Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
A Mini lesson on Semicolons
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" serves as an exemplar for a mini-lesson on semicolons. Working alone or in small groups, class members first circle all the semicolons in the letter, and then consider how this...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
“Double Double Speak Speak”
Bilateral suborbital hematoma? Call an audible? 404? Have fun with “the twittering or warbling of birds,” or as 14th century French speakers would say, have fun with “jargon.” Groups match specialized jargon with plain speech, decode...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
“Just a Minute” Focus: Adapting Speech
A little bit complicated, but a whole lot of fun. Show your class an episode of the British television game show Just a Minute. After an explanation of the rules (no repetition, hesitation, or deviation) groups develop topics, based on...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
“Tell Me a Story”: Moving from Reading to Writing
Narrative essay writing is the focus of a series of exercises that model for learners how to not only read a narrative, but how to also examine the techniques fiction writers use to create a setting, develop their characters, represent...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Evaluating Media Sources
Just how much influence did television have on the results of the 1960 presidential election? Media critics contend that the results were all about how the two candidates appeared on the screen. Give your young historians a chance to...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Poetry Aloud/Poetry Out Loud
To appreciate the value of seeing and hearing a poetry performance, groups prepare readings of selected poems and then compare and critique their interpretations and videotaped versions of the same poem. Included in the resource are...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Focus: The Paideia Seminar
Compelling discussions are the result of open-ended, challenging questions. An introduction to Paideia discussions includes explicit directions about how to prepare readers and how to model the kinds of questions they should develop in...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Informational Text: The Dred Scott Decision
Looking for a performance assessment that asks individuals to demonstrate their competency in writing about informational text? Use Frederick Douglass' essay "On the Dred Scott Decision," and an excerpt from Abraham Lincoln's 1857 speech...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Reading Literature - The Ruin
Cross-comparison, the technique of focusing on two different texts with the same themes, motifs, events, etc., is employed in an exercise that asks groups to examine two different translations of “The Ruin,” a poem, written in Old...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Investigation: Water Wheel
Middle school scientists construct a working water wheel from an aluminum pie pan. Because of the sharp edges on the cut aluminum, this activity is for mature learners only. You could have your class compete to see whose wheel can lift...
English Linx
Commas Worksheet (Part 1)
One of the basic rules of commas is that they are similar to pauses that occur in speech. This is what this worksheet practices. The basic rules of commas will have to be reviewed before the page can be issued, but when it is in use, you...
Curated OER
Context Clues Worksheet (Part 1)
Practice using context clues to determine the meaning of specific words. Learners read a sentence and write the meaning of the underlined word on the line below each sentence. By practicing this skill, class members will soon be ready to...
Curated OER
Context Clues Worksheet (Part 2)
One way you can help your learners with reading comprehension is by teaching them how to use context clues to help them figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words. Here is a resource that asks class members to practice that very skill....
English Linx
Four Kinds of Sentence Worksheet
Sentences are more than just a group of words that have a subject, verb, and predicate. Introduce the four kinds of sentences to your young writers and have them practice their new skills with a activity. Clear examples and definitions...
English Linx
Points of View Worksheet
Scholars need to learn as early as possible the different types of point of view, because one cannot speak in the second person for his entire life—it would be very rude. This covers first, second, and third person. The examples are...
English Linx
Commas Worksheet (Part 2)
Imagine the world if English speakers did not understand that commas are similar to pauses when you speak—it would be a run-on world that is closer to the apocalypse then we would like to admit. Do your part to keep humanity alive, and...
English Linx
Points of View Worksheet
Put your learners' skills in identifying point of view to the test (or just practice) with an activity that has them identify the point of view in a story by giving three textual examples. The directions are clear and examples of first...
Curated OER
Context Clues Worksheet (Part 3)
Ask your pupils to become amateur detectives and use clues to determine the meaning of words. Once they have analyzed the clues, they write the meaning on a provided blank line. If they internalize this process, they can use context...
Curated OER
Analyzing Logos
Students analyze common logos they see daily and describe what the logos bring to mind. They redesign a company logo incorporating the company's philosophy into their sketches. Students present their findings and redesign to the class.
Curated OER
Making and Breaking the Grid
High schoolers examine the grid in terms of a method of organization in our society as well as graphic design. In this "Making and Breaking the Grid" lesson, students design solutions to common problems and draw conclusions about...
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...
Student Handouts
Comparative and Superlative Adjectives Worksheets
Great, greater, greatest! Invite your learners to practice their comparative and superlative adjectives with these grammar worksheet.
Prestwick House
Connotative vs. Denotative Meanings
Besides the dictionary definition, words also carry the added weight of meanings that are inferred or implied, meanings conferred on words, or connotations. To gain an understanding the importance of connotation, class members engage in...
Curated OER
Access Ramp
Just about every public building that your students are familiar with has an access ramp which complies with ADA requirements. As it turns out, designing such a ramp is an excellent activity to incorporate slope, the Pythagorean Theorem,...