Curated OER
Using a Dictionary
When do we use dictionaries? Provide this dictionary scavenger hunt for your youngsters. Third and fourth graders search for words, recording the number of syllables or definition for a variety of words. Get your class using dictionaries...
EngageNY
Resource Materials and Gathering Information: Reading Another “Choice” Text from the Research Folder
Look it up. Scholars use a dictionary and thesaurus to verify the meaning of the research vocabulary words they defined in the previous activity. They then use sticky notes to write a synonym for each word. Finally, individuals choose a...
Curated OER
Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have A Dream" Speech
Invite your class to investigate racism and civil rights by analyzing the great Dr. Martin Luther King's speech. Your learners will read the words from the "I Have a Dream" speech and analyze the political and racial overtones. They will...
Curated OER
Seeing Words in a New Way
What's the best resource to use when looking up words? Use Visual Thesaurus to see a word's meaning. The class accesses the interactive website and then compares and contrasts the difference between using a traditional dictionary and the...
Curated OER
Student Dictionary
Third graders practice dictionary skills. They use a digital camera and insert pictures from a floppy disk into a document. They play a game in which they are handed an anonymous definition of each other and must find each other in class.
Curated OER
Using A Dictionary
Students explore English by completing a word definitions worksheet. In this dictionary instructional activity, students practice locating a list of vocabulary terms in a "Dictionary Race." Students complete a worksheet based upon word...
Curated OER
Using a Database to Organize Vocabulary Words
Students use a database as a vocabulary resource during writing/reading. They preview stories and list unknown works into their reading notebooks. Students find the definitions, and enter their words into a database using a teacher...
Curated OER
Leading into Good Writing
Discuss the importance of a lead in writing with your upper graders. They examine several examples of leads from literature and practice writing leads for pieces of artwork. They then select a topic from a list and write an introductory...
Curated OER
Dictionaries
Students understand the way the dictionary is laid out as well as the purpose for why people use dictionaries. In this language arts lesson, students recognize the need for alphabetical order and are able to find words using a...
Curated OER
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...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment: Text-Dependent and Short Answer Questions: Excerpts from “A Limited Supply”
There's no such thing as an unlimited resource. Scholars complete a mid-unit assessment by reading A Limited
Supply. They answer text-dependent questions and complete a graphic organizer about key terms in the text.
Curated OER
Dictionary Use
Bring dictionaries back into your classroom! Although it's often preferred to look up a word's definition on a computer or smart phone, we still need to practice this important skill. Middle and high schoolers investigate how to use the...
Curated OER
Using Context
Teams practice decoding and using context strategies to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words. After verifying the meanings of words through the use of dictionaries, the Internet, thesauruses, and other sources, learners write the...
Scholastic
Pre-Reading Vocabulary Activities Using "The Gift of the Magi"
The rich language of O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi" is only appreciable if you understand the words. A short lesson reviews 13 words from the story and prompts class members to apply each word and its definition to other situations.
Curated OER
Using Informational Books: Index, Table of Contents & Alphabetical Order
Students recall and use previous knowledge of the library's reference and nonfiction sections. Also they utilize various forms of reference (encyclopedias & dictionaries) and nonfiction books.
Curated OER
My Spelling Dictionary
Develop study skills and improve spelling at the same time. Every time I teach this mnemonic device, the kids thank me. It makes memorizing more manageable, and fun. To remember how to spell difficult words, make up a sentence using...
Curated OER
Dictionary Guide Words: How Do They Guide Us?
Fourth graders, after brainstorming what the word "guide" means, examine how to use guide words in a dictionary to locate words. They define "guide," identify guide words in a variety of dictionaries and locate words using guide words....
Shodor Education Foundation
InteGreat
Hands-on investigation of Riemann sums becomes possible without intensive arithmetic gymnastics with this interactive lesson plan. Learners manipulate online graphing tools to develop and test theories about right, left, and...
Curated OER
What is the Setting of a Story?
First graders explore the concepts of what setting is and how it's determined in a story. They play the KidWorks program to help facilitate the setting in a story. They use resources such as a picture dictionary or word wall to find and...
Curated OER
A Pill with a View
Students brainstorm a list of potential uses for micro-video technologies. After reading an article, they analyze the development of a new pill-sized camera. In groups, they create a children's book that shows them the various systems of...
Curated OER
Can Scientists Discover a Limit to Discovery?
Is there anything left to discover? Evaluate opposing sides of the debate regarding whether or not there is a future for scientific discovery. Middle and high schoolers assess quotations from the articles included to evaluate claims and...
Curated OER
Making an Illustrated Dictionary with Geographic Terms
Students construct a geography dictionary. In this geography lesson, students work in small groups to construct a dictionary of geographic terms. Students use illustrations and descriptions to develop their geographic dictionaries.
Scholastic
Frindle Lesson Plan
"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 lesson allows children to invent their own...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Beauty of Anglo-Saxon Poetry: A Prelude to Beowulf
Riddle me this! What do kennings, caesura, and alliteration have to do with the Nowell Codex? Introduce class members to Anglo-Saxon poetry and prepare readers for a study of Beowulf with a series of activities that...