The Swallow and the Other Birds

Help your kids learn their vocabulary with a lesson plan and graphic organizer. After receiving a list of new vocabulary words, learners look up the definitions in dictionaries and fill in the worksheet. Additionally, they include a...

Understanding a word's etymology can really help with decoding and building vocabulary skills. Readers compare and contrast words of similar origins but with different difficulty levels. They focus on prefixes, suffixes, and affixes....

Study the vocabulary from Carl Hiaasen's Hoot with an activity featuring synonyms and antonyms. Kids fill in a graphic organizer for each word, prompting critical thinking as they find additional ways to put the word into context.

Eighth graders participate in a variety of activities to examine the meanings and roots of word derivatives and the meanings of words. Using context clues, they determine the meanings of words omitted from a passage and complete a prefix...

Meant for use with Maya Angelou's first autobiographical volume I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the materials here are designed for a homeschool setting, but they'd suit any classroom or text. Graphic organizers, chapter summary guides,...

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 characteristics make a true friendship? Pupils explore the question when reading "The Swallow and the Crow," Aesop's fable about two birds comparing their feathers. The post-reading graphic organizer encourages thinkers to write...

A video leads off this activity on fables, introducing the class to this important form of traditional storytelling. The group defines fable and hears an explanation of the origin of this type of folk tale. They summarize the story they...

Writers explore vocabulary and expressions used in the English language. They use visual word maps to become aware of the different uses of words which will allow them to more readily interpret texts. Then they listen to/read excerpts...

Allegiance is about more than being on the winning side. Aesop's "The Bats, the Birds, and the Beasts" presents the conundrum that occurs when a bat seeks to join the side of the victors, and learns the consequences of his inaction....