Although the activity is designed for Gary Paulsen’s Canyons, these procedures could be used with any novel or vocabulary study. Readers select an unfamiliar word, record the sentence and chapter where the term is found, write two...

Review the vocabulary from Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea with a magic squares activity. To find the magic number, readers match the numbers on a grid with the words and definitions from the novel.

Discover the Virtual Thesaurus with your class. They use the Virtual Thesaurus to assist them in an inquiry-based approach to discovering the meanings of some common Latin and Greek roots. Each child then teaches a particular root and...

After knowing the root word, can your learner identify various words that use the root word, depending on the sentences provided? Learners use context clues to complete the blanks for nine questions. 

Evaluate vocabulary by writing definitions of known words and finding out those that are unknown. As an anticipatory set, the class fills out an agree/disagree chart discussing vocabulary. While reading about the American dream, kids...

Improve vocabulary by reviewing Greek and Latin roots with your ELA class! A fun and easy way for your class to memorize roots, groups are given a set of nine roots and nine definition cards which they must then match. Encourage groups...

Reinforce reading comprehension and story mapping skills with the help from a story, Gingerbread Baby by Jen Brett. Individuals discover new vocabulary, make predictions, retell main events, respond to reading using a graphic...

This clever activity has your learners listen to story about bugs, work together to brainstorm list of "ing" words that describe bugs, create t-chart of words, choose words to place in poem template to create class poem about bugs, and...

Increase your middle schoolers' physical education vocabulary and knowledge of the rules of different sports by posting on the word wall. You will have to do all the work and remember to laminate things, so you only have to do it once. A...

Shorten names and words with different activities. Nicknames, acronyms, and shortened words (fridge instead of refrigerator, for example) are ways for third graders to build their vocabulary and differentiate between formal and informal...

Readers of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third in J. K. Rowling's series about the young wizard, complete a magic square using words drawn from chapters six and seven of the novel.

Children preview vocabulary from the book Good Bye, Curtis by Kevin Henkes. Six different words are defined, shown in an image, and in the context of a sentence. Learners then fill in the blank to complete six sentences with each of the...

Considering a lesson on Greek and Latin roots and affixes? The Latin roots bas and pos, and the Greek root bas are the focus on a colorful, animated presentation that will engage your learners and provide guided and independent practice...

A picture's worth a thousand words—and even more inspiration! A visual activity uses photographs to inspire writers. The process teaches aspects of narrative writing, such as point of view and characterization.

"Can the connotation of a word or phrase create bias or prejudice?" The activities in this SMART Board lesson are directed toward this question, which will be sure to incite lots of opinions and ideas. The SMART Board file guides them...

Analogy worksheets are a great way to encourage critical thinking and develop vocabulary. Consider using this resource as enrichment or as a group work assignment. Learners craft a bridge sentence that expresses the relationship between...

Show your scholars how adding an affix changes the entire meaning of a word; they focus on the suffix -able. You'll find a complete script here, but if you don't want to read this verbatim, use it simply as an outline. Learners...

High schoolers read the final section of E. B. White’s Death of a Pig and examine the impact of the words and tone he used. In pairs, learners discuss their homework from the previous night, answer questions about the text, and write in...

Challenge your middle schoolers' critical thinking and spelling skills with this fun activity. Each question prompts students to find a word that begins or ends with a certain letter and has a certain number of letters. You could use...

Gosh dictionaries are great, and your class gets to make one of their own. They look up and write down the dictionary definition to nine words related to conservation and pollution prevention. They list their words alphabetically for...

Grading essays after reading a novel written by a lyrical master (think Nabokov, Morrison, Chabon) is a deflating experience. Why can’t your student’s display the same skill in diction as your favorite writers? Because you did not use...

Historically, Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis has been difficult for many readers to grasp. From the difficult translation issues to the complex plot and themes, the novel's message and story can be lost when learners...

People should always choose their words carefully. Scholars examine the words used by Martin Luther King, Jr. in paragraphs 10 and 11 of his "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Readers answer questions about word use, think about synonyms,...

Watch your tone! Scholars take a close look at Robert Browning’s My Last Duchess. After listening to the poem, they work together to determine the impact of word choice and mood of the introduction. They then work independently on a...