Curated OER
Structure and Meaning Cues
First graders use cues to identify unknown words. They will learn strategies to assist them in decoding while reading. Then they discuss how to listen to themselves read in order to decide whether or not the word makes sense in the...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 2: Unit 1, Lesson 12
Sticks and stones may break bones, but words matter. Scholars analyze words in paragraphs from Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail." They use new vocabulary words and discuss how King's words develop and support his...
Curated OER
Mystery Words
In this language arts lesson, 8th graders verify the meaning of a word in its context, even when its meaning is not directly stated. After a class discussion on how to use context clues, students pairs are given a worksheet of "mystery...
Curated OER
It's Not All Greek to Me
Learners find out the meaning for prefixes used in math vocabulary. By dissecting words used in everyday math, they figure out what the prefix indicates and what the word means. A variety of well-organized worksheets and activities...
Curated OER
My Antonia: Magic Squares (Vocabulary Strategy)
Help your pupils discover the power of context clues by teaching the this vocabulary strategy. Designed to go with words from Willa Cather's My Antonia, this exercise focuses on having individuals use their own words to define new...
Novelinks
The Grapes of Wrath: Vocabulary Activity
Readers locate unfamiliar words in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and teach these words and their meanings to class members.
Curated OER
The Lightning Thief: Vocabulary Strategy
Take an in-depth look into the vocabulary from the novel, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. With a list of words to choose from, scholars discover the definition, origin, stories associated with the...
Ohio Department of Education
Word Origins
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....
Novelinks
The Color of Water: Word Square Instructions
Immaculate, accumulation, dissipation. Vocabulary drawn from chapter 16 of James McBride's memoir, The Color of Water, can prove to be challenge for readers. To help kids understand the meaning of these words and what they add to the...
EngageNY
Reading for Gist: “Middle Ages” Excerpt 1
Dig deep. Scholars dig deep for meaning while reading Middle Ages Excerpt 1. They begin by finding unfamiliar words and adding them to a word catcher. Pupils then take a close look at adversity in the text and complete an anchor chart.
Curated OER
Inferring Vocabulary Meaning
Explore the meaning of unknown words! Read All I See with your class, having them complete the inference chart provided while reading. They select unknown words, guess their meanings, and identify what other words or pictures helped them...
Curated OER
Define Geometry Terms
The Common Core is intended to help all children meet high academic standards. Here is a Common Core designed lesson that is intended for learners with communication or language difficulties. The lesson is written in a narrative style...
Curated OER
Guide Word Sentences
Learners write sentences using dictionary guide words, putting two guide words from the same page in the same sentence. They demonstrate creative-writing and vocabulary skills to write sentences using dictionary guide words.
Curated OER
Mythological Word Origins
No wonder the ship was called the Titanic. An investigation of Norse, Roman, and Greek Mythology provides insight into mythological characters and corresponding words in the English language. A close look at roots, prefixes, and suffixes...
Curated OER
Using the Sounds of Words Reading Task
Young readers demonstrate phonemic awareness in words and blends, and recognize 100 high-frequency words. Use a nursery rhyme to point out rhyming words, and change the words by putting a new letter at the beginning. Each learner will...
EngageNY
Continued Close Reading of Rain School: Text-Dependent Questions and Vocabulary
The engaging story Rain School is further explored in the third lesson of a larger unit that explicitly teaches close reading skills by answering questions whose answers can only be found inside the text. Through teacher modeling and...
Curated OER
ASL: Building a functional vocabulary
Best resource ever! Teaching and learning to teach ASL just got easier. For special education teachers or those working with hearing impaired students, this instructional activity provides story and time telling practice using ASL. Each...
Curated OER
Breaking News: English Athlete's Hairstyles
Practice vocabulary and speaking skills in this ESL reading comprehension lesson plan. Middle and high schoolers participate in a number of before, during, and after reading activities based on an article entitled "Footballer Sent Off...
Curated OER
Latin Roots fin, sed, fer: Context Story (Advanced)
Several vocabulary words are joined together in a cohesive paragraph that can be played via audio clip for your class. Pauses in the audio allow listeners to repeat the target words to emphasize correct pronunciation. As the audio is...
Curated OER
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Vocab Squares
Creatively develop and reinforce new vocabulary from the book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, using these vocabulary squares. Each square is divided into four quadrants asking scholars to input the word, a picture,...
Curated OER
Rooting One's Way to Meaning
Discover the Virtual Thesaurus with your class. They use the Virtual Thesaurus to assist them in an inquiry-based approach to discovering the meanings of some common Latin and Greek roots. Each child then teaches a particular root and...
Curated OER
The Visual Thesaurus and the SAT
Demonstrate strategies for tackling unfamiliar vocabulary words in preparation for the SAT. Using Visual Thesaurus computer software, middle and high schoolers interpret contextual clues, solve sample sentence completion questions, and...
EngageNY
Synthesizing Text Details to Explain Relationships: “Medicine and Healing”
After reading the section about medicine and healing in The Inuit Thought of It, leaners determine what they feel was the most important resource to surviving in the Arctic environment. They support their opinions with details from the...
Curated OER
Using Analogies to Improve Vocabulary
Ninth graders analyze the relationships for pairs of words in analogical statements to infer word meanings. In this word meanings instructional activity, 9th graders complete an analogy pre-assessment, study a chart for using analogies...