Analyzing Figurative Language and How the Author’s Word Choice Affects Tone and Meaning

When it comes to learning a language and literacy, understanding nonverbal communication is often as important as verbal communication. An interactive body language activity incorporates role play to demonstrate the difference between...

If your language arts students think etymology isn't relevant to their everyday lives, show them a presentation that will prove them wrong! The slideshow provides explanation about various words, roots, and suffixes that have adapted in...

Who gave you grammar homework? Or is it whom? Clarify the meanings of several commonly confused words, including affect and effect, among and between, and then and than with a handout and grammar practice worksheet.

Oh, what fun! Young logophiles and neologists create a dictionary-sounding definition for imaginary words and try to fool their classmates.

Read a sample of creative descriptive writing to your science class. Discuss how writing can be used to record and communicate observations that scientists make. Reading selections and thought-provoking questions are suggested. Also...

The difference between an average piece of writing and an unforgettable piece of writing can lie in the author's word choice. The figurative language in Chapter 2 of Christopher Paul Curtis's Newbery Medal winner, Bud, Not Buddy, is the...

Individuals utilize the strategies practiced in the previous lesson to complete a mid-unit assessment on  figurative language and how Christopher Paul Curtis uses word choice to create meaning in Bud, Not Buddy.

Study the importance of word choice in informational text. Middle and high schoolers locate unfamiliar words and phrases in newspaper articles of their choosing, and use online word sites to explore the definitions and histories of each....

What does "freedom of speech" mean to your class, especially in the context of Internet communications? In round-table discussion format, middle and high schoolers address the issues discussed in "State Legislatures Across U.S. Plan to...

Use the Visual Thesaurus to predict the subject matter of Rick Riordan's book The Lightning Thief. A pre-reading activity encourages middle schoolers to use context clues and word meaning to discover what the book is about. After they...