Early finishers beware! Here is a fun word game creative thinkers will really enjoy. They attempt to make as many words as they can using the word transport. Strict rules make this task a real challenge. Tip: Also great to use in a fun...

If your class is reading A Day at the Apple Orchard by Megan Faulkner, be sure to use this guide for vocabulary in context. Go over the orchard-related terms (cycle, harvest, orchard, pollen, and ripen) before reading...

Challenge your writers to improve their writing by introducing them to 10 strategies they can use to vary their sentence structures. Each strategy is described and examples given. Pupils then create their own sentences using this...

Before getting too far into The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, support your learners by introducing and practicing some vocabulary that might be unfamiliar to them. The vocabulary exercise here includes 16 words from the third and fourth...

Readers of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men will learn much “more than what (is) said to them” as they use the biopoem format and craft a poem about one of the major characters in Steinbeck’s tragic story of Geroge Milton and Lennie...

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day by teaching your class how to do an Irish jig. This type of dance is very fast. Break it all down and teach each section of the dance thoroughly. There are plenty of hops, kicks, toe touches, and stomps in...

A fun twist on bingo helps your kids learn their vowel sounds. As you call out each word, kids flip the tabs on a gameboard to cover their words and be the first to cover them all.

If you're planning on including Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles in your science fiction unit, use a concept analysis guide to frame your instruction. It covers literary elements such as setting, narrative voice, and theme, as...

Sometimes words aren't the best way to get information across to the reader. The eighth handout in the 24-part Writing the Paper series describes different type of figures and charts to display complex information in a paper....

Music is a universal pleasure, but writing about it can be a little trickier. An informative handout discusses common types of music writing assignments that one might encounter in a college-level course. Individuals read about musical...

Students study self-portraits taken by photographers to explain the technique and symbolism used. They decide what they would like to say about themselves in their images and then, take pictures of each other. They create an iPhoto book.

Students view the film "Nell" and analyze it for presentation of language pathologies and dialects. They consider the definition of dialect, research phonetic representation of dialects and observe their own communities for speech patterns.

Learners use a recording of "The Star Spangled Banner," to identify the AABC form of the anthem and describe the repetitions and contrasts in the piece of music. They memorize the music in eight-measure phrases being aware of the form...

Looking for a winter-themed vocabulary activity? Provide each learner with several templates of a snowflake (you need to provide this), and have them write one vocabulary word on the middle of each snowflake. Then, after doing some...

Have your class explore Buddhist Jataka Tales to compare and contrast them to European fables. After defining fables, Jataka tales, and the elements of each, learners identify themes and patterns for both types of narratives and the...

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

A great review of possesive nouns and how to add apostrophes. Clearly demonstrating where to place the apostrophe for different nouns, the resource also notes some tricky exceptions. Reinforce the concept with a little practice putting...

Imagine using history to teach grammar. This 178-slide PowerPoint presents an amazing collection of images and historical information about the settlement of Tennessee and about famous residents like Daniel Boone. Viewers...

New to using Bronte's Wuthering Heights in the classroom; check out this overview of themes, characters, settings, and project suggestions.

Being able to recognize patterns, craft generalizations, and draw conclusions based on information in a text passage are essential critical thinking skills. Encourage learners to hone these skills with a learning exercise that asks them...

New-to-school learners create a fall quilt consisting of three different paper geometric quilt squares. They use various geometric shapes that when assembled will form a scarecrow, pumpkin, and a crow. Assembly will require sorting...

Climate change is a hot topic in the news. Class members examine carbon dioxide data to analyze trends of our atmospheric makeup over time. They also discuss climate and climate change, and determine how these changes are affecting life...

Explore the Great Depression! Discover the challenges people experienced during the time period. Learners investigate photographs from the Dust Bowl and WWII era and create a story line about the photographs, writing a newspaper article...

Almost every ancient culture observed the stars and saw pictures in the patterns. Studying stars allowed them to guide travelers, determine when to plant crops, when to harvest food, and the stories surrounding the images include some of...