English/Language Arts

This section contains lesson plans and activities for the classroom and at home plus links to informative and educational sites.

See us working in class!

Standardized Test Practice

Grammar, Spelling,  and Vocabulary Skills

D is for Dictionary - What is the difference between a dictionary and a thesaurus?

Idioms Are Intriguing - Be careful what you say!

Spelling Lesson - Practice spelling skills for Standardized Testing

Standardized Test Practice:

Use these pages to practice the skills that are assessed on Standardized Achievement Tests.  These quizzes are self-correcting, interactive, and cover a variety of topics.

Reading

• 1.0 - Word Analysis and Systematic Vocabulary Development - Students use their knowledge of word origins and word relationships, as well as historical and literary context clues, both to determine the meaning of specialized vocabulary and to understand the precise meaning of grade-level-appropriate words.

  Vocabulary/Concept Development - The Same Words with Different Meanings

  Vocabulary/Concept Development - How Do You Know What an Unfamiliar Word Means?

  Vocabulary/Concept Development - Different Words with Similar Meanings?

  Vocabulary/Concept Development1 - How Do You Know What an Unfamiliar Word Means? (From Romeo and Juliet)

  Vocabulary/Concept Development2 - How Do You Know What an Unfamiliar Word Means? (From Romeo and Juliet)

  Vocabulary/Concept Development3 - How Do You Know What an Unfamiliar Word Means? (From Romeo and Juliet)

  Vocabulary/Concept Development4 - Analogies (From Romeo and Juliet)

  Vocabulary/Concept Development5 - How Do You Know What an Unfamiliar Word Means? (From Romeo and Juliet)

   Word Analysis and Vocabulary (1.2 and 1.9) - The History of the Internet

• 2.0 - READING COMPREHENSION (FOCUS ON INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS): Students read and understand grade-level- appropriate material. They describe and connect the essential ideas, arguments, and perspectives of the text by using their knowledge of text structure, organization, and purpose.

  Reading Comprehension and Literary Response - "Sister Talk" from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

  Reading Comprehension - "Contrabands at the Nation's Capitol" - Read about the Civil War and practice comprehension skills with the Quiz (2.3, 2.4, and 2.5)

  Following Directions - How to Apply for a library card and learn how to follow directions at the same time!  Includes Interactive Quizzes for New York, Boston, Chicago, and San Jose

• 3.0 -  LITERARY RESPONSE AND ANALYSIS: Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature that reflect and enhance their studies of history and social science. They clarify the ideas and connect them to other literary works.

  Reading Comprehension and Literary Response - "Sister Talk" from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

  Literary Response and Analysis - As you read a paragraph or a story, you can analyze or use the characters actions and words to learn more about the character him/herself.

  Vocabulary and Concept Development, Narrative Analysis, Language Study, Creative Writing -

  • Romeo and Juliet lesson plans, activities, and Interactive Quizzes

    • Act I

    • Act II

    • Act III

    • Act IV

    • Act V

Writing

• 1.0 - Writing Strategies - Students write clear, coherent, and focused essays. Writing exhibits awareness of audience and purpose. Essays contain formal introductions, bodies of supporting evidence, and conclusions. Students successfully use the stages of the writing process, as needed.

   Understanding the Major Theme of a Written Composition (1.3 Writing Strategies and 1.5 Written...English Language Conventions) - What is the Internet, Anyway?

   Writing Strategies (2.1) - The Year 2000 and the Internet

• 2.0 - Writing Applications (Genres and their characteristics - Students write narrative, expository, persuasive, and descriptive text of at least 500 to 700 words. Student writing demonstrates a command of standard English and the research, organizational, and drafting strategies outlined in Writing Standard 1.0.

  Vocabulary and Concept Development, Narrative Analysis, Language Study, Creative Writing -

  • Romeo and Juliet lesson plans, activities, and Interactive Quizzes

    • Act I

    • Act II

    • Act III

    • Act IV

    • Act V

Written and Oral English Language Conventions

• 1.0 - WRITTEN AND ORAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS: Students write and speak with a command of standard English conventions that are appropriate to each grade level.
  • Sentence Structure
  • Grammar
  • Punctuation
  • Capitalization
  • Spelling

  Written...English Language Conventions - When and what words do you capitalize?

   Understanding the Major Theme of a Written Composition (1.3 Writing Strategies and 1.5 Written...English Language Conventions) - What is the Internet, Anyway?

   Practice Spelling Skills while learning about Coyotes.  Includes an INTERACTIVE QUIZ - Sit a Spell with Some Coyote Tales

  Spelling Lesson - Practice spelling skills for Standardized Testing

Listening and Speaking

• 1.0 - LISTENING AND SPEAKING STRATEGIES: Students deliver focused, coherent presentations that convey ideas clearly and relate to the background and interests of the audience. They evaluate the content of oral communication.

• 2.0 - SPEAKING APPLICATIONS (GENRES AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS): Students deliver well-organized formal presentations employing traditional rhetorical strategies (i.e., narration, exposition, persuasion, and description). Student speaking demonstrates a command of standard English and the organization and delivery strategies outlined in Listening and Speaking Standard 1.0.

Written Language and Writing Strategies

Acrostically Speaking - Express yourself in a form of poetry from ancient times.

Cross-Write - Create your own crossword puzzles

Debate Topics for the Language Arts Classroom - Grades 5-8

Investigating Web Sources - THE WEB AND RESEARCH: THE PITFALLS VS. THE POTENTIAL

Web Research - Citing Web Resources

Web Research II - Investigating Sources

Weekly Writing Activities - Integrate Language Arts and History-Social Studies

Literature and Comprehension

Fables to Capture Your Fancy - Who was Aesop and why are his fables so popular?

Following Directions - How to Apply for a library card and learn how to follow directions at the same time!   Includes Interactive Quizzes for New York, Boston, Chicago, and San Jose

How to Buy a Car - Research skills, following directions, and more!

Once Upon A Time - A Web Quest on Fairy Tales, Fables, Myths, and Legends

Robert Louis Stevenson - The life and works of a great author

Romeo and Juliet lesson plans, activities, and Interactive Quizzes

• Act I

• Act II

• Act III

• Act IV

• Act V

Reading Comprehension - "Contrabands at the Nation's Capitol" - Read about the Civil War and practice comprehension skills with the Quiz (2.3, 2.4, and 2.5)

Sister Talk - Lesson Plans, activities and Internactive Quiz for Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

STAR WARS: The Phantom Menace and MYTHOLOGICAL STORYTELLING

Storybook Characters - Classic books and their characters

Tales Told and Retold - Storytellers and the histories of people, places, and events

The Witch of Blackbird Pond - A complete novel unit for teaching this historically important book.  Includes a complete student study guide as well as teacher lesson plans and ideas.

Poetry

The Road Less Traveled - Robert Frost, American Poet

• Poetry - Poetry from the Carnegie-Mellon English Server