What is Hamlet's attitude towards life and death in Shakespeare's Hamlet? Scholars continue reading the play to answer the question, paying particular attention to Hamlet's most famous soliloquy. By holding a discussion and completing...

"Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle?" Inspired by this quote from the award-winning novel written by Andrew Celements, this instructional activity allows children to invent...

Help your class find their writing voices with this lesson which uses the work of Ralph Fletcher to guide a "Prompt in Reverse" activity. Using the chapter "First Pen" from Fletcher's Marshfield Dreams, learners decipher what they...

Fourth graders look for sensory details and figurative language. In this reading strategy lesson, 4th graders read the story Go Free or Die by J. Ferris and complete a chart with figurative language. They use a word wall in the...

Learners read and analyze figurative language used in William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." They participate in a choral reading of a soliloquy, analyze the soliloquy for figurative language in small groups, and discuss how the reading...

Students find examples of figurative language in "First Rain" in Out of the Dust.  For this Out of the Dust lesson, students takes notes on various type of figurative language and identify examples of each type in the poem.

Students identify figurative language and symbolism in poetry as well as prose. In this literary elements lesson, students read and discuss the role of symbolism in Yellow Man by Moonlight, A Christmas Carl, The House of Wings, and...

Students explore figurative language.  In this figurative language lesson, students look up, define, and give examples of a list of literary terms.

Students explore Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.  In this figurative language lesson, students locate similes, metaphors, and examples of personification in their reading.  Students write down the page numbers of each example...

Explore the folklore of Asia and the South Pacific with this language arts lesson series. Complementing a reading of Catching the Sun: Tales from Asia by Jan M. Mike, this resource supports learners with understanding cause and...

Clement Moore's "Twas the Night Before Christmas" models the power of descriptive language for middle schoolers. They identify the similes and metaphors in the tale and consider what these descriptions add to the story's emotional...

The engagement is in the details. Young scholars learn the benefit of weaving descriptive and sensory details into the fabric of their writing through the activities in this lesson. As their hands explore items concealed in bags, a...

Bring writing to life with this lesson in which elementary and middle schoolers create a display of the imagery they identify in a series of Gary Paulsen books. They read the suggested materials, identify imagery and descriptive...

Use this writing and photography lesson plan in your descriptive writing unit. Elementary and middle schoolers write and create a story line incorporating photos from Inspiration or their own personal photos. They experiment with...

Introduce your class to the delights of nonsense poetry and explore literary devices with the writing of Edward Lear. Learners identify rhyme and meter as well as figures of speech, alliteration, and onomatopoeia in "The Owl and the...

Investigate with your class how similes are figures of speech that use the words as and like as visual terms. They use this knowledge to complete a worksheet where they write some similes of their own. Be sure to download the attached...

Explore point of view and more with a Common Core-designed instructional activity. Learners experience different points of view by representing one of two characters from Esperanza Rising during a partner discussion. They must use...

Helpful for an American literature or history unit, this lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine slavery in the United States. They read slave narratives that were part of the Federal Writers' Project and then conduct their own...

Use a Courbet painting of a cave or tunnel opening to reinforce the importance of descriptive writing. Writers of all ages use sensory details to describe what the scene depicts as they pretend to be in the painting. Then they imagine...

Explore idioms with a chicken theme! Consider doing these activities prior to Thanksgiving, as there's a section about wishbones! First your youngsters will match a short list of idioms with their meanings. Then, give each learner the...

Explore concepts of audience, purpose and symbols in this lesson from Media Smarts that asks students to consider all the functions of music. Through a series of discussions and activities, your class will brainstorm possible functions...

There's nothing like the prospect of writing a scary story to get your middle schoolers' writing juices flowing! In the lesson presented here, pupils listen to scary short stories read to them by the teacher. Then, a discussion ensues...

Just as Bud, from the novel Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, had rules to live by, so does the poem, If by Rudyard Kipling, but how do the two relate? Pupils delve deep into the poem's third stanza, participate in a grand...

To whom it may concern ... Scholars undergo the process of writing a letter to an authority figure. The lesson asks writers to compose a formal letter requesting a music therapy space. Pupils learn how to submit a project proposal to any...