Help your pupils discover the power of context clues by teaching the this vocabulary strategy. Designed to go with words from Willa Cather's My Antonia, this exercise focuses on having individuals use their own words to define new...

High schoolers examine denotation and connotation in language, and paraphrase a poem. They read and analyze a sonnet by iam Shakespeare, analyze the attitude and tone, paraphrase a poem, and create a thesis about a poem based on textual...

Conduct research focused on improving a current technology by having students work in groups to investigate improvements that could be made to a particular piece of technology. They list the current problems and attempt to develop...

Combine the study of poetry and non-fiction texts with this complete and ready-to-use six-week unit. After reading numerous poems from local writers and compiling a personal anthology, high schoolers find and read a memoir or biography...

Use this podcast lesson to familiarize scholars with the characteristics, history, and cultural implications of idioms. As part of the Walking Classroom curriculum, kids listen to a 12-minute podcast as they walk around campus. If you...

Engaging and fun, this lesson is a good way to reinforce context clues with this lesson, in which middle schoolers investigate literary puzzles. They apply critical thinking skills to codes in order to solve them. They use a variety of...

Carl Sandburg composed poetry that conveyed a time and place in American Literature and history. Learners identify the literary techniques he uses to describe the historical and cultural context of living in Chicago. They define the...

You can cover literary elements, writing organization, and proofreading skills in this SMART board lesson. Using student paragraphs from a previous assignment, the class reviews the best examples of writing. A SMART board activity guides...

How do you know what a character's personality is like if an author doesn't tell you? With a focus on character development in Esperanza Rising, pupils complete a jigsaw activity to analyze the actions of Mama, Abuelita, and Miguel. Once...

Give this skills-based assessment halfway through your unit on Esperanza Rising. After a brief review, class members take the test, which asks them to show that they know how to analyze the novel independently. They are asked to...

Start off your day with a quick reading comprehension quiz about chapter three of Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan. After they complete the quiz, pupils participate in a discussion and look closely at the text. A strong Common Core...

Students examine how Tennyson and Noyes use words to paint vivid pictures. They read and analyze two poems, complete an online scavenger hunt, complete a worksheet, and write examples of alliteration, personification, metaphor, simile,...

Class members may "think themselves accurs'd" when they first hear of an assignment that asks them to create a motivational speech. After studying the Saint Crispin's Day speech from Shakespeare's Henry V; however, they will count...

Look deeper into the text with a reading strategy based on asking critical thinking questions. While reading Reading the Fountain by Kate Klise, learners think of questions that help them describe, compare, associate, analyze,...

Young writers needn't be self-involved to craft a conceit. Directions for how to craft this form of extended metaphor, models, and a worksheet are all included in the packet.

Students engage in a lesson plan about metaphor and simile while using them in different contexts. They are asked to share some samples that are designed by them to other members of the class. Students practice writing them with the help...

Students practice reading for the gist of a text, improving reading speed, and fostering interest in reading authentic texts. They explore the use of figurative language.

Students explore the use of imagery in writing. In this writing lesson, students create a writing piece that features sensory images without resorting to the use of clichés.

Fourth graders create sentences in a quiz form that have a blank in it for their vocabulary word. In this vocabulary lesson plan, the other students in the class try to figure out which word goes in the sentences.

Do your classes love reading and drawing cartoons? Middle schoolers read an editorial cartoon from a newspaper. They discuss the cartoonist's topic, audience, and purpose. Next, they brainstorm questions they have about the cartoon and...

Work on context clues with your ninth graders in this lesson, which focuses on identifying and analyzing clues to define unfamiliar words. They identify context clues in a passage to recognize words they haven't seen before, and then...

Learners read several magazine articles on the same topic written from different political perspectives, paying particular attention to the diction, syntax, and arguments presented in support the point of view expressed. They then select...

After viewing slides and reading about child labor, young authors compose an original narrative story. They practice note-taking skills and work to effectively engage a reader by incorporating plot, logical order, complex characters,...

Get your pupils' attention with this lesson on similes and metaphors, which features two poems by Tupac Shakur. A SMART board presentation guides them through the lesson, which includes a BrainPop activity (linked). After they have...