Kids paraphrase an entry from The Elements of Style, and then revise a sentence. They use the Visual Thesaurus and find synonyms for the phrase very pretty, brainstorm a list of intensifiers (as alternatives to really and very),...

Use the Visual Thesaurus to predict the subject matter of Rick Riordan's book The Lightning Thief. A pre-reading activity encourages middle schoolers to use context clues and word meaning to discover what the book is about. After...

Pupils discover how to use a thesaurus. In this language arts lesson, students explore thesauruses as they look up words and write sentences for the new words they encounter.

Students love the opportunity of going to the library to jump into that one comfy chair in the whole room with a book, or be a lucky one to get to the computers before anyone else. But knowing how to locate books and other reference...

Give your class the advantage of Thesaurus Power! They will use a thesaurus to understand word meanings and relationships. They focus on how a thesaurus functions and how it gives the entry word, definition, synonyms, antonyms, and part...

A class discussion on reference materials opens up a lesson on how to use these important resources. They discover that dictionaries, glossaries, and thesauruses are called word reference resources, and they practice using them. The...

Finding engaging ways to help your middle schoolers build their vocabulary is not easy to do. The lesson presented here offers a great way to motivate them to build vocabulary by making it into a game. Teams of pupils use a dictionary...

Introduce your high schoolers to some tough vocabulary. No, I'm not talking about the SAT list! Revisit Victorian literature to find tricky words we still use today. Using the Visual Thesaurus, learners will preview vocabulary in a quote...

Using Visual Thesaurus software, class members participate in a computer-based spelling bee. Then they work in groups to analyze the words and use deductive reasoning to infer spelling patterns. They then present one of their "rules" to...

Students use online resources to practice and master the use of the most commonly used Spanish verbs in the infinitive form. They develop an understanding of how verbs work, and follow a set of patterns to conjugate them.

Young scholars investigate new vocabulary words with a fun, collaborative activity. Given a deck of word cards, pairs of students flip over one at a time and independently look up the term in a dictionary. They then take turns rolling a...

Celebrate Opposite Day by using a Visual Thesaurus to match words to their antonyms. They match a list of vocabulary words to their antonym counterparts using the Visual Thesaurus, and then they play Antonym Bingo with the words from...

What is a root word? What is a prefix? Suffix? Use these questions to spark a discussion amongst your language art learners. Then, start by writing the word irresistible on the board and have teams of learners attempt to create new words...

Scholars work together to define words and answer questions using a dictionary cube.

Here is a lesson which may be best suited for a library science teacher, or one that can be done by a regular teacher when in the library. In it, learners explore the best ways to use print and electronic resources to find information...

Young learners develop a deeper understanding of target vocabulary. In pairs, pupils independently complete a series of word clue cards, asking them to find information about key terms, including their definitions, synonyms, antonyms,...

Lois Lowry's The Giver is one of the most engaging and thought-provoking works of literature in the middle school curriculum. Round out your novel unit with a collection of reading activities, comprehension questions, memoir and...

Young scholars navigate the Visual Thesaurus to find keywords for research.  In this keywords lesson, students use synonyms, hypernyms and hyponyms to find keywords. Young scholars understand why some searches are effective and some...

Young scholars discover how to engage all their senses and powers of observation to effectively communicate and idea or emotion. Using Inspiration Software, they create a vocabulary web and practice using descriptive language to clarify...

Students act as math coaches to solve word problems. In this math word problems lesson, students brainstorm key words in math operations, create flash cards to review relationships between words and operations, coach each other in the...

Sixth graders discover word choices to use when writing a conversation. They explore synonyms for "said." Students examine a thesaurus. They create a writing piece using the writing process. Students edit and revise their work.

Review decoding strategies to read a chosen text. Readers tape themselves reading out loud, listen to the recording, and mark where they have misread words or phrases. They then discuss which words were misread and review how to correct...

Students examine synonyms and practice finding appropriate synonyms in a thesaurus. In this use synonyms to make your writing vivid lesson, students identify the correct usage of synonyms. Students replace incorrect synonyms in...

Students use a thesaurus to expand their usage of language in their written work.  In this thesaurus lesson plan, students work with the reference book to add variety to their word choices. Students then adjust their...