A reading of Roald Dahl’s Lamb to the Slaughter opens a discussion of justice and fairness. Using a Venn diagram and an Idea Wheel graphic organizer, class members consider the similarities and differences in these two terms. They then...

Here is a good way to use newspapers in the classroom and build a functional vocabulary. Learners are given 26 cards, they write one letter of the alphabet on each. They search the paper to find a name, place, or word for each letter,...

Despite English grammar rules, in the e-world the plural of mouse is mouses. lol. Standard American English is constantly evolving. Introduce your class members to a variety of terms that describe different usage changes (economy,...

What do the words alligator, armadillo, and cockroach all have in common? Each one is an English word with Spanish origins. Introduce young etymologists to the joys of discovering word origins with a lesson that asks them to create a...

Fourth graders work in small groups to become experts on different colonial trades in the eighth instructional activity of this unit. Working toward the long-term goal of writing a piece of historical fiction, young scholars read...

What's the best resource to use when looking up words? Use Visual Thesaurus to see a word's meaning. The class accesses the interactive website and then compares and contrasts the difference between using a traditional dictionary and the...

Students, using a basic word picture dictionary, review the vocabulary terms on the board in conjunction with the picture dictionary and tie the two together for placement association. In addition, they practice using key grammar words...

Play with words and word meanings involving the suffix -er. After reading a sample list of words, young readers look up each one in the dictionary to decide which words refer to people, animals, or objects, or have three or more...

Teams practice decoding and using context strategies to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words. After verifying the meanings of words through the use of dictionaries, the Internet, thesauruses, and other sources, learners write the...

Use online dictionaries to define vocabulary words and create a visualization of word meanings through digital art. Middle schoolers go online to define assigned vocabulary words. They visualize the meanings of the words in photo...

Riddle me this! What do kennings, caesura, and alliteration have to do with the Nowell Codex? Introduce class members to Anglo-Saxon poetry and prepare readers for a study of Beowulf with a series of activities that...

Students demonstrate how to alphabetize animal names. In this word study lesson, students identify animals that live on the farm and conduct a favorite farm animal survey. Students order animal pictures in alphabetical order.

Fourth graders investigate five different reference sources in the Media Center: Atlas, Dictionary, Encyclopedia, Card Catalog (Look Up Station), and the Internet. They decide which is the BEST source to use to answer specific questions.

Students study humpback whale migrations, feeding, social organization, population, scientific investigations and compare humpback whales , research to explore a specific type of whale, and create their own replica of a whale.

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...

Students analyze close readings of poems, looking up words in the dictionary, and discussing the major parts of dictionary definitions, including word origin and parts of speech. They examine sonnets, then compare/contrast their findings.

What information would you find in an almanac that you would not find in an atlas? What is the difference between a dictionary and a thesaurus? Using a Cite Your Sites worksheet on which they record their observations, groups participate...

Seventh graders determine the literal and figurative meanings of idioms and research the history of idioms. In this idioms lesson, 7th graders read two books by Fred Gwynne and select two idioms from the texts to research. Students...

Students explore the online dictionary portion of the EnchantedLearning.com website. They copy pictures and text to create an on-going, student-created classroom book which exposes them to different countries, cultures, animals, etc.

Third graders complete a research project on a weather topic using a variety of resource materials. They demonstrate the use of dictionaries and encyclopedias. They write a report using the research material and grade level appropriate...

Learners examine affirmative action and study the diversity of their own classrooms and communities, then of a particular college or university. They write essays examining how colleges should increase the diversity of their student bodies.

Students examine the continent of Antarctica, then read a news article about the decline in the Antarctic penguin population. In this current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a discussion and vocabulary activity,...

Students define common medical terms. they prepare quizzes on health-related topics to administer to both peers and adults. They write analysis papers based on their findings.

Pupils examine a variety of reference resources when seeking information. They discuss atlases, almanacs, dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauri, online search engines for the Internet, and online library card catalogs. They complete a...