Understanding a word's etymology can really help with decoding and building vocabulary skills. Readers compare and contrast words of similar origins but with different difficulty levels. They focus on prefixes, suffixes, and affixes....

Young scholars find patterns relating the lengths of the sides of squares to their areas. In this squares and square roots lesson, students draw squares and find their areas. They estimate the sides of square when given the area. Young...

Scholars practice rhyming and phonemic awareness using trade books and poetry. They will listen to the book Mouse Mess several times throughout the week, identifying rhyming words, and matching words that begin with the same sound. Then...

Explore word structure by participating in a vowels and consonants activity with young readers. They will read words their teacher points out in class and pronounce them correctly. Then they identify the words they say which have a...

Learners explore English by completing an interactive language history activity. In this word recognition lesson, students discuss word formations and the phonetic relationship between letters. Learners identify the origin of individual...

Although this instructional activity is based on “Final Word,” Craig Wilson’s USA Today column, the strategies could be adapted to any local columnist. After reading three articles independently, groups share observations about content...

Students examine the patterns that exist in Pascal's Triangle. They explore multiples and factors. Sudents use an applet to create and color the multiples in Pascal's Triangle.

Students engage in a lesson that uses sight word strategies in order to increase reading comprehension. The skills are applicable to rote skill, math facts, formulas, etc... The lesson includes sample exercises for the teacher to use for...

After a quick study of Native American art, symbolism, and pattern design children make a ceramic vase. They read about the use, production, and design of Native American vases or pots, then use clay to create one of their own. Tip:...

Students engage in a discussion about how to write an acrostic poem. They demonstate the ability to use a word processor by typing an acrostic poem by following instructions. Word processing skills such as, centering text, changing font,...

Teams practice decoding and using context strategies to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words. After verifying the meanings of words through the use of dictionaries, the Internet, thesauruses, and other sources, learners write the...

Play with words and word meanings involving the suffix -er. After reading a sample list of words, young readers look up each one in the dictionary to decide which words refer to people, animals, or objects, or have three or more...

The class works together to tackle easily confused words. Each learner receives a word and he or she must create a flashcard with the following things: the word, its definition, an original sentence that uses the word, and a picture...

What is a homograph? Develop your students' vocabulary with a word association tool.   Language arts classes discover what a homograph is and how it can be used as a visual thesaurus. They discover the other uses for homographs...

Special needs students practice completing everyday tasks such as organizing a day plan, reading a clock and completing simple math problems. They define the proper learning techniques for their disorder and utilize props in...

Students imagine that they are looking out (or in) a window with four panes and write about what they see using a variety of sentence structures. They create a paragraph about what they see looking through their window on Thanksgiving day.

Over four weeks, third graders participate in lessons that boost spelling, grammar, reading, and writing skills. Scholars explore spelling patterns, suffixes, singular and plural possessive nouns, quotations, and conjunctions....

An English language arts unit closely examines spelling, grammar, reading, and writing skills. Scholars practice spelling patterns and tricky words. A read-aloud details the War of 1812 and introduces adverbs, and a close reading looks...

With What Do You See at the Pond?, young readers explore pond life and practice reading strategies. Learners first make predictions and then read the simple story independently. After a second read-through with a partner, kids come...

Examine the changing nature of language in the U.S. View and discuss excerpts from a PBS documentary with your class and then conduct Internet research, and complete a team project on the evolution of teen expressions. 

Fourth graders delve into the United States Constitution in a unit designed to boost reading comprehension, grammar, and writing. During each lesson, scholars read through and discuss a new chapter and work with prefixes and verbs....

Third graders write informational paragraphs based on the settlement patterns of the United States. In this settlement lesson plan, 3rd graders read about population and how it affects where people settle next.

Students watch as the teacher makes sounds with her hands. They think of a word to describe the sound. Students discuss the way the word sounds like the sound. They complete the "The Sound Monster Activity." Students are told that...

Rational, irrational, real, natural. All these words can refer to numbers. Who knew? Learners use the Visual Thesaurus and a semantic feature analysis grid to examine the different attributes of numbers. Step-by-step instructions for...