Say hello to a platform dedicated to industrious, yet overtasked teachers like you. Say goodbye to countless hours spent developing relevant and engaging ELA lessons. Whether you are teaching the fundamentals of grammar, creative writing skills, classic literature, or contemporary fiction, you will find thousands of activities and assessments to help you achieve a healthier work-life balance without sacrificing academic rigor.
Say hello to a platform dedicated to industrious, yet overtasked teachers like you. Say goodbye to countless hours spent developing relevant and engaging ELA lessons. Whether you are teaching the fundamentals of grammar, creative writing skills, classic literature, or contemporary fiction, you will find thousands of activities and assessments to help you achieve a healthier work-life balance without sacrificing academic rigor.
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and develop critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering the short story “And of Clay Are We Made” by Isabel Allende, as translated by Margaret Sayers Peden. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly as well as implicitly
Utilize dictionaries to ensure knowledge of word meanings
Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques
Describe tone in context
Determine the functions of given excerpts
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including foreshadowing, metaphor, personification, situational irony, symbolism, and more
Reflect on what the story implies about the power of the media
Consider themes in context
Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss literature
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and develop critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering the short story “The Golden Goose” by the Brothers Grimm. The brevity of the narrative and the nature of the learning targets help teachers fill awkward gaps in schedules without sacrificing academic rigor. An answer key and copy of the fairy tale are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly as well as implicitly
Utilize dictionaries to ensure knowledge of word meanings
Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques
Describe tone in context
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Compare two groups of characters
Apply knowledge of literary devices including sibilance and situational irony
Generate a relevant theme
Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss literature
Looking for high school ghost story activities for the Halloween season? Looking for a text to pair with the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, or similar authors? Use this set of games and activities covering Algernon Blackwood’s “The Woman’s Ghost Story” to support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension. Answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: affect, aghast, ajar, alter, assert, beget, beseech, dingy, earnestness, ebb, grimace, humbug, hypochondriasis, intangible, misanthrope, pluck, preliminary, prolix, rogue, and weary.
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the classic Grimm’s fairy tale “The Golden Goose.” A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, the public domain short story, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: apt, arresting, benevolently, berate, beseech, bestow, brazen, brusquely, countenance, dejected, disconsolate, emaciated, emphatically, hasten, immense, lethargically, noisome, parched, perpetually, prudently, reign, sneer, toothsome, vexed, voraciously, and zealously.
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the classic Grimm’s fairy tale titled “The Goose Girl.” A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, the public domain short story, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: arresting, betrothed, comely, dowry, furtively, gale, habiliments, hasten, haughtily, idle, implore, jovial, luminous, meek, parched, treacherous, and vex.
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement George Orwell’s essay titled “Shooting an Elephant.” A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: aimless, alter, bazaar, constable, coolie, despotic, feebly, futility, garish, imperialism, invariably, mahout, miry, nimble, pretext, prostrate, resolute, sahib, senility, sneer, squalid, squeamish, supplant, thatch, vague, and wander.
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the classic Grimm’s fairy tale “The Owl,” a cautionary story about how fear affects human behavior. A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, the public domain short story, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: audacious, burgomaster, clamor, conflagration, consternation, counsel, cunning, earnest, expedient, imploringly, intelligible, notorious, ominous, shrill, tremulous, trepidation, valiant, vanquish, vehement, and wail.
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the classic Grimm’s fairy tale “The Twelve Huntsmen.” A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, the public domain short story, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: acrimonious, betrothed, counsel, doleful, entreat, exultant, genial, harrow, infirm, jovial, latter, subdue, summon, and treachery.
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Support vocabulary development, enhance reading comprehension, and indulge the Halloween spirit no matter the time of year with this set of games and activities to complement “The Tomb” by H.P. Lovecraft, a short story with elements of Gothic fantasy that evokes the works of Edgar Allan Poe. A vocabulary application worksheet, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, the public domain text, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: accordingly, accost, admonish, allude, archaism, beckon, boisterous, commence, conviviality, declivity, dryad, empiricism, erudition, habitual, interment, inure, keen, mirth, monotony, phosphorescence, prosaic, sojourn, sultry, sylvan, tangible, temperament, transmute, uncanny, verdure, and voluble.
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the classic Grimm’s fairy tale “Old Rinkrank.” A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, the public domain short story, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: acquiesce, ascend, avaricious, betrothed, despondent, exultation, feeble, haggard, hasten, implore, lament, subterranean, and weary.
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement “The Doll’s House” by Katherine Mansfield. A vocabulary application worksheet, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, the public domain text, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: clamber, congeal, flatteringly, ghastly, mutton, paddock, pane, pinafore, scarcely, shun, sneer, solemn, spitefully, sprawl, stout, and titter.
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the short story “The Imp of the Perverse” by Edgar Allan Poe, a piece of horror and psychological fiction that explores the impulse to do wrong for wrong’s sake alone. A vocabulary application worksheet, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, the public domain text, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: alimentiveness, beckon, circumlocution, commence, deprecate, earnest, engender, fallacy, fetter, forbear, giddy, impel, impetuously, intelligible, irreducible, meritorious, obtrude, pang, paradoxical, perpetually, petulance, principle, prolix, saunter, scarcely, scourge, shudder, sophistry, supererogation, swoon, ulterior, and vex.
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement “Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. A vocabulary application worksheet, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, the public domain text, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: ajar, apprehension, attune, beckon, denouement, desolate, eccentricity, elation, fleeting, furtively, haughty, incorrigible, interminably, malice, melancholy, mundane, perturbation, petulance, plaintive, poignant, precarious, pugilistic, recede, relinquish, riotous, scarcely, sinuous, smirk, somnolent, squint, surfeit, tarry, and veranda.
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the short story “A Day’s Wait” by Ernest Hemingway. A vocabulary application worksheet, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: commence, covey, detached, epidemic, evidently, flush, poised, purgative, quail, schatz, and varnish.
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Help middle and high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering the short story “The War of the Wall” by Toni Cade Bambara. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly as well as implicitly
Utilize dictionaries to ensure knowledge of word meanings
Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques
Consider how a different point of view would fundamentally change the story
Determine the functions of given excerpts
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including idiom, onomatopoeia, situational irony, and symbolism
Consider themes in context
Conduct research as needed to answer questions about relevant plot points
Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss literature
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the short story “The War of the Wall” by Toni Cade Bambara. A vocabulary application worksheet, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: aroma, beckon, courtesies, drawl, epoxy, fuss, hipshot, inscription, integration, liberation, loose, mutter, petal, satchel, scheme, and squinch.
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement “The Lurking Fear” by H.P. Lovecraft, a short story with elements of horror and supernatural fiction: ghosts, unsolved murders, secret investigations, and bizarre creatures. A vocabulary application worksheet, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, the public domain text, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: antediluvian, assiduousness, baleful, bough, brood, callous, caprice, decadent, decrepitude, desolate, effulgence, eldritch, elucidate, ensanguine, exhume, fetid, furtive, gibber, hoary, infer, languidly, leer, liable, menial, nebulous, portentous, precede, precipitous, shudder, sordid, specter, subterranean, summon, taciturn, ululation, vacuous, vain, verminous, and zeal.
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement “Dagon” by H.P. Lovecraft, a short story with elements of horror and supernatural fiction: a psychologically fragile protagonist, isolation in the middle of the ocean, the discovery of a newly risen island, and a humanoid creature. A vocabulary application worksheet, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, the public domain text, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: anthropologist, appreciable, bestow, competent, crude, declivity, detestable, eminence, espy, fowl, hastily, monolith, monotonous, parching, peer, penniless, prodigious, scarcely, scrutiny, shudder, squalid, Stygian, transient, undulation, vaguely, wane, weary, and zenith.
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement “An Hour with Abuelo” by Judith Ortiz Cofer, a coming-of-age short story about a teen whose youthful determination and stubbornness keep him from learning a lesson about controlling one’s destiny - that is, until an hour-long meeting with his grandfather. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: abuelo, ammonia, bandito, conquistador, embroider, hijo, hora, ignorant, latrine, parchment, principal, recreation, suite, and vida.
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering the “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. The brevity of the narrative helps fill awkward scheduling gaps, while the nature of the activity maintains academic rigor. An answer key and copy of the public domain narrative are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly as well as implicitly
Utilize dictionaries to ensure knowledge of word meanings
Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques
Describe the tone of a given excerpt
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including foreshadowing and paradox
Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss literature