Curated OER
A Very Short History of the English Language
Students apply their knowledge of world history to research major influences on the language that has become the English we speak today; develop timeline of events in Britain and explain contributions of various invading groups to the...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Writing Through Reading
Improve writing skills using methods from Robert Gay's Writing Through Reading; Gay espouses reproducing the work of successful writers to build the ability to convey original ideas effectively. Young writers transcribe, paraphrase, and...
Curated OER
Character Development - Flora
Watch video clips that illustrate a character's development. Your class can watch video's about a character and her development through a life decision. They then complete a timeline activity for the story.
Curated OER
Moral Development in Camus' The Stranger
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” Readers of The Stranger rate Mersault’s moral development (or lack thereof) using Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development scale. Using specific...
Curated OER
Developing a Topic for Writing Using an Idea Web
Teach your upper graders how to use an idea web to develop a topic for writing. After reading a variety of stories about friendship (a list of stories with the theme of friendship is included), model using an idea web. Class members...
Curated OER
It's Raining Cats and Dogs! Literary Devices and Figurative Language
Third and fourth graders study literary devices and figurative language. They view a PowerPoint presentation (which you must create) to review hyperbole, idiom, simile, and metaphor. They read and discuss the book There's A Frog in My...
Curated OER
Problem-Solving Processes and Figurative Language
Nonfiction texts about people on the move provide young readers with an opportunity to examine not only the problem-solving strategies employed by immigrants, but to also find examples of figurative language these writers use to tell...
Roald Dahl
The Twits - The Glass Eye and the Frog
What do a pair of stinky socks and a toy hamster have in common? The third lesson in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl uses silly objects to teach about figurative language. Zany pranks and role play make for...
Curated OER
Mythological Word Origins
No wonder the ship was called the Titanic. An investigation of Norse, Roman, and Greek Mythology provides insight into mythological characters and corresponding words in the English language. A close look at roots, prefixes, and suffixes...
Curated OER
Differentiated Language Arts
Pupils read speeches and identify the main idea as well as the literary techniques employed, paying careful attention to the persuasion and repetition elements that each speech possesses. Using a graphic organizer, they analyze,...
Madison Public Schools
Journalism
Whether you are teaching a newspaper unit in language arts, covering the First Amendment and censorship in social studies, or focusing on writing ethics in journalism, a unit based on the foundations of journalism would be an excellent...
Curated OER
Creating Supporting Characters
Supporting characters need detail and characteristics just like a main character. Keep your budding authors entrenched in detail as they write their novels. This lesson focuses on developing supporting characters using personal...
Curated OER
Create a Dialogue: Putting Merchandise on Layaway
Give English language learners practice conversing. Here they will create a dialogue with a partner between a customer and a store representative. You will need to provide target vocabulary, as there is none listed here.
Curated OER
"Building a Word Wall" Roots - The Foundation of Language
Students probe the impact of Greek and Latin on the English language in this ten lesson unit. Root words are analyzed for their origins and displayed on a word wall. Inventions are created using the words and placed in a class museum.
Curated OER
Weather and Seasons
Use pictures and manipulatives to develop vocabulary with your beginning language learners. This plan can be used with foreign language learners (although you'll have to provide the vocabulary), English language learners, or a young...
PBS
Finding Story Ideas
Pitch your best news story to your news team, or the peers in your journalism class, with a activity about finding, reporting, and presenting a story. After watching clips of different examples, as well as strategies for finding the best...
EngageNY
Preparation for Performance Task: Using Writing to Make Prompt Cards
Writing becomes dynamic in a presentation. Presenters transform a piece of writing they have already composed about the Little Rock Nine into a presentation. The focus is transferring ideas from their writing into short prompts on cards...
Curated OER
Poetry Slam!
Create poems without writing! Young poets create poems using words cut from newspapers, read their poems aloud, and compile them in a book. This lesson plan allows the teacher to view each learner's creative process and assess their...
New York Public Library
What's for Lunch?: New York City Restaurant Menus
Do you remember the days when a cup of coffee cost five cents? At A.W. Dennett restaurant in 1894, you could buy a five-cent cup of coffee and as well as a five-cent slice of pie to accompany it. The menu from that year is a primary...
Curated OER
Beautiful Noise Poetry
"What a beautiful noise comin' up from the street; got a beautiful sound, it's got a beautiful beat..." Use Neil Diamond's "Beautiful Noise" to guide your class through a Six Trait writing activity, in which they write an original poem...
Curated OER
Palace Adventure
Young language arts learners write and illustrate a short fantasy story based on the book Corduroy. First, learners need to develop a character. Then, through their writing and illustrations, they take their characters on adventures...
Curated OER
What's in a Name?
Build conversation skills for your English language learners in this spoken language development lesson. In it, learners listen to descriptions written by the teacher prior to the first day of class which include predictions about the...
Curated OER
Creative Writing - Getting Ideas
Learners examine the procedures that writers utilize to obtain and develop ideas for writing. Journal writing is fostered as a primary step in the writing process. Learners are encouraged to pay careful attention to using complete...
Virginia Department of Education
Researching Information
Give your junior high researchers a clear concept of how to go about starting their research paper with the resources available in this exercise. Students develop an idea to research, and spend time in the library or computer lab...