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This activity can be used in conjunction with the book, Freedom on the Menu by Carole Boston. Through the activity, students will gather information about the Greensboro Woolworth Lunch Counter sit-in and how it was related to the Civil Rights Movement. The activity includes links to other resources.

The Flip-a-Chip activity turns ordinary poker chips into a teaching tool, showing students how different affixes and roots can be joined to make words and then placed into a context-rich paragraph. Each set of chips contains two-word roots and two affixes that can be combined into four different words. For example, the prefixes im- and sup- might be written on the two sides of one poker chip, and the roots pose and press on the other chip. The four possible words (impose, impress, suppose, suppress ) are inserted into four blanks in a paragraph according to context clues. After practicing with both real and "virtual" chips (in the Flip-a-Chip online interactive), students work in pairs to create their own set of chips and corresponding paragraph. They exchange their packets to see whether the context clues are strong enough to enable classmates to fill in the blanks correctly.

Alphabats - Syllables is a super fun way for kids to practice phonemic awareness. Click on the bats’ bellies to hear the words, then match the words with the same number of syllables. Match 6 words correctly, then help the bats collect fireflies!

Students will learn how to compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic. Students will complete activities in which they compare and contrast texts and write about what they have learned.

Modifiers are phrases, clauses, or even just words that add a description. In clear sentences, modifiers are next to the target words they are describing. Dangling modifiers are modifiers with no target to describe, which can confuse many readers. This resource provides instruction and practice in evaluating phrases and clauses. 

This classroom resource includes engaging activities to teach basic grammar concepts while developing vocabulary and spelling proficiency. A list of several amusing and informative grammar-themed picture books supply read-aloud examples for a review of nouns and adjectives and an introduction to gerunds. Students themselves refer to the books from the list of materials, plus appropriate dictionaries and glossaries, as they engage in a word-sort activity that provides practice in the spelling changes that can occur when verbs are turned into gerunds. Diamante poems are introduced through handouts and websites, and students compose original, structured poems in this form—first as a class and then independently—using an online interactive tool.  Printable handouts and links are included.

The teacher will present an informational text from the website, ReadWorks. The students and teacher can interact with this non-fiction text by annotating the text digitally. The students will answer the questions associated with the article as an assessment. This learning activity can be used to introduce students to ways that animals use external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs in their environment. This could serve as a precursor to students designing their own survival solution using materials to imitate how animals have solved similar problems. 

Save the king! In this interactive game, students have to determine the theme (or lesson) in the short story. If the students are correct, they get to place one of the Kid Heroes on the battlefield. Using teamwork will lead to success. This classroom resource also includes a quiz, worksheet, and teaching video to help with understanding.

A customer service representative explains how the language you use in an email to customers may be different from the language you use in messages to coworkers or friends. This resource provides instruction and practice in crafting appropriate emails and workplace documents. 

Students' vocabulary is expanded and their writing is enriched when they are encouraged to use a variety of adjectives to help readers "see, taste, and feel" what they've written. In this unit for grades 3 and 4, picture books are used as a springboard for helping students define, identify, and practice using adjectives and synonyms. They develop webbed lists and then put their new vocabulary skills to use by writing form poems.

The teacher will present an informational text from the website, ReadWorks. The students and teacher can interact with this non-fiction text by annotating the text digitally. The students will answer the questions associated with the article as an assessment. This learning activity can be used to provide students with information about liquid water on Earth, serve as reinforcement after students have already learned this concept, or be used as an assessment at the conclusion of a lesson.

In this classroom resource, students will learn the difference between compound subjects and compound predicates. Sometimes a subject may be more than one thing or person. They have more than one noun or pronoun and are called compound subjects. Sometimes one subject may be doing more than one thing, and thus have more than one verb. These are called compound predicates. This resource offers videos, games, and worksheets to help further understand the concept.

Modal auxiliary verbs indicate expressions of belief, attitudes, likelihood, permission, or obligation. They inform the function of the main verb and color the verb on a scale ranging from possibility to necessity.

This resource allows students to practice identifying modal auxiliary verbs.

Students take turns taking home a book bag that includes a stuffed toy, a book to read with their families, art supplies, a topic to discuss, and a journal to complete as a family. The students then return the bag the following day and share their entries with the class. After every student has taken the bag home, the journal is bound into a book for the classroom library. The teacher then selects a new topic and book to start a second rotation. The goal is to invite parents to join their children in these literacy activities.

This informational material from Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government is geared for ages 4 through 8. This Learning Adventure tells the story of the Liberty Bell and can be used when teaching or introducing a lesson about U.S. symbols. Students can read the information in a whole group or individually. The Learning Adventure also contains a link to the National Park Service site with additional resources. 

In this classroom resource, students will learn the rules for forming the past, present, and future tenses of regular verbs. This resource offers informational material, videos, games, quizzes, and worksheets to help further understand the concept taught in this lesson.

This lesson explores reflexive pronouns through a short, fun video and activity.  Reflexive pronouns reflect the subject of the sentence. A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that is preceded or followed by the noun, adjective, adverb, or pronoun to which it refers within the same clause. This resource includes an activity that allows students to practice using reflexive pronouns. 

The Story of the Three Little Pigs is a classic folktale presented digitally in the Children’s Digital Library Foundation’s database of children’s literature. Students may access this book, along with other folktales and pieces of literature, to identify the central theme, message, or moral of the story and explain the meaning conveyed in the text.

In Slaughterhouse-Five, author Kurt Vonnegut describes Tralfamadorian literature as "brief, urgent message[s]—describing a situation, a scene"; when seen all at once, they produce an image of life that is beautiful and surprising and deep" (111-112). Students use this literary perspective to analyze passages from Slaughterhouse-Five and then apply that perspective by creating a compilation album, CD cover, and liner notes that demonstrate their interpretation, understanding, and evaluation of the themes and ideas in the novel.

Students will analyze art and identify time, place, and mood.  They will sketch a setting from a familiar story.  They will use light, medium, and dark values to create a watercolor wash.  Assessment rubric, letter to parents, examples of artwork, and lesson plan included in PDF.  

Do you speak Elvish? How about Klingon? Learn about the history of constructed language in literature in this video from It’s Lit! Tolkien is widely regarded as the most influential author of the fantasy genre… period. But one of the less-discussed aspects of his work is the way Tolkien used constructed language in his writing. Nowadays authors are constantly making up words and languages for the worlds they build, but Tolkien was unique in that he constructed languages first, and then created worlds so his fictional languages would have somewhere to live. Support materials include discussion questions, a “construct your own language” activity, and resources on how to learn Elvish.

Students will examine sentence structure and context to create a language. Students will also examine how Tolkien's cultural perspective influenced the languages he created.