I love videos of robots messing up tasks. This one in particular struck a chord, because we get to see the robot learn from his mistakes. Let’s have students write him some advice…
All AboutLanguage Arts
Challenge Students With Homographs & Homonyms
Many gifted students blow past grade-level spelling and vocabulary at a young age. Unfortunately, a common technique to “challenge” them is to find harder and more obscure words for their spelling list. Instead, let’s take advantage of the built-in complexity of common words with multiple-meanings.
Jabberwocky, Parts of Speech, and Context Clues
Let’s see how we can use a classic piece of poetry to enhance a lesson on parts of speech or context clues. This provides exposure to a great work and also increases the complexity of a typical task.
Comparing The Best vs My Favorite
Are bests the same as favorites? Can your class come up with a suitable definition of the difference?
Get Students Out Of Creative Ruts
Sometimes students need a little structure to force them into a more creative state of mind. Here are a few ideas for interesting writing prompts
3 Advanced Literary Techniques
Students’ education about literary devices seems to max out with personification, similes, and other types of figurative language. But what about more complex tools?
A Holiday Themed Shakespearean Sonnet
Now we’re going to create our own holiday-themed Shakespearean Sonnet. To add complexity (and help our students get started!), we’ll write from the point of view of a specific holiday decoration, tradition, or character.
Patterns In Writing: Conflict
Discussing types of conflict is a great first step towards building a strong narrative. Although the term conjures up images of ninja battles for many of our students, conflict can take on many more sophisticated forms than physical fights.
Writing Better Personal Narratives
How can we apply literary themes, five act plots, and types of conflict to upgrade students’ personal narratives?
Ideas for Idiom Activities
I began including an “idiom template” as well as some powerpoint slides in the weekly idiom list, but neglected to mention how I used the template! Here are four ideas I’ve used: