Language Arts

Studying Ambiguous Sentences

Studying Ambiguous Sentences

This type of sentence has great possibilities for classroom application because of its two different interpretations. It's a perfect tool to: demonstrate careful reading, showcase the need for editing while writing, and encourage creativity and divergent thinking.

Synonym Graphs

Synonym Graphs

Use a two-dimensional scatter plot to dig into the nuances of several synonyms.

Writing in Pi-lish

Writing in Pi-lish

Here's the perfect constraint for March! Writing with the digits of Pi.

Taking “Noting Details” To A Higher Level

Taking “Noting Details” To A Higher Level

By 6th grade, our reading program's comprehension skills have become a bit basic for most of my gifted students. I've been working on increasing the depth and complexity of these skills. In this case, "Noting Details" has become "Explicit Vs. Implicit Details."

Books with 700, 800, 900, & 1000 Lexile, Recommended By Teachers

A reader was looking for examples of high-quality books for gifted/talented 4th and 5th graders, but she was constrained to a lexile range of 900-1000. Here are the recs I received...

Practice Context Clues with Classics

Practice Context Clues with Classics

Most context clue worksheets have incredibly low expectations.

Vocab Puzzle: Antonym Paths

Vocab Puzzle: Antonym Paths

Begin with a small, simple word and identify its antonym. Then, take this second word and find its antonym. Many times, you'll find that an antonym of an antonym isn't always related the original word.

Rewriting a Sentence With Different Coordinating Conjunctions

Rewriting a Sentence With Different Coordinating Conjunctions

The first unit in our writing program was always teaching the coordinating conjunctions. It always felt goofy teaching this to 6th graders - especially a gifted magnet class. I mean... do they really not know the difference between "and" and "but"?

Two Questions I Won’t Ask About A Famous Quote

Two Questions I Won’t Ask About A Famous Quote

Let's do more than ask, "What did this person mean?"

How *Not* To Ask Questions About A Novel

How Not To Ask Questions About A Novel

These "discussion questions" highlight so many of the problems we've been looking at.

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