Read Works
Identifying Plot Conflicts
Examine the conflicts in The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson. The strategy outlined here, which could be used for a variety of texts, focuses on the type of conflict, who is involved, and what causes the conflict. Class members...
Curated OER
Lesson 4: Text Features
The ability to use text features effectively can translate to many texts and purposes. Show your class these tools while working with the biography Lost Star: The Story of Amelia Earhart. Explore the different text features within the...
Read Works
Lesson 3: Events and Effects
Class members use the biography Lost Star: The Story of Amelia Earhart, by Patricia Lauber, in order to strengthen their understanding of how events can change a person. While working through the story, pupils will have a chance to see...
Creative Educator
Amazing Animal Alliterations
Creatures can cause creativity! Alliteration can make writing more enjoyable and entertaining. Help your pupils grasp this concept by using animals as inspiration for alliterative sentences. Prepare your class for the activities by first...
Curated OER
Don't Fence Me In
Ensure that your class has a well-rounded understanding of new inventions, in this case barbed wired. Class members, after researching the history and development of barbed wire, assess its impact on cattle and the development of the...
Curated OER
A Field of Beans
Beans, or legumes as they are sometimes called, are the topic for an integrated multi-subject lesson. Youngsters will read, write, observe, and research everything there is to know about beans. They read a bean story, conduct a bean...
Alabama Learning Exchange
As Large As Life. . . A Poster of a Human Body System
Learners explore the major systems and functions of the human body. In this anatomy lesson, middle schoolers make life-size outlines of bodies, diagram body systems, and present their work to their classmates.
T. Smith Publishing
Solar System Fun
Looking for some vocabulary for your unit on space? Check out this 25-word solar system crossword puzzle for ideas. There is no word bank for this puzzle, so pupils will either need prior instruction or a reference material that they can...
Curated OER
Agriculture is a Cycle
What do a bicycle and the life cycle have in common? Cover this and more with the series of cross-curricular activities included in this plan. Learners do everything from making bracelets that represent the life cycle to checking out the...
Curated OER
Mighty Earth Movers
Note that although the publisher lists almost all of the Common Core standards for both math and language arts, you will most likely want to take the general topic and choose which area to focus on. Regarding math, pupils measure worms...
Curated OER
Just Lookin' For a Home
What is a boll weevil? Your class can find out that and more by following the activities included here. Pupils read an article, sing a boll weevil song, add to the song with their own original lyrics, illustrate the song, study the...
T. Smith Publishing
Types of Energy Word Search
Intended for science instruction, this word search could be used to reinforce vocabulary. Class members find the following words: electrical, potential, heat, chemical, gravitational, kinetic, mechanical, nuclear, and radiant. While the...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Focusing Reader Response Through Vocabulary Analysis
This lesson plan enables students to compile a list of vocabulary words in association with a recently read novel. Included in the lesson plan is an overview, practice, objectives, downloadable resources, an interactive tool, and more.
University of South Florida
Fcat Reading Grade 4: Teaching Strategies
This is a great resource that concentrates strategies and student activities in one place in an easy to use format, and can be navigated easily. Find great examples of probable passage, selective underlining, and semantic feature...
University of South Florida
Fcat Express: Contextual Clues
Strategies to help students recognize the meaning of words through contextual clues provided by a standardized test preparation site intended for fourth grade. Includes strategies such as C(2)QU (See Two Cue You), PReP (Prereading Plan),...
Grammar Check
Grammar Check: 5 Weak Words to Avoid & What to Use Instead (Infographic)
An infographic is provided to help students replace ineffective word choices. Students will find a list of words to replace vague words and overused phrases.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Context Clues
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart gives students practice using context to determine the meaning of an unfamiliar word. Included are practice activities and assessment pages.
McGraw Hill
Mc Graw Hill: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use: Use Context Clues
See models of different types of context clues, and practice finding meanings of words in context.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Understand New Vocabulary Within Context (English 6 Reading)
You will learn how to use context (e.g., cause and effect or compare and contrast organizational text structures) to determine or clarify the meaning of unfamiliar or multiple-meaning words.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Harcourt: School Publishers: Multimedia Grammar Glossary
Designed as a complement to Harcourt's Trophies Reading series, this handy grammar glossary allows you to look up grammar terms typically covered in grades 1-5. For each term, you will see a definition, sample sentence (sometimes...
McGraw Hill
Mc Graw Hill Education: Language: Vocabulary Acquisition: Shades of Meaning
This is a PDF learning exercise in which the students order synonyms according to the strength of the word and fill in the blanks in a reading passage with the most appropriate word.
Online Writing Lab at Purdue University
Purdue University Owl: Spelling: Accept vs. Except
A good reference that defines, differentiates, and demonstrates the usage and purposes of these commonly misused English words.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Responding to Comparison/contrast: Word Splash Sentences [Pdf]
For this PDF comparison/contrast lesson, students learn a word splash writing activity which asks students to craft meaningful sentences that utilize content vocabulary words. Students-alone or in groups-examine a collection of...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Special Places to Love: Thoughtful Prepositional Phrases
In this lesson students learn to write meaningful prepositional phrases in order to evoke thoughtful word choice.