What kind of text features help children build a strong vocabulary? Class members use text features such as headers to unpack new vocabulary words. They create vocabulary journals in which they will write what they think the definition...

Grow vocabulary skills with an understanding of affixes and word roots. Included here are a few activities and plenty of materials you can use to support your learners as the focus on building vocabulary.

Practice vocabulary skills with this word analysis lesson. Middle schoolers examine the roots of unfamiliar words and use their knowledge of roots to discern meaning through word analysis.

Designed to be used in conjunction with a PowerPoint (not included), this packet develops vocabulary for "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin. There are eight vocabulary words listed here. Examples include afflict, elusive, and...

Your class continues to explore the history of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In addition to learning about the background of this text, learners work on the skill of identifying and understanding key academic vocabulary....

This lesson is so beneficial it makes any teacher's heart skip a beat! After readers identify words from Words by Heart, they break down unknown vocabulary with a handout detailing various prefixes and suffixes. Once they finish...

Scholars work with root and meaning cards to build vocabulary skills. Playing with a partner, learners read a root, locate its meaning, and cover it with a counter. The first player to cover their board wins.

Before your class reads chapters three and four in Of Mice and Men, have them complete this magic squares activity to review some vocabulary in the upcoming chapters. Twenty-five words are introduced, and learners identify the correct...

The roots metro/meter and therm are the focus of a vocabulary building presentation that includes concise definitions, color-coded examples, and opportunities for guided and independent practice. Part of a series of roots and affixes...

What are magic squares? First, review the activity with your class (there is a description available for you in the resource). Then, match terms from Ella Enchanted to their definitions. When your puzzle, or square, is finished, the...

Who is Oedipus? Use this crossword puzzle to preload vocabulary relevant to Oedipus the King or to review vocabulary after your class has finished Sophocles' classic work. Answers are not provided, and some definitions are tricky!

While this resource is designed to be used in conjuction with a discussion of the book Dear Juno by Soyung Pak, it could be also be used as a stand-alone vocabulary lesson. The presentation covers a variety of words including sign...

Design your unit on The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg with a concept and vocabulary analysis resource. It outlines the plot, literary elements, vocabulary issues, and any possible considerations for planning a differentiated...

Before you begin reading Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, read over this comprehensive handout that gives you a plethora of information regarding the story's summary, organizational structure, central...

Explore the influence of African-style masks on Western art. Learners create individual masks using construction paper. They discuss and explore the techniques used to create these types of masks. The resource includes links to...

A picture is worth a thousand words, but political art may be worth even more! After examining examples of political cartoons, murals, and other forms of public art, class members create their own pieces to reflect their ideals and...

This lesson is intended for a music class but would be a great way to teach compare and contrast to any class. Kindergarteners dance the Hokey Pokey to four different styles of music and examine two paintings of Humpty Dumpty, then...

What fun! As part of a vocabulary exercise designed for Victor Martinez's Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida readers create word trees with the trunk representing the root word and the branches representing prefixes that can be added to the...

Promote collaboration in the classroom with a historical fiction instructional activity. Fourth graders partner up and read the other's narrative to give feedback on vocabulary choice and the accuracy of historical information. After...

What's life with out a little fun and games now and then? This game helps kids practice many different skill sets. Child one takes a card then attempts to dictate how to draw the object to child two. Child two draws an object based on...

Vocabulary instruction works best when taught within a larger context. A vocabulary activity builds connections by using synonyms to help learn the meaning of new words. This helps connect the words to prior knowledge and give them context.

Scholars learn to find meaning in words using affixes with a language arts activity. In pairs, children sort cards with printed sentences that include words with the prefixes mis- and pre- and the suffixes -er, -ness, and -able. Then,...

Explore the world of textured landscapes through the eyes of the famous artist, Grant Wood. Here is an elementary art lesson in which scholars learn about Grant Wood's life, view his work, draw their own textured landscape, and then...

Prior to reading Unwind, Neal Shusterman's 2007 young adult science fiction novel, class members research the common definition of words drawn from the novel that will come to have a very different meaning to them as they are...