Curated OER
Parts of Speech: Active Verbs
Students use White Fang to help them study active verbs. In this grammar lesson, students define active verbs and find examples in the the novel White Fang. Students then use ProQuest to research a place they'd like to visit. Students...
Curated OER
Intro to Parts of Speech
Students define eight parts of speech, classify words as specific parts of speech, describe their function, and explain how parts of speech help us to communicate more clearly.
Curated OER
Grammar and Writing: Writing Process and Action Verbs
Students review and revise their writing from a portfolio created during a thematic unit. In this writing lesson plan, students working in pairs examine and revise written pieces using action verbs. They add at least 10 action verbs to...
Curated OER
Writing From the Heart
Young scholars improve their writing skills by identifying people, places, ideas, and things that are important to them. In this writing skills lesson, students discuss things that are important to them. Young scholars use the heart map...
Curated OER
Writing a Persuasive Essay
Students consider the attributes of persuasive essays. In this written communication lesson students examine sample persuasive essays and discuss their impressions of the essays by completing the provided post-reading strategy.
Curated OER
Using Adjectives to Write
Fifth graders examine how to write a story using comparative and superlative adjectives. They listen to the book "Pig Pigger Piggest" by Rick Walton and identify the comparative adjectives used in the story. Students then write a rough...
Curated OER
Add Awesome Alliteration to your Writing
Students practice writing with alliteration, repeating the same letter sound at the beginning of two or more words in a sentence; students also review of adjectives, verbs, and adverbs while creating an alphabet book.
Curated OER
Add Awesome Alliteration to Your Writing
Students explore alliteration. In this writing lesson, students read the book Thank You for the Thistle and create sentences with alliteration. Students create an alphabet booklet with alliteration.
Curated OER
Narrative Writing
Fifth graders study narrative writing. In this language arts instructional activity, 5th graders review how an author uses vivid verbs, imagery, and adjectives to capture reader's attention. Students explore literary devices of...
Curated OER
The Art of Persuasion-Analysis of Argument
Analyze advertising techniques in order to pinpoint persuasive strategies that writers use. These same techniques are then examined in persuasive speeches. You will have to find your own advertisements, but speeches are included. Finish...
Curated OER
Speak Up for Recycling
Are you looking for ways to enhance a persuasive writing or speech unit? Use this lesson to prompt your young writers to investigate a school recycling program. After conducting research, they present a persuasive, well-organized speech...
Curated OER
First Amendment and the Future
Students read the Knight report and discuss key findings before deciding what aspects of the findings students can replicate in their own school and conduct a survey. They write survey questions and test them on sample group before...
Curated OER
Fairy Dictionary
Use artwork to illicit responses in a writing journal, and then present your class with the short list of key terms provided. Can your learners add any of their own key terms? Segue for a second, and read tales such as Peter Pan or...
Curated OER
Analyzing Persuasion
A reading of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech launches a study of rhetorical devices such as hyperbole, allusion, metaphor, simile, personification, connotative language and parallel structure. Class members then...
Curated OER
First Amendment and the Future
Students develop a strategy for furthering the First Amendment interest and knowledge in the school through posters, school-wide announcements, speakers, contests and more during the rest of the school year. Student research about free...
Curated OER
English - "What can I say?" - Sharing Ideas
Prepare pupils to experience an authentic presentation. They will prepare themselves for giving speeches before their classmates. Then they discuss the introduction, body, and conclusion of a speech and then practice the concepts in...
Curated OER
Teaching Grammar Without the Hammer: Five Fun Activities
There are five lessons on teaching grammar here for you to peruse. Two of them work well for kindergartners; one on teaching synonyms and one on teaching parts of speech by reading Tall Tales. These lessons are especially engaging and...
Curated OER
Sentence Train
What child doesn't like trains? Use this fun idea to practice writing. Young readers learn to write complete sentences by using a train graphic organizer made out of construction paper. Each section of the train (engine, boxcar, and...
Curated OER
Collective Nouns and Verb Agreement Practice
Break down subject and verb agreement with this exercise. This activity only deals with present tense verbs and collective nouns. Pupils learn how to make the verb of a sentence agree with the collective noun by reading sentences and,...
Curated OER
Eliminate Weak Verb-Adverb Combinations
Encourage your writers to use sob instead of cry loudly to trade in adverbs for strong verbs. Improve your middle and high schoolers' writing with this humorously written lesson which demonstrates how to remove excessive adverbs.
Curated OER
Fear Factor Fun
Students develop "Fear Factor" stunts using descriptive language. In this writing lesson, students watch clips from the show "Fear Factor" and develop their own stunts. Students write and explain the stunts in vivid language.
Curated OER
Sense Poetry
Access your young poets' senses and emotions with this activity, which guides them through the process of writing a "sense poem." After working on a sense poem as a class and modeling the procedure, individuals work on their own poems...
Curated OER
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Made Easy
Middle and high schoolers check their writing for pronoun-antecedent agreement. After identifying the pronouns in their writing, they then complete a table with the pronouns and corresponding antecedents, making revisions as necessary.
Curated OER
Recipe for Sensational Sentences
'Cook-up' sensational sentences with your class. They expand sentences by adding more descriptive words. Then discuss the importance of using appropriate grade level language in daily speaking and writing.