Curated OER
Jeffrey and Sloth: Six Traits of Writing
Use drawings as inspiration. Have learners doodle for 10 minutes before beginning the lesson. Then, have them use their doodles to inspire a story. Several writing activities are included here to play with writing. One of my favorites...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Core Analysis Frame: Poetry
Dig deep into any piece of poetry with a set of analysis questions. Ponder the content, form, and language of poetry and provide some question for critique. The first two pages include general questions, and the remainder of the document...
Simon & Schuster
Classroom Activities for The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo is the featured text in three classroom activities. The first activity asks readers to analyze the description of Edmond Dantes in Chapter XVII, paying particular attention to Dumas' word choice...
Curated OER
Powerful Language
Students study word choice by authors. In this reading comprehension lesson, students read the book The Little Fir Tree by Margaret Wise Brown and discuss with their classmates the importance of an author's words. Students create a...
Curated OER
Creating Hate: The Power of Words
Students explore why authors choose to use hate words in literature. In this power of words lesson, students complete group participation, journal entries, and written assignments to investigate the use of inflammatory language. Students...
Curated OER
Prisoner in One's Own Home
Examine the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. After reading an article from the New York Times and exploring the author's word choice, young readers find the central idea in the text and work on researching additional...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment and Author’s Craft: Narrative Techniques
Scholars work together to compile a list of things good writers do to perfect their craft and write the ideas on a whiteboard. They then discuss the differences between passive and active sentences and use their knowledge to identify...
Curated OER
Word Purpose
Third graders chunk text while reading it. In this language arts lesson, 3rd graders determine the author's purpose for calling certain things the names they are called like spuds for potatoes. Students discuss how words affect the...
Curated OER
A Day of Infamy:Analyzing FDR’s Pearl Harbor Address
In 1941 FDR spoke out on the events at Pearl Harbor. The class will get to analyze word choice, word meaning, author's craft and structure by analyzing an actual draft of this speech. They will look critically at the words used,...
Curated OER
Prop Box
What other uses can you brainstorm for a key? What about a pair of sunglasses? Bring a bag of props into your classroom and have learners create different uses for a selection of objects. Then, after everyone has shared, translate the...
Curated OER
Formal and Informal Language
“C u l8r @ skool.” As part of a study of formal and informal language, class members examine excerpts from Lil’ Boosie lyrics, the Emancipation Proclamation, a speech by Martin Luther King. Links to the resources not provided; however,...
Southern Poverty Law Center
Analyzing How Words Communicate Bias
Words are powerful ... can your class choose them wisely? Scholars evaluate news articles to discover the concepts of tone, charge, and bias during a media literacy instructional activity. The resource focuses on recognizing implicit...
Curated OER
8th Grade Reading Comprehension Success
Augment your eighth grade language arts curriculum with a thorough set of reading comprehension activities and assessments. Focusing on a variety of skills, including vocabulary in context, text structure, main idea, and author's style,...
Curated OER
Search Warranted?
Young readers work on evaluating claims in a piece of informational text with the article "In New York, It's Open Bag or Find Exits" from the New York Times. They analyze current search procedures implemented to fight terrorism and...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment, Part 2: Analyzing an Excerpt from the Narrative
Writing is a craft. Scholars take a mid-unit assessment where they answer questions about the author's purpose and craft in Douglass's narrative. After completing the assessment, pupils look continue with their independent reading text.
Curated OER
Author’s Purpose
For this literary elements worksheet, students respond to 18 short answer and multiple choice questions regarding the author's purpose in "A World Made Beautiful by Dzine."
Curated OER
"What is an American?"
Eleventh graders ponder about what it means to be an "American." They discuss the impact of an author's word choice and sentence structure on text. They identify some major themes and development of the Letters... Compose paragraphs and...
Curated OER
Resume Writing for Teens 9-12
Students create their own resumes. In this vocational-education lesson plan, students study the purpose of resumes and what is typically included on such a document. Then students follow a template to create their own resume. Business...
Curated OER
Propaganda
How does word choice affect the reading of a text? Compare two headlines that were written about the same event. Is one biased? Discuss how word choice often reveals the author's feelings about a topic. Then look at different techniques...
Curated OER
Boogie Woogie with a B: Using Alliteration while Exploring Patriotic Tunes
Are you looking for a way to bring writing into your history lesson - or history into your writing lesson? This cross-curricular activity is helpful and fun, no matter what class you're teaching! Using "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by the...
Curated OER
Using Onomatopoeia to Tell the Story of an Imaginary Field Trip
Students explore language arts by utilizing word choice to compose a paragraph. In this phonetics lesson, students discuss the importance of a "voice" in their writing as they read the book Rattletrap Car. Students write paragraphs about...
Curated OER
Creating Found Poetry From Picture Books
Students use picture books to identify poetic elements and word choice. They create a "found poem".
Curated OER
Extreme Work Makeover
Young scholars revise paragraphs for effective word choice. In this effective word choice lesson, students analyze a paragraph for purpose, audience, development, and conventions. Young scholars identify commonly overused words and...
Curated OER
Local Motives
Investigate current local elections across the United States with this New York Times reading activity. Using informational text, middle and high schoolers research local elections and create their own news reports about what they...