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Seeing Words in a New Way
What's the best resource to use when looking up words? Use Visual Thesaurus to see a word's meaning. The class accesses the interactive website and then compares and contrasts the difference between using a traditional dictionary and the...
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Dictionary Detective
Build your class's dictionary skills with this fun game. The activity allows learners to better understand dictionary usage, spelling, and vocabulary. By the end of this activity, they should be skilled word finders.
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If a Runner Runs, Does a Sweater Sweat?
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...
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The Tell-Tale Heart
Bring Edgar Allan Poe's spooky story to life! After reading the short story "The Tell-Tale Heart," middle and high schoolers identify the theme, character traits, irony, and other story concepts. During pre-reading, they take notes,...
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What is Terrorism?
Spark what's sure to be an interesting discussion in your classroom by introducing the topic of terrorism. Consider the meaning of the word terrorism and examine the associated connotations with a brief introductory reading. With your...
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Identify Text Features in Nonfiction
What does a non-fiction text look like? Examine the text features of non-fiction. Middle and high schoolers read non-fiction passages provided by their instructor and analyze the texts for word choice, details, and organization.
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Idiom Exercise
Don't let your pupils bite off more than they can chew! Comprehending idiomatic speech can be very perplexing to language learners. Readers must use context clues, common sense, and knowledge of the connotative and denotative meanings to...
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You Bleed, You Learn?
Jump back into the 90s with Alannis Morissette's song "You Learn." After hearing the song, small groups analyze the lyrics and write an essay about a mistake they've learned from. Use the example sentences to identify the denotative and...
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Connotation: "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke
What's happening in this poem? Have your high schoolers participate in an activity about connotation and denotation. They apply the concept of connotation to a reading of Theodore Roethke's poem "My Papa's Waltz." Lead a discussion about...
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Choosing Words Carefully
Use literacy tools to select precise vocabulary. High schoolers respond to discussion questions that require them to consider the denotation and connotation of words. They then read non-fiction passages and identify words in the passages...
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Vocabulary Development and Writing
Engage pupils in practicing denotative and connotative strategies to understand particular words. They work in pairs and write a series of sentences using each word that has a positive connotation and negative connotation. Some example...
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Visual Puns - Paper Mache Sculpture
Explore the pop art movement and create a sculpture in the pop art style based on a visual pun, or play on words. The scholar's work may use humor, allegory, metaphor, or be in the form of a parody. Visual examples are provided, and some...
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Figures of Speech Quotes and Examples
Providing several examples of figures of speech, such as irony, paradox, and personification, this presentation could complement your lecture on pragmatic humor or humor in writing. Examples from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in...
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New York State Testing Program English Language Arts Test Book 2-Grade 8 (2010)
Get ready for state testing with this resource, which focuses on listening and writing skills. While a complete description of the writing assignment is provided here, the listening portion is not included. You could use the graphic...
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Vocabulary Development
Learners utilize various vocabulary strategies. They use vocabulary logs to record strategies they have been taught, such as the Frayer Model (definition, picture, examples, non-examples), writing their own definitions, and using...
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Heroic Vocabulary: Using Decoding Strategies and Thesaurus
Develop the decoding skills of your middle and high schoolers. Scholars participate in a classroom activity that requires them to decode a word with a prefix and suffix. They apply the skill of breaking the word into parts of meaning as...
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When You Reeeaaallly Want to Say Something
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), then...
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Better Vocabulary Through Derivatives
Learners create a word tree poster that illustrates the way a root word can serve as the basis for many related terms. Although designed for a Latin language class, the concepts here could be used with any class study of Latin or Greek...
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Word Roots 5: NAT, TRACT, SEQU Intermediate Puzzle 1, 2, & 3
Build vocabulary with this resource. This online activity breaks up a list of words into words that have common roots. Learners are given the definition of each word as well as the word root and are asked to fill in the rest of the...
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Word Roots 2: FIN, SED, FER Advanced Puzzle 1, 2, & 3
A unique take on the typical fill-in-the-blank vocabulary exercise, this resource provides a word root, a definition, and a word bank. Using these tools, learners fill in the remainder of the letters for each word. Since this is an...
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Word Roots 2: FIN, SED, FER Beginner Puzzle 1, 2, & 3
Completing each word is the objective of this vocabulary activity. Learners use a word bank, a definition, and a given word root to figure out the rest of the letters in 12 given words. This is an online, interactive activity with...
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Latin Roots fin, sed, fer: Context Story (Advanced)
Several vocabulary words are joined together in a cohesive paragraph that can be played via audio clip for your class. Pauses in the audio allow listeners to repeat the target words to emphasize correct pronunciation. As the audio is...
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Word Roots 2: Fin, Sed, Fer Intermediate Puzzle 1, 2, & 3
If you are interested in practicing Latin word roots in your class, consider this resource. Focusing particularly on the roots fin, sed, and fer, these brief fill-in-the-blank activities provide a word bank for reference. Learners look...
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Word Roots 6: PLIC, FAC, COGN Intermediate True and False 2
Help your class make sense of vocabulary with this online interactive resource. Using a word bank and information on word roots, pupils determine if each statement is correct, marking true or false. Since this is an online activity, they...