity, students match terms for people with the corresponding definition. The terms are found in multiple sections of the Working Abroad series from the BBC web site.
Curated OER
Adjective? What's an Adjective?
Mount a variety of pictures (fantasy, rustic, portraits, action) on large sheets of paper and post them around the classroom. Groups rotate from poster to poster, adding adjectives to describe each of the pictures. Writers use these word...
Curated OER
Perfecting My Pal's Poe Paragraph
After analyzing the compelling first paragraph of Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Masque of the Red Death," high schoolers draft original opening paragraphs using techniques identified Poe's writing. The relationship between suspense...
Curated OER
Ways Twitter Makes You a Better Writer
Practice being concise. Exercise your vocabulary. Improve your editing skills. The contention in this lesson plan is that by imposing a 140 character limit, the Twitter format actually helps improve writing skills. And of course class...
Curated OER
Creating Characters
Students examine the methods of effective characterization. In this writing skills lesson, students discuss how emotions, dialogue, actions, and physical descriptions build believable characters. Students then use the methods of...
Curated OER
ESL Describing Things- Fill In the Table Worksheet
In this ESL describing items activity, students describe 8 items by their shape, color, and the material they are made of. They use a word bank at the bottom of the page to help with the descriptions. They describe items such as a...
Annenberg Foundation
Making an Issue-Based Video
Encourage class members to become engaged citizens by researching an issue they are passionate about and then producing a video to present to policymakers, the public, and their peers. Everything needed for the unit is contained in...
Curated OER
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Lesson Plan
Students practice their writing skills. In this writing perspective lesson, students review The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and consider the points of view of the main characters. Students write descriptions of a modern-day event and...
Curated OER
An American Ballad - Lesson 1
Learners listen to and analyze the ballad "American Pie." They utilize a worksheet imbedded in this plan. They circle the appropriate descriptive words of the song's medium form, melody, tempo and dynamics, and style.
Curated OER
World Trade Center Design Proposals
Young scholars explore architectural design. In this critical thinking and architecture lesson, students view a number of websites providing proposals for design plans of a new World Trade Center. Young scholars choose and evaluate...
Curated OER
News in Spanish
Students write stories, take photographs, and put together two newspapers-?Que Tal? in Spanish for Spanish I and II students and ?Para Ninos? in English for first through fourth graders.
Curated OER
"The Science Times"
Students create their own newspaper after gathering information at the Museum of Natural History's Hall of Biodiversity.
Curated OER
Minnesota-China Connections: Writing Prompts
Students write a short essay in response to a writing prompt related to a theme or issue raised within the Minnesota-China Connection Web site.