Provide scholars with an opportunity to practice summarizing text with a two-page learning exercise. Learners read poems, share stories with their peers, and summarize their new-found-knowledge. 

The ability to analyze an argument is a skill emphasized by the Common Core standards. Offer your class an opportunity to develop and hone their skills by providing them the testimonies in an Oregon court case. After reading the facts of...

Are you teaching the comma rules in your classroom? This resource packet covers several comma rules, gives examples of each, and provides short practice opportunities for your learners. Answers are not included. 

What is a proverb? This is the leading question of this resource. First, explore proverbs and their meanings. Then, read aloud The Hidden Feast: A Folktale from the American South by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss and partake...

Check out a resource made up of two separate exercises. The first page lists a series of higher-level questions about "The Inn of Lost Time" by Lensey Namoika. Use the questions to encourage discussion or as an assessment. Since they...

If the Lorax were to write a letter, what would he write? Introduce your class to systems and feedback loops through the whimsical stylings of Dr. Seuss. Learners take on the Lorax's point of view to write a letter, among other activities.

The beginning, a very good place to start, is also a very difficult thing to craft. Provide your writers with this handout that identifies, and provides examples of, six different types of narrative leads.

Inspire thoughtful journal entries with these detailed journal writing prompts. The resource includes 24 prompts that require learners to write expository, persuasive, and sometimes creative journal entires.

What was Shakespeare's intent? That is the question at the heart of a summer assignment designed for AP English Literature. Class members focus on five scenes from The Tempest and compare the interactions of Prospero, Caliban,...

Scratching your head when it comes to engaging writing prompts? Check out a list of prompts designed for middle school classes, which includes topics for persuasive writing, expository writing, how-to essays, personal narratives, and...

Socratic seminars are a great way to encourage the development of critical thinking, speaking, and listening skills. And Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is a perfect text for such a seminar. Use the questions in the packet to...

Promote the most positive reading test-taking strategies to your third graders. A six-question practice test suggests using context clues, underlining words, rereading, and using process of elimination to choose the best answer when...

Natalie Babbitt's award winning fantasy, Tuck Everlasting, is the anchor text in a unit plan that focuses on identifying similes, metaphors, imagery, and personification in the text and analyzing how these elements effect the...

Students watch the News Ohio video about Lincoln Junior High School. They write a reaction paper, explaining what effect the studying environment has on students. If the classroom was in a basement, perhaps a little dark and damp, would...

Explore the history of the American novel in the contexts of literature and US history. How does a novel or piece of writing from a particular time showcase the mood during that historical period? After conducting research and discussing...

Isn’t it ironic that many situations labeled ironic aren’t? Properly labeled examples of verbal, dramatic, and situation irony are defined and illustrated in a short, animated video that uses passages from literary works as models. The...

Sixth graders identify and define onomatopoeias using a SMART Notebook embedded with the magic eraser, magic mirror and magic glasses. For the final product, Students create either a comic strip with examples of onomatopoeias.

Proficient English language learners or native English speakers develop vocabulary with this five-page packet. The first page contains six fill-in-the-blank questions, and learners must decide which word or words best completes the...

In this idioms and slang activity, students answer questions about where they hear idioms and slang terms where they live. Students answer 15 questions, and fill in a chart for what the slang terms mean.

In this literary terms worksheet, learners define and discuss ten literary terms associated with literature and complete a word search puzzle.

In this online interactive English practice worksheet, students use their problem solving skills to answer 10 multiple choice and fill in the blank questions. Students may submit their answers to be scored.

In this online interactive English practice worksheet, students use their problem solving skills to answer 10 multiple choice and fill in the blank questions. Students may submit their answers to be scored.

In this idioms quiz worksheet, students complete multiple choice questions where they choose what the idioms means. Students complete 10 problems total.

In this idioms worksheet, students examine 7 pictures and read the first half of sentences about them. kids read the 4 choices of common idioms and select the one that best completes the sentence. Example: Before exams students (burn the...