Reinforce important reading skills with a set of vocabulary lesson plans. Middle schoolers complete sentences, play word games, finish analogies, and build their growing vocabulary with a packet of helpful and applicable graphic organizers.

Use a fill-in-the-blank lesson plan template to enhance your guided reading lesson plans with details surrounding decoding strategies, fluency and phrasing, vocabulary strategies, comprehension, and more! 

Here are three guided reading lesson plan templates; each designed to meet the needs of a specific level of readers. Levels in focus are emergent, early, and transitional readers. Additionally, prompts to support your small group...

Looking for a lesson that teaches class members how to analyze nonfiction? Use Joseph McCarthy's famous "Enemies from Within" speech as a instructional text. Worksheet questions direct readers' attention to the many historical...

Can we perceive reality or are we chained by preconceptions that limit our vision? Plato’s allegory “The Cave” serves to introduce nascent philosophers to Plato’s dialogues and hopefully to engender a love of ideas and discourse. A...

Whether you are planning on using Of Mice and Men for whole-class reading or as a selection for literature circles; whether you are new to John Steinbeck's novel, or it has long been a part of your curriculum, you...

Design your unit on The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg with a concept and vocabulary analysis resource. It outlines the plot, literary elements, vocabulary issues, and any possible considerations for planning a differentiated...

Fifth graders complete analogies with their spelling words. In this analogies lesson plan, 5th graders give the answers to analogies with their spelling words that contain either le, el, al, er, or, or ar.

Scientific terms can be difficult to remember. This resource suggests developing analogies as a way to make energy terms memorable. After listing new terms on the board, groups develop analogies based on restaurant words, and then share...

Students use analogies to compare synonyms and antonyms. In this writing skills activity, students use the provided synonyms and antonyms to create short stories that they present as plays to their classmates.

Why is it important to use precise language? Participants explore this question in the fourth activity in a series of 15 on effective instruction. Perfect for all content areas, the activity promotes appropriate language choice through...

To demonstrate their ability to comprehend complex text, ninth graders are asked to craft an essay in which they use evidence drawn from "Letter From Birmingham Jail" to analyze how Martin Luther King, Jr. uses rhetorical devices...

Students apply word level skills through shared and guided reading.

Learners locate the literary devices used in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. In this figurative language lesson plan, students first distinguish between similes, metaphors, analogies, personification, etc. Learners...

Use an article about an Orca killing a trainer to help writers complete a persuasive essay. The article, other templates, and models are attached. Scholars divide up into groups of three where each person takes a different role,...

First graders produce a writing based on the story, "Fortunately,". They publish it as a slide show.

Young scholars examine the concept of heroism in this lesson, through personal reflection, group activities and a thoughtful analysis of the documentary, HEROES OF GROUND ZERO. They explore their own understanding of what it means to be...

Young scholars explore the basic steps of writing an informative five paragraph essay. Using a hamburger as an analogy, students discuss the five part method of writing and, given blank hamburger sheets, they fill in the main parts of...

Students identify characters who exhibit conflicting character traits.  In this Crime and Punishment lesson, students identify and discuss characters who have opposing character traits.  Students relate their character study to...

Fourth graders write a narrative from a race car driver's point of view. For this narratives lesson students use the narrative writing format to write about a race car driver's experiences in the Indianapolis 500. The students use a...

Twelfth graders examine the characteristics of transcendentalism. In this transcendentalism lesson, 12th graders determine what this type of writing entails before reading a passage from, Ray Bradbury's, Dandelion Wine. They cite three...

Fourth graders explore an alliterative tale called Four Fanished Foxes and Fosdyke. They listen to the story, then brainstorm their own lists of alliterative words and make their own alliterative tales. Some nice worksheets are attached...