Curated OER
Exploring the Power of Puns
Read and analyze a variety of Shakespearean and contemporary puns using Visual Thesaurus computer software. Middle and high schoolers analyze a pun as a class; in small groups they analyze a Shakespearean pun using contextual clues and...
Curated OER
Visual Puns or Composite Imagery
Students discover art that contains composite imagery and visual puns. They create their own picture of composite imagery and explain the visual pun. Students develop skills using the drawing media.
Curated OER
Bird Visual Puns
Young scholars create visual puns. They draw the name of bird from a basket and then create a visual pun illustration based on the bird's name. Students evaluate their drawing using a rubric and then present their work to the class.
STEM for Teachers
Electromagnificent
This physics pun really hertz, but this STEM lesson plan can help. The inquiry-based activity has young scientists create a testable question about electromagnetic strength; plan and implement their own experiments; and record and...
Curated OER
Shakespearean Comedy on Film
This activity will focus on the aspects of Shakespeare's comedy that become more evident in performance. By viewing clips of the same Shakespeare scene in different film versions, high schoolers have the opportunity to engage in a close...
Poetry4kids
How to Write a Concrete or “Shape” Poem
Writers compose an original shape poem. Scholars choose a subject to write about and create a visual representation by forming a corresponding picture using the poem's words.
Curated OER
Making Sense of Homographs
What is a homograph? Develop your students' vocabulary with a word association tool. Language arts classes discover what a homograph is and how it can be used as a visual thesaurus. They discover the other uses for homographs...
Curated OER
AC/DC Basics
Hone their research skills by utilizing the Internet to find the answers to the trivia questions presented in this on-line worksheet. This particular worksheet focuses on questions about the band AC/DC. There are 15 questions posed.
Curated OER
Editorial Cartoons: Gay Rights
Students consider gay rights. In this editorial cartoon lesson plan, students analyze an editorial cartoon by identifying the idioms and puns in the cartoon. Students create their own editorial cartoons.
Teaching Tolerance
Consuming and Creating Political Art
A picture is worth a thousand words, but political art may be worth even more! After examining examples of political cartoons, murals, and other forms of public art, class members create their own pieces to reflect their ideals and...
Curated OER
“The Story of an Hour” Extension Activities: Teacher’s Guide and Notes
Enhance and extend instruction of "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin with one or all of these ideas. You might want to cover characterization and summary, or improve understanding of context clues and irony. You can cover any...
Curated OER
Fantasy / Art Maps
Ninth graders analyze a fantasy art map by Jeremy Anderson, paying careful attention to the way the topographic features of the land are represented. They create a similar map of Sacramento that includes topographical features as well as...
Curated OER
Figurative Language: Simile and Metaphor
What is figurative language? Introduce your young learners to the most popular forms of figurative language: the simile and the metaphor. Start by reading "Willow and Ginkgo" by Eve Merriam, and identify where similes are used. Then look...
Curated OER
Writing a Word Fib Poem
Students write a word fib poem using different word starters and different number of syllabled lines. Students write 6 lines in the poem.
Other
Guess the Homonym
This online game allows students to try and guess a given homonym or visual pun. For each correct answer, the student will get a new homonym to guess.
Martin Lawrence Galleries
Martin Lawrence Galleries: Robert Deyber
Audiences of all ages will love the humor in the artwork of Robert Deyber. Most of his paintings are funny interpretations of famous phrases. In a way, he creates a visual play on words.
Other
Bob's Byway: Glossary of Poetic Terms
Calling itself "unique," Bob's is easy to use, with cross-links throughout, phonetic pronunciation guides when necessary, and many examples and quotations. Click on the letter and scroll for the word.