Show Don't Tell

After examining winning entries to the Nicholas A. Virgilio Memorial Haiku Competition, young poets try their hand at this fixed form.

The haiku, one of the most popular fixed forms, is the subject of this writing activity, the seventh in a series of ten poetry exercises.

Similes and metaphors make writing more beautiful and detailed, but can be a little harder to decipher during a first reading. Use a passage from The Man Who Loved Words to show young readers how to think through passages that...

Spread the message of recycling while teaching your English language learners new vocabulary and practicing verb tenses. Included here are four lesson plans for each level (beginning, intermediate, and advanced) as well as accompanying...

To examine the “New English” Chinua Achebe uses in Things Fall Apart, readers complete a series of worksheets that ask them to examine similes, proverbs, and African folktales contained in the novel. Individuals explain the meaning...

S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders is well known for its relatable characters and plot, but don't forget how effective the book's figurative language can be! Check out an interactive resource that explores how figurative language comes...

Turn grammar practice into a game, a video game this is! Scholars show what they know about figurative language with a video game that takes them through a land filled with coins, magic, and animals. Concepts include similes,...

Use art museum paintings as inspiration for your class's creative writing works. Observing the paintings closely, middle and high schoolers list details and write descriptions. Their completed stories are displayed on bulletin boards...

A haiku is the focus of an activity that challenges scholars to draft an original poem. Authors discover the origin and components of a haiku, read three example poems, then follow six steps to compose their own. 

How did modern language evolve over the course of history? Discover the roots of the English language, spoken by over three billion people in the world today, and explore how historical conquests and intercultural exchanges are...