Santa Ana Unified School District
The Giver
Wouldn't it be great to live an a community without pain, without danger? Such a society is the goal of the community in The Giver. Using Lois Lowry's dystopian novel as the core text, class members read primary source materials...
College Board
The Departure
Scholars learn about the Hero's Journey as they read Ray Bradbury's "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh." They analyze the story's structure and narrative techniques. Finally, they write summaries of the text's central idea and use their...
Curriculum Corner
8th Grade ELA "I Can" Statement Posters
Eighth grades can master the ELA Common Core standards! Show your learners the connection between classroom activities and assignments and the standards with this set of "I Can" statement posters. Each standard has been rewritten as an...
Curriculum Corner
8th Grade ELA Common Core Checklists
How close are your eighth graders to mastering the ELA Common Core standards? Keep an eye on progress with these charts, which include every eighth grade identifier and full standard text. As you move through the year and teach,...
Curated OER
Composition in Journals
Carlos Fuentes’s The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait and Jaspre Bark’s Journal of Inventions: Leondardo da Vince serve as models for an assignment that asks class members to create a personal journal they will use...
Curated OER
Leveled Vocabulary for And Then There Were None
Chaotic, perjury, tenacious, vague, predatory, idiosyncrasy. Using Marzano and Brown’s six steps of direct instruction for vocabulary (choose, restate, illustrate, use, discuss, play) readers of And Then There Were None engage in a...
Pennington Publishing
Vocabulary Worksheet #1 & #2
These two worksheets cover several grammatical topics. Pupils work on words with multiple meanings, Greek and Latin word parts, word connotations, academic language, and more. The result is seven quick exercises that could be used...
Library of Congress
Loc: How to Find a Novel,etc. Without Knowing Its Title or Author
Use this guide to help identify a literary work when they know only its plot or subject, or other textual information such as a character's name, a line of poetry, or a unique word or phrase. Trusted databases, library catalogs, and more...
Knowledge Share
Super Kids: Vocabulary Builder
Pick your grade level and learn a word a day to build your vocabulary. Includes PSAT and SAT Vocabulary Preparation. iPhone and iPad apps are available for a small fee.
Other
Thinkmap Inc.: Visual Thesaurus
The most visual thesaurus you will ever see! Watch words become alive and move in front of your eyes. This resource offers a trial version free, which only allows you to look up a certain number of words before it makes you pay....
Other
Encyberpedia: The Living Encyclopedia
An exhaustive list of links to dictionaries, encyclopedias, glossaries, languages and thesaurus on the web. L.9-10.4c References, L.9-10.4d Verify meaning, L.11-12.4c References
Other
A. Word. A. Day
Still another site offering you a word a day to build vocabulary and understanding of new words. You can subscribe for free, or check out the archives.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Vocab Tip: Create a Sentence
This video lesson provides a tip to learn new vocabulary. Look up the word in online dictionary, and then create a short sentence using the word including context clues and a familiar topic. Real Player is required.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Vocab Tip: Say It Out Loud
This video lesson offers a tip for learning new vocabulary words by saying the word and its definition aloud. This stimulates the brain and activates prior knowledge which helps you remember the word. It also covers what to do if you...
Other
Cambridge University Press: Cambridge Dictionaries Online
Search this online dictionary which includes the Cambridge International Dictionary of English, American English, Dictionary of Idioms, and Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs and English/Spanish translations. L.9-10.4c References, L.11-12.4c...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Reference Materials Printed and Electronic
Find out how to use dictionaries, glossaries, and thesauri in order to determine meanings of words and phrases, including their denotations, connotations, and etymologies.
![Bbc: Skillswise: English: Reading: Dictionaries and Indexes Quiz: Basic [Pdf] Unknown Type](http://content.lessonplanet.com/resources/thumbnails/411275/large/bwluav9tywdpy2symdiwmduymc0ymtywmc0xazayogvmlmpwzw.jpg?1589993586 "Bbc: Skillswise: English: Reading: Dictionaries and Indexes Quiz: Basic [Pdf] Unknown Type")
BBC
Bbc: Skillswise: English: Reading: Dictionaries and Indexes Quiz: Basic [Pdf]
Quiz testing basic alphabetization skills required for real-world application. Three levels of difficulty with answers provided.
Other
Visuwords: Visuwords Online Graphical Dictionary and Thesaurus
Visuwords is an online graphical dictionary which you must see to believe! It is highly interactive and allows you to create diagrams, to drag and drop, pass over words to see their meanings, and much much more. It can be as easy or as...
Love To Know Media
Your Dictionary: Specialty Dictionaries
This site offers links to over 100 dictionaries and glossaries on a huge variety of subjects. L.9-10.6 Vocabulary
Other
Heinle: Newbury House Dictionary of American English
The Newbury House Dictionary provides simple and clear definitions. Also includes sample sentences, idioms, and a wide array of cultural facts and figures. Students may also view photographs related to the words.
Merriam-Webster
Merriam Webster: Word of the Day
This daily resource gives the word for the day, definition, example sentence and a "Did you know?" about the word.
BBC
Bbc: Skillswise: Dictionaries and Indexes
This Skillswise site focuses on using dictionaries and indexes. Included are a video about why using these tools is important, fact sheets and worksheets about using them, quizzes on the information presented, and a dictionary game. The...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Understanding New Vocabulary Within Context
This lesson focuses on ways to understand new vocabulary words in context. It provides an introduction with examples, information about how our language changes and how words get into the dictionary, and how to look outside the word to...
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago: Roget's Thesaurus Search Form
Enter any word and get tons of words that mean the same thing (or close to it)