Explore figurative language with your secondary class. Extending a language arts unit, the lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine how an author's word choice establishes a story's tone, possibly using metaphors, similes,...

Students complete a variety of activities related to the /f/ sound. As a class they recite a tongue twister, and trace and write the letter F. Students then listen to the book "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish," and identify the...

Your class examines F.D.R.'s speech for examples of repetition, alliteration, emotionally charged words, etc. They listen to the speech and interview a person who heard it delivered. They finish by writing an article about the experience.

High schoolers explore the words of Abraham Lincoln. In this Abraham Lincoln lesson, students analyze segments of "The Gettysburg Address," his annual address to Congress in 1862, and his letter to Mrs. Bixby. High schoolers conduct...

Review the terms denotation, connotation, diction, and mood in paragraph writing. After defining the terms, middle schoolers practice writing examples of both connotation and denotation. They complete a connotation and denotation...

Challenge your advanced learners with this set of activities based around a common theme. Learners draw, research, share, retell stories, compare and contrast, and more over the course of these activities, which focus mostly on animals...

Celebrate the whimsical world of Dr. Seuss on Read Across America Day with a collection of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics activities, each linked to a popular Dr. Seuss story. 

Let's Look Around! is the theme of a unit that offers a plethora of challenge activities. Enhance your scholars' learning experiences and reinforce concepts with activities such as writing a book about farm animals, an...

Here is a great way for learners to practice identifying sounds made by both short and long vowels. This instructional activity stresses the a_e=/A/ correspondence along with letterboxes. They read their spelled words, whole text...

For scholars who need a challenge in the classroom, here is a unit for you. Learners explore topics such as animals, sports, helpers at home, the past, and funny things that have happened in their lives. Youngsters also engage...

Students explore language arts by participating an on-line grammar activity. In this letter U lesson plan, students discuss the uses for the letter U in the English language and the different sounds that can be made from the vowel....

Students complete a variety of activities related to the short /e/ sound. As a class they recite a tongue twister, then trace and write the letter E. Students then listen to word pairs and identify the word containing the short /e/...

Learners practice with the strategy that letters represent phonemes and spellings map out phonemes in spoken words. They work on the phoneme sounds of /a/ and e=/e/ in correspondences with reading. Each student also recites the tongue...

Students understand the way the dictionary is laid out as well as the purpose for why people use dictionaries. In this language arts lesson, students recognize the need for alphabetical order and are able to find words using a...

Students explore language arts by participating in a letter identification activity. In this word recognition lesson, students are shown a list of vocabulary terms which they practice reciting with their classmates. Students identify and...

Surprise! is the theme of this series of challenge activities. The surprise comes from the information your scholars will discover when researching topics such as alligators and crocodiles, living in other countries, becoming a...

Students explore the definition and derivation of the popular term "bling" and other sound-symbolic words. Using worksheets and lecture materials, students provide meanings for the word "bling" when used in varying contexts. They...

Students examine the percussion sounds used to create percussive sounds and identify the instruments that Bobby McFerrin imitates in his scat vocals. A scat version of the musical piece "So What" is improvised in this lesson.

Students decipher the meaning of Rowling's magical words by looking at their Latin origin and write their own spells. They test their knowledge of Harry Potter spells with a quiz. Also, students match Rowling's spells with their...

First graders explore rhyming words. They listen to the book One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and discuss the rhyming words. After being placed into groups, they play the game, "Go Fish" and find matching rhyming words. They...

Students describe various medical facilities and the services they provide. Working in pairs, students research and list the location and telephone number of community medical facilities and the services they provide. Independently,...

Students use letter/sound relationships of initial consonants to complete sentences that follow a given repeating pattern. These sentences be based on coin terms found on the U.S. Mint H.I.P. Pocket Change™ Web site.

Eighth graders research information on cloning and the surrounding issues online. They analyze the issues surrounding cloning and present their point of view with supporting details in a Powerpoint presentation.

Using the poems "First Snow" by Ted Kooser and "Eating Alone" by Yi-Young Lee (or other suggested poems by Robert Frost or Sara Teasdale), middle schoolers search for examples of figurative language. Guide your learners by discussing...