We All Have Things in Common

Maestro Magnificent, swimming pool, magic wand. Persons, places, and things are the focus of a worksheet that asks kids to identify the common and proper nouns.

What is a magic vocabulary square? Use this newly popular method of reviewing vocabulary to engage your class. There's some tricky vocabulary in Things Fall Apart; front-load words like impending, impudent, and pacified to ease the...

On June 26, 1963 President John F. Kennedy delivered his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech close to the Berlin Wall at the Rudolph Wilde Platz. On June 12, 1987 President Ronald Reagan Delivered his famous "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down...

President Ronald Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall" speech, delivered on June 12, 1987 before the Berlin Wall, provides class members with an opportunity to examine three key aspects of informational text: author bias, the use of facts and...

There are so many fascinating topics and concepts to learn about in the world. But where do you start? Begin formulating questions for an argumentative research paper with a guided practice instructional activity. After coming up with...

Most American are familiar with Thomas Paine's impassioned plea about the importance of liberty, but they may not be as familiar with the other ideas put forth in his pamphlet Common Sense. Introduce class members to Paine's...

Have your class attend a funeral for the words they overuse in their writing. They develop a list of alternate words for those overused words, and make an effort to employ alternatives whenever possible. This is a great way to improve...

Practice using words found on the classroom word wall, in vocabulary lists, or on spelling lists with your class. Young readers use clues to find the mystery word in the room. They can tally the points earned from identifying words...

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...

How do you assess what your pupils have learned over the course of the year? Find out how competent they are at reading and analyzing age-level literature with the ideas presented here. Included in this resource are two suggested...