Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
We Can Work It Out: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 7)
Listen, look, speak, and move are the routine steps of the English language development lessons found in a We Can Work It Out themed unit. Language proficiency is reinforced through picture cards, poems, and grand discussions about...
Western Illinois University
Activities for Supporting Oral Language Development
Support young scholars' oral language development with the use of four early childhood activities. To reinforce proficiency, pupils read with an adult, play a game of telephone with their peers, put on a play with puppets or stuffed...
Curated OER
Descriptive Writing: Using Art to Inspire description
Write with the senses! Try using art to inspire writers to consider all of the senses. Here, the class is divided in half. Each group looks at one of two images, imagines the senses that would be engaged, and records answers to five...
K20 LEARN
Brushstrokes: Communication/Using Descriptive Language
Sometimes a picture reflects a thousand descriptive words. To illustrate the importance of sensory words in descriptive writing, scholars listen to a song and craft a painting in response. After sharing their work with the class,...
K20 LEARN
Who Am I? Creating And Editing Descriptive Writing
With descriptive writing, the pleasure is in the details. Young writers learn how to add sensory details to a paragraph about themselves. They read a short paragraph and identify the sensory details used. After revising their draft...
K20 LEARN
Who's Coming To Dinner? Descriptive Writing
"The Dinner Party" is the anchor text in a lesson designed to encourage writers to use sensory details in their stories. After brainstorming descriptive words and phrases for the five senses, class members read Mona Gardner's stark tale...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Amazing Animals: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 4)
This packet, the second in the series of support materials for the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt thematic units on amazing animals, contains exercises and activities designed for the ESL/ELD classroom.
Curated OER
"Their Eyes Were Watching God": Folk Speech and Figurative Language
Using or considering using Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God? Then this packet is a must for your curriculum library. The examination of how Hurston combines folklore and folk language to create the voice of her...
Curated OER
How Do Authors Use Imagery to Shape Their Writing?
Esther Forbes' award-winning Revolutionary War novel, Johnny Tremain and excerpts from Julie Otsuka's When the Emperor Was Divine are used to model how imagery brings alive the setting of a story. The young writers then craft their own...
Code.org
APIs and Using Functions with Parameters
Introduce your class to the API, a reference guide that lists and explains the functionality of programming language. Using JavaScript, individuals draw complex designs that require additional commands and parameters defined in the API...
Curated OER
Writing and Presenting a Fable Using Research
Elementary and middle schoolers research animal facts and use them in a fable. First, they pair-share to find animal traits to use in writing a fable. They then complete a prewriting worksheet. After going through the writing process,...
Forum
A Research Toolkit of 12 Reading Strategies for the Foreign Language Classroom
Learning to read is not a simple task, but there are methods for assisting pupils as they develop literacy skills. The first four pages of this resource include information about language development and reading development, as well as...
Curated OER
The Use of Language in "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"
Readers of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings are asked to craft an essay in which they compare how Maya Angelou uses figurative language to depict herself and Mrs. Flowers.
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...
Saint Paul Public Schools
Using Adjectives to Describe a Busy Street Scene
What just happened in the street? After several introductory activities about adjectives and description, pupils use all that they have learned to compose a paragraph about a hectic intersection.
Teachers.net
Figurative Language
When is a staple remover a fanged monster? In your ELA classroom when you're teaching this fun figurative language lesson, of course! Get your young writers using figurative language by making a game of it. Give groups a paper bag full...
Curated OER
Using Context Clues
Middle schoolers receive a handout that lists the five types of context clues. The class divides up into groups of three or four, and each group chooses five unfamiliar words. They write a multiple-choice question for each of their five...
K20 LEARN
Nose Like a Cherry: Understanding Similes and Metaphors
Clement Moore's "Twas the Night Before Christmas" models the power of descriptive language for middle schoolers. They identify the similes and metaphors in the tale and consider what these descriptions add to the story's emotional...
Roald Dahl
Matilda - Miss Honey and The Trunchbull
As the instructor reads aloud several quotes from five chapters of the story Matilda, class members mime their interpretation of the scenes. Then, after reading "Miss Honey" and "The Trenchbull" (chapters seven and eight), the class...
EngageNY
Point of View: Comparing Esperanza's and Isabel's Perspectives About Life in the Camp (Chapter 7: "Las Cebollas/Onions")
Explore point of view and more with a Common Core-designed instructional activity. Learners experience different points of view by representing one of two characters from Esperanza Rising during a partner discussion. They must use...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Special Friends: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 9)
Enhance language proficiency with a Special Friends themed English language development unit. Each lesson follows a listen, speak, move, and/or look routine that is guaranteed to get your scholars discussing topics such as animal...
Curated OER
Further Improvements of Writing Skills
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...
K20 LEARN
Sweet and Savory Writing: Descriptive Writing
The engagement is in the details. Young scholars learn the benefit of weaving descriptive and sensory details into the fabric of their writing through the activities in this lesson plan. As their hands explore items concealed in bags, a...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Heroes: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 5)
This packet of support materials for the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt thematic units on heroes, contains lessons, exercises, and activities specifically designed for ELD/ESL learners.