Texas Education Agency (TEA)
Syntax (English II Reading)
Lesson five in the series focuses on syntax and the elements that make sentences enjoyable. Learners practice building different clauses and phrases and using figures of speech and rhetorical and literary devices.
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Word Play
Students define the steps of the formal writing process, consider the value and quality of the work done by Anne Frank in her personal diary, and create their own diary entries using the writing process outlined in class.
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Celebrating Maurice Sendak's Legacy
Lesson ideas that focus on the author and illustrator's contribution to children's literature.
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More Choices
Fourth graders create onomatopoeia for a variety of things such as a mean dog, a crying baby or a doorbell ringing after exploring word choice as used by authors in selected books. They complete a Word Choice worksheet that is attached.
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Writing Original Adventures About Imaginary Sidekicks
Students explore storytelling by conceptualizing a story with classmates. In this publishing lesson, students identify the idea development process and discuss word choice when writing a story. Students utilize a graphic organizer to...
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Justice for All
A reading of Roald Dahl’s Lamb to the Slaughter opens a discussion of justice and fairness. Using a Venn diagram and an Idea Wheel graphic organizer, class members consider the similarities and differences in these two terms. They then...
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How Do Adjectives Improve Writing?
Using adjectives to create vivid descriptions is the focus of exercises in this resource. A cloze reading activity asks class members to add missing adjectives to passages from Mark Teague's The Lost and Found. They then read Teague's...
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When I Set My Hat at a Certain Angle: Trying on Zora Neale Hurston's Voice to Dress-up Prose
After reading and evaluating examples of prose nonfiction by Zora Neale Hurston and other authors, high schoolers write a personal reflective essay rich in figurative language. By incorporating this strategy, they utilize voice within...
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Quick Writes
Students write on a variety of topics, maximize creative and expository writing skills, develop focused writing, organize ideas, incorporate detail in writing, and exhibit varied and precise word choice.
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The Real Emily Dickinson
Enhance your learners' knowledge of Emily Dickinson and her poetry. Specific questions ask for lines and words from poems. Feedback for an online quiz is available immediately.
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Writing Like an Artist Paints Using "Chasing Vermeer"
Students use artistic words when writing about an object moving quickly past a character who is standing still. In this writing and art lesson plan, students read the passage Chasing Vermeer and base their writing off of it.
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Dialogue Tags/ Synonyms for Said
Sixth graders analyze dialogue tags. In this synonyms lesson students work in groups analyzing a personal narrative. They enter the words onto a classroom chart as well as their notes or journal. The students replace tags with more...
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Johnny Appleseed Reading and Writing
First graders explore language arts by reading a classic story in class. For this word choice lesson, 1st graders read the story of Johnny Appleseed and identify the descriptive words and sentences the author used to entice the reader....
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What's Holding Up the Water?
Students read about the history and locate dams in Arizona. In this Arizona dams lesson plan, students write a summary about what they read focusing on word choice, ideas, conventions, and geography content.
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Sensational Colors
In this writing worksheet, students prepare to write a poem about a color they have chosen. First students think about descriptive words pertaining to their color and the 5 senses. The students then write the poem and evaluate it using a...
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Connotation: "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke
What's happening in this poem? Have your high schoolers participate in an activity about connotation and denotation. They apply the concept of connotation to a reading of Theodore Roethke's poem "My Papa's Waltz." Lead a discussion about...
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Critical Analysis #1: "Videotape" Don DeLillo
In this critical analysis worksheet, students read "Videotape" by Don DeLillo and discuss the relevance of the author and date of publication, the general topic, and determine the type of writing. Students also summarize the work.
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The Fisherman and His Wife
Engage conversation and explore the journey as you challenge young readers to interpret the german folktale, "The Fisherman and His Wife" written by literary brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
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Writing with Vivid Verbs
Students find vivid verbs in literature and use them in their own writing. In this vivid verbs lesson plan, students use a 'Thinking Thesaurus' of major verbs to study common verbs. Students then practice rewriting sentences using vivid...
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Poetry Book
Students study the following terms and concepts: word choice, dialect, invented words, concrete terms, abstract terms, figurative and sensory language. In cooperative groups, they select three of the terms, research them, and pick poems...
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Writing with Style: Six Traits of Good Writers
Fourth graders listen as the teacher reads a picture book that emphasized word choice. They discuss words and how word choice impacts a piece of writing. Students view various passages on the overhead, and highlight adjectives and verbs...
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Text Elements—Vampires
Students explore the tone and style of passages from horror genre literature. In this literary elements lesson, students read The Vampire by John Stagg and the War of the World script by H.G. Wells, Students write about the way the...
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A Pixie Biography Report
Students practice biographical writing after completing research on the subject. In this journalism lesson, students read a story of an important person's life and discuss the important moments along the way. Students utilize their...
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CROSSWORD PUZZLE
Students define from a word list for a literary selection. Using the literary selection, they read the vocabulary in context. They determine the definition of the word as used in context and create a crossword puzzle using the...