The third lesson of five in an eighth-grade poetry unit has young scholars comparing Shakespearean sonnets with Petrarchan sonnets. To begin, they examine the different structures of the two forms and their different rhyme schemes. After...

A reading of Robert Frost’s "The Road Not Taken" launches an interdisciplinary study of the connection between the meters of a poem and a melody. After identifying the number of beats in each line of the poem, young musicians use...

Students write down all short vowel sounds. They read their spelling words and attach them to each short vowel sound. They practice writing each spelling word under each short vowel sound that they have listed on their paper. They...

High schoolers explore tanka, a form of Japanese poetry. They read and analyze tankas to determine the structure and intent, and compose a traditional and a non-traditional tanka.

A good poem has form and structure built into it. Middle schoolers see that the structure of a poem consists of stanza, form, rhyme, and meter. The structure also contributes to a poem's meaning. After listening to, and discussing, a few...

Young oceanographers conduct independent online research to learn about ocean life, explore limerick and cinquain poem structure and syllabication, and produce poetry that conveys the information they found. Links don't work, but it's...

Two sonnets provide seventh graders with examples of Shakespearean sonnets. After discussing the story of the poems and analyzing their rhyme scheme and rhythm, young poets craft a Shakespearian sonnet and share their work with two...

Students explore the structure and content of the Tanka form and to arrive at a definition of the structure in English. They analyze a tanka to determine its structure and intent and compose two Tanka; one in traditional form and one...

High schoolers explore the poetic ballad. They examine the rhythm of a typical ballad and listen to recitations of sample ballads. They choose an article from a supermarket tabloid and write a comical ballad using rhythms and...

Review decoding strategies to read a chosen text. Readers tape themselves reading out loud, listen to the recording, and mark where they have misread words or phrases. They then discuss which words were misread and review how to correct...

Pupils explore Indian ragas and learn the differences between an Indian raga and the Western scale. They sing the familiar song "America," first in the Western major scale and then in two Indian ragas (bhairavi and purvi) on a neutral...

Students practice singing rounds in daily warm-ups for 2 weeks prior to beginning this composition lesson. Students incorporate movement to the rhythm of each syllable, discuss syllables of words and their relationship to note values and...

Fifth graders review the terms narrative and classic poetry. They are introduced to SMUGGLER'S SONG and compare the structure to recently read poetry. They join in on the refrain reading the story together as a class.

Young readers apply decoding strategies to identify unknown words. For this reading lesson, they read the Preamble and practice using decoding strategies. Small groups rotate to five charts that have questions regarding the Constitution...

Students write two haiku poems in appropriate form. Writing haiku allows students to practice in the skills of dividing words into syllables, counting syllables, and searching for words to fit a structure.

Students explore technology by participating in a word structure activity. In this grammar lesson, students utilize the Writing Center computer software to practice keyboarding while identifying word formations in class. Students...

Students explore the alphabet by completing an on-line letter identification activity. In this phonetics lesson, students utilize the website www.literarycenter.net and listen to word sounds as they identify the spelling of the...

Students discuss haiku poems and how they are written with a certain number of syllables in each line. They look at examples and then write their own haiku poems and publish them on the computer.

Students explore language fluency by identifying word segments. In this word structure lesson, students utilize words from their vocabulary lesson, dissect them into syllables and sound out their individual parts. Students participate in...

Is it do'nt or don't? How about doesn't or does'nt? A lesson on contractions helps learners identify, form, and use contractions. Components within the plan include direct instruction on decoding and encoding contractions, as well as...

As the saying goes, art often imitates life ... and literature! A series of activities designed to accompany a visit to the Ogden Museum of Southern Art encourage writers to find inspiration in various landscapes. The lesson includes a...

Learners view a slide show featuring famous athletes and educational institutions that have played a part in the history of basketball. They participate in a game in which a basketball is tossed from person to person as facts and...

Second graders write a poem using words from a list and practice poetic forms. In this instructional activity on writing a peace poem, 2nd graders brainstorm words or phrases associated with "peace." Students choose a poetic form to...

Students write haiku poems on leaf paper.