Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" serves as an exemplar for a mini-lesson on semicolons. Working alone or in small groups, class members first circle all the semicolons in the letter, and then consider how this...

Scholars sound out and write twelve different words. Using Elkonin boxes, pupils say the name of each picture, then write the letters that make each sound.

Can your class convince the townspeople to support the rally in Carl Hiaasen's Hoot? Have your young writers exercise their persuasive writing skills in a lesson that prompts them to write a letter or a speech based on Chapter 18...

Emergent readers use a letter cube to identify, blend, and make words. They roll each of the three-letter cubes, mark down the letters they rolled, then blend the letter sounds together to make a word. They record each word on a...

After kids learn how to write their names, have them explore each letter with a fun worksheet. They write the letters in their names in the left column, then decipher which letters in the alphabet are not in their name. The second page...

Create a picture dictionary for one of William Shakespeare's most famous plays. After readers finish The Tempest, they assign each letter of the alphabet to a concept or character, and add a description and evidence from...

An activity focuses on final sounds sorting. Scholars pull objects out of a bag, identify what letter sound the object ends with, then draw the picture under the appropriate column.

It's no secret that children can be very opinionated, but rather than fight against this natural tendency, embrace it with this primary grade writing project. After a shared reading of a children's book about...

Beginning readers practice identifying alphabet letters using upper and lower case letter tiles. Each class member is given a T-chart, letter tiles, and a name card. They then separate the letter tiles in their name from those not in...

What’s in a name? Letters, of course! Partners place the letters of their names on a Venn diagram. Letters they have in common are named and placed in the overlapping area of the circles, while letters unique to just one of the names are...

Can letter writing really create social change? Pupils create and mail formal letters addressing a specific organization to promote social change they wish to see. Class members reflect on the process and responses they received in small...

Have fun with student photographs in this phonics activity! Learners sort their classmates' photos by initial sound on a large poster board with the alphabet written vertically down the left side. Also provided are various pictures...

The brutality of Bloody Sunday—when non-violent protesters who supported voting rights for African Americans were beaten by police—captured a nation. Young historians examine the letter of one horrified American to Congress to consider...

Scholars take turns writing and identifying letters on a whiteboard. Learner one writes a letter; learner two finds it on the alphabet strip. If they are correct, Mr. Mouse gets to eat that letter, and if they are incorrect, Mr. Mouse...

This three-part quiz tests learners knowledge of the treble clef by asking them to name the parts of the treble clef, to write the letter names under the notes represented, and to write the note names on the correct line or space.

Young scholars show what they know about the alphabet. With two circles—one surrounded by capital letters and one with lowercase—pupils use clothespins to match letters, case to case or the opposite. 

Hand out these project ideas when working with The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Pupils can choose from six different options or propose their own. The idea is that they will complete more than one project to meet the point requirement. The...

There are three spinners to use in this phonic activity. Spinner one contains digraphs, spinner two contains vowels, and spinner three contains consonants. Learners spin each spinner, write down the letters they get, blend them to make a...

It's back-to-school time, and what better way to get learners to know each other than with icebreakers? Bring a list of icebreakers, ranging in grade levels, to the new members of your class. 

Enhance English language skills using the fan-favorite song, "Yellow Submarine" by The Beatles. Scholars predict what the song is about then listen and mark specific words they hear. Playing the song again, participants unscramble...

Visit the Magic Treehouse and take your class on a trip through time with a reading of the children's book Mummies in the Morning. Using the story to spark an investigation into Egyptian culture, this literature unit engages...

What could be better than a play within a play? A study guide for "The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society's Production of 'A Christmas Carol'" has theater-goers share their thoughts on the comedic...

Boost initial, medial, and final sound correspondence. Scholars practice decomposing word sounds using image cards and a worksheet. Learners cut out 10 three-letter images, sound them out, and glue them on the worksheet. Each word is...

Learners view a series of images, then choose digraphs, consonants, and vowels to spell out the object's name on each card.