Curated OER
Press Review
How can word choice affect a political speech? Middle and high schoolers examine the text of the 1999 State of the Union Address, and then determine how newspaper articles and television reports describe and analyze the event. Use this...
Curated OER
Persuasion as Text: Organizational, Grammatical, and Lexical Moves in Barbara Jordan’s "All Together Now"
A thorough lesson plan on persuasive writing takes middle schoolers through several activities, including group discussion, collaborative posters, and independent writing. They compare historical speeches and analyze the persuasive...
Curated OER
Comparative And Superlative
In this adjectives online interactive worksheet, students review and study how to change 20 regular adjectives into comparative and superlative adjectives. Students change 12 adjectives into comparative and superlative adjectives....
Curated OER
Double Comparatives
In this adjectives instructional activity, students review and discuss what double comparative are and how to use them correctly in sentences. Students fill in the blanks with double comparative adjectives in nine sentences.
Curated OER
"The 1,000,000 Pound Bank Note" by Mark Twain
Compare real events from Mark Twain's life to events in the story. Middle school readers identify point-of-view, its purpose, and its reliability by citing two examples. They describe the tone of the story using four examples and...
Curated OER
Comparative and Superlative Adjective
Class members practice using the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives here. A word bank of nine words is the source for choices with which to complete 10 sentences using the comparative or superlative as appropriate. Bad and...
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
Pearl Harbor Activity #2: Why Do Words Matter?
Words matter! That's the big idea behind an activity that asks scholars to replace words in FDR's "Day of Infamy" speech with synonyms. They then listen to a recording of President Roosevelt's address and compare his version to their own.
Curated OER
Comparative Adjectives
In this grammar worksheet, students find members of their class who fit different comparative adjectives statements. For example, "Find someone who has smaller feet than you."
Administrative Office of the US Courts
Snyder v. Phelps
Does the Westboro Baptist Church have the protection of the Constitution when protesting military funerals? High schoolers examine the 2011 Supreme Court case of Snyder v. Phelps before comparing the situation to a fictional scenario of...
Anti-Defamation League
What is the Soul Cap and Why Was it Rejected for Olympic Use?
In 2021 the FINA, the International Swimming Federation, banned using Soul Caps in the Tokyo Olympics. Middle schoolers investigate why the committee made this decision and the resulting backlash, including charges of discrimination and...
K12 Reader
What’s Being Compared?
Can your pupils find the comparative or superlative adjectives in each of these sentences? To complete the exercise, individuals circle the adjectives and then note down the things being compared.
K12 Reader
Comparative or Superlative?
Is this the easiest or hardest exercise for practicing superlatives and comparatives? Your class can find out if it's easier or harder than what they've done before by changing the underlined adjectives into comparatives or superlatives,...
Curated OER
Reading the Play
Do figures of speech enhance a play or story? In small groups, learners locate and describe figures of speech they find while reading a reader's theater play. After making predictions, they describe how the figures of speech make the...
Curated OER
Similes
Similes are a great way to get your writers thinking about descriptive details. They read a brief explanation which covers clichés and the general wording of a simile. Then, learners try a few on their own. First, they complete nine...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Faulkner's As I Lay Dying: Concluding the Novel
As I Lay Dying is a beautiful book and a wonderful vehicle for understanding, interpreting, and comparing themes. The class reads and analyzes the novel, discusses possible interpretations, and characterizations. They compare the themes...
Curated OER
One Grain of Rice
Upper graders read the story One Grain of Rice, and use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast topics found in the story to current event topics today. Groups of three learners work together to create their diagram. The topics they must...
Curated OER
Edgar Allan Poe Short Story WebQuest
Introduce your class to Edgar Allan Poe with a series of mostly self-guided tasks and assignments. Class members follow the list of tasks, starting by watching a video with background information and ending with a compare-and-contrast...
PBS
Martin Luther King Jr.: Civil Rights Leader
Expand class members' appreciation of the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A powerful resource examines King's speeches, writings, and actions that reveal his deep commitment to a nonviolent approach to Civil Rights. Learners watch a...
Jen London
Julius Caesar Funeral Speech Essay Assignment
"Romans, countrymen, and lovers! Hear me for my cause." "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!" As part of a study of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, individuals as asked to compare the funeral speeches of Brutus and Mark...
Curated OER
Fredrick Douglass' Speech on Women's Suffrage
“When a great truth once gets abroad in the world, no power on earth can imprison it, or prescribe its limits, or suppress it.” These words come from Frederick Douglass’ April, 1888 speech to the International Council of Women. One of...
Curated OER
Go Free or Die: Figurative Language
Figures of speech, sensory details, and academic language are all targeted while reading Chapter Two of J. Ferris’ Go Free or Die. First, learners engage in an exercise to practice describing with detail. Then, partners use a chart to...
Curated OER
Comparison of Adjectives
Here is a colorful, cute worksheet to provide your emerging readers with practice understanding and using comparative and superlative adjectives. They fill in cartoon train cars with each form for five adjectives, and underline the form...
Curated OER
Comparativos y Superlativos
Comparative and superlative adjectives are so simple in Spanish! Help your learners understand the basic principles behind comparisons and then reinforce their learning with practice sentences provided on the last thirteen slides.
DK Publishing
Thin, Thinner, Thinnest
Reinforce comparative adjectives and relative size with a drawing activity. Kindergartners study a thin house and a thin balloon, then draw a thinner version of each. They also choose the thinnest bottle and lollipop in a group. Focus on...