Why do readers need to know an author’s purpose? How do you figure out what that purpose is? Guide your pupils through a series of activities that show them how to identify various techniques and structures used in persuasive writing....

Here is a reading strategies lesson in which learners use post it notes to create a bulletin board. They post their new questions on the bulletin board and look back at questions they have already learned the answer to. A great idea,...

Explore Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" in this literature analysis lesson. Middle schoolers read and summarize the plot of the story. They then adapt passages for a contemporary audience and analyze the...

Kids of all ages discover their family histories through pictures. First, flip through the PowerPoint provided (or consider making one of your own). It should show pictures of your family and have clear, easy to understand sentences that...

Who are the Grimke sisters? Scholars find out with a activity that details the struggles and triumphs of the lives of Angelina and Sarah Grimke. After reading an informational text, class members have the opportunity to show what they...

Through this exercise, high schoolers identify character traits present in Romeo and Juliet. They listen to an excerpt from "The Office of Christian Parents: Showing How Children Are to be Governed" and participate in a Socratic...

Identify figurative language in sentences that have been pulled out of a text. Looking at the sentence independently, can you tell which technique is being used? How do you know? Ninth graders look at 10 sentences that show simile,...

Practice target sounds, especially the /a/ sound. The teacher first speaks and learners repeat words, discriminating between words with varying sounds after focusing on /a/. Letter cards are held up to show the symbolic representation of...

Distinguish between textual features of non-fiction in the book The Lewis and Clark Expedition and in the non-fiction story "Ta-Na-e-Ka." Third graders create posters and participate in group discussions to show their...

How does the purpose of a fiction book differ from the purpose on a non-fiction text? Model for your young readers a scenario in which each kind of book might be useful or fun to read and show examples of each genre. A list of suggested...

Model for young learners how to determine the theme of a story. Read aloud Aesop’s The Fox and the Stork. Chart the plot and the main idea of the fable, showing class members how these elements support the theme. Fable titles for...

Dander from the show Twisted Whiskers and characters from My Little Pony are featured in this three part lesson that explores using story pyramids to scaffold ideas, adding sensory details to enrich writing, and editing using common...

A good overview of the basic parts of speech, this presentation is ideal for a junior high class that likes flashy animation and bright colors. The concepts are complete, but simple enough to lend well to lecture notes. Use the slide...

I don't say this often, but this slide show is fantastic! Engage your learners in an exciting, Halloween-themed, animated, and audio-infused presentation to practice basic grammar and punctuation. They will correct several sentences, and...

Descriptive writing is rich in sensory appeals and paints pictures in the minds of readers. Show young writers how to use an on-line thesaurus and a cliché website to create fresh, descriptive writing. The presentation ends with an...

Homophones take center stage in this engaging, interactive slide show. Students see that homophones are words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings. They consider 20 slides which have sentences with...

Sometimes the conclusion of an essay can be the most important part. Whether your writers are ending with a proposition, lesson learned, or persuasive argument, teach them how to "end with a bang" with this helpful PowerPoint! This...

Show your class how modifiers can be used properly and improperly. They will take a short quiz where they must choose between one of three sentences in 10 slides that correctly uses modifiers. This is a great review!

Students view a nicely-put-together slide show on comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs. After going over examples of each, students take a 2-part quiz which tests their knowledge of how to properly use these forms....

After viewing this slide show, which goes over the mosts common reasons for misspellings, students take a short quiz. They must choose the correct version of the underlined word in each sentence, or choose option D; which means "no...

From the clarinet to maracas, this PowerPoint covers various instruments in the 4 instrument families: woodwinds, brass, strings, percussion. Descriptions and pictures of instruments in the four families are provided. Slides 19-22...

Explore vocabulary by participating in a word fluency game! Utilize a deck of flash cards with irregular words printed on them to play a game. As they show each other the cards, they collect points for each word they sound out correctly.

World War II, WWII, the Holocaust, the Rise of the Nazi Empire, Concentration Camps, the effect on children. The first 9 slides are of images and scenes of WWII, Black and white photography Slides 10 to 20 show present day photos of...

Has your class just finished reading about WWII and you need a way to let them show what they know? Hand them this three-question writing prompt. They'll need to describe the role Winston Churchill played in the war, the Rape of Nanking,...