When do you need to use formal language, and when is it cool to speak informally? Read these sentences and use a grid to help decide. This clever tool is followed by ten sample sentences to identify as formal or informal, perfect for...

Have hearty humor with a handy, helpful handout! Kids work on their alliteration skills with a figurative language learning exercise that focuses on alliterative adjectives and phrases. After kids add nouns to ten adjectives, they create...

If you've ever wished you could respond to an author's message, an instructional activity that connects three poems with the same concept will appeal to you. Based on the first few lessons' focus on Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate...

Learners describe idioms and their use in everyday language. They describe the difference between literal and idiomatic meanings. In groups, students use iPhoto to create books that explain and illustrate a variety of idioms describing...

A study of onomatopoeia for 5th graders is here for you. Pupils discover that the use of highly descriptive language makes it possible for readers to picture objects in their minds. After engaging in a class discussion and listening to...

Reading and comprehending a poem is a lot different than doing the same for a piece of fiction or an informational text. As part of a sample English language arts examination, readers put their skills to the test by reading passages in...

An English Language Arts Reading Comprehension Practice Test for Grade 10 asks scholars to read a poem and answer two multiple-choice questions about the poem. They finish the task by responding to an open-response essay question. 

Students view the film "Nell" and analyze it for presentation of language pathologies and dialects. They consider the definition of dialect, research phonetic representation of dialects and observe their own communities for speech patterns.

In this language of algebra worksheet, 8th graders solve and complete 6 different problems that include using different terminology to illustrate algebraic problems. First, they match the pictures on the right with the correct algebraic...

This comprehensive end-of-year language arts test requires that sixth-graders demonstrate their listening, writing, grammar, spelling, and punctuation skills. It includes 9 essay/short answer questions; however, the story, "A Winning...

A brief passage about the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo is accompanied by an array of language activities for ELD: cloze exercise, phrase matching, word jumble, multiple choice, sequencing, interview, group presentation, fluency writing,...

Everyone loves food! Help your English language learners pick up some vocabulary with a series of activities based around cognates and food. Pupils practice each word and focus on the words in-depth by filling out Frayer model...

Pictures often reveal different meanings. Scholars analyze the images in Eight Days and discuss how they add meaning to the text. Readers answers questions about how specific colors are used to create different emotions. Learners then...

Reward excellent foreign language skills with a certificate. The award is for general foreign language, so it could be presented in any language class. Since the document is editable, you can type in the pupil's name, a reason for or...

Spread the message of recycling while teaching your English language learners new vocabulary and practicing verb tenses. Included here are four lesson plans for each level (beginning, intermediate, and advanced) as well as accompanying...

Scritch, scratch, scritch. It's the sound of pupils writing poetry! Focus on sensory language and onomatopoeia with a writing activity. After listening to some sounds, learners examine a couple of poems that include sound words and then...

As the instructor reads aloud several quotes from five chapters of the story Matilda, class members mime their interpretation of the scenes. Then, after reading "Miss Honey" and "The Trenchbull" (chapters seven and eight), the...

What do a pair of stinky socks and a toy hamster have in common? The third lesson in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl uses silly objects to teach about figurative language. Zany pranks and role play make...

Help your young writers make their writing more descriptive and exciting in this figurative language lesson. Middle schoolers review their figurative language examples from Part One (linked to this lesson), and then write a paragraph for...

Descriptive language can be used to create a vivid and imaginative setting. Create the chart suggested in this plan to track the descriptive language found in The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The class discusses the land beyond...

Anansi is a tricky character, but can he realize he's wrong and write an apology letter? Learners use Anansi and the Pot of Beans to practice writing, art, and figurative language. A series of activities are engaging for both...

There is power in words. Readers take a close look at three text to determine how language structures affect meaning, including include poems and recipes. Scholars analyze the language authors use by circling important words, underlining...

Does identity come from within, or do external forces shape it? Explore the complex identity concept with a two-unit module for 12th-grade language arts. The first unit uses A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and "A Daily Joy...

Do your learners need to practice identifying figurative language? This lesson outlines a method for working on that tricky skill. After teacher modeling and think-aloud, fourth and fifth graders identify examples of figurative language...