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Resources for Learning and Practicing Language Arts Skills

Lesson Plans

Crossword Puzzles (Student Interactive)
Students in grades K-12 study content area vocabulary, practice grammar or parts of speech, or demonstrate what they have learned by creating crossword puzzles.

Spelling “Go Fish” Card Game
Students in grades 6-8 use cards with words in groups that follow the same pattern to learn how to spell them and learn what they mean.

Flip-a-Chip (Student Interactive)
Students in grades 6-8 flip two chips to mix and match four word parts and make four words. Students then insert the four words into a paragraph, using context clues to determine where each word belongs.

The Lexicon Challenge
Students in grades 7-12 play Lexicon Challenge to master their weekly vocabulary words with the goal of improving their SAT scores.

Additional Lesson Plans

• ReadWriteThink: Spelling (K-12)
• ReadWriteThink: Vocabulary (K-12)

Background Resources

• Just Read Now!: Vocabulary Strategies (K-12)
• Doing it Differently: Tips for Teaching Vocabulary (for K-12 Teachers)
• English Spelling: Making Sense of a Seemingly Chaotic Writing System ( PDF, 89 KB, 3 pgs.) (for K-12 Teachers)
• Guide to English Spelling Rules (for K-12 Teachers)
• Teaching Vocabulary: Two Dozen Tips & Techniques ( PDF, 94 KB, 8 pgs.) (grades 6-8)
• English spelling today - a summary ( PDF, 188 KB, 13 pgs.) (grades 6-12)
• The development of present-day English spelling - a summary ( PDF, 14 pages, 1.87 MB) (grades 6-12)

Activities & Games

• McGraw-Hill: Activities for Students
  K-6 spelling and vocabulary
• Houghton Mifflin Spelling and Vocabulary (K-6)
• English Vocabulary Building Games (K-12)
• Houghton Mifflin Spelling and Vocabulary (Grades 1-8)
• Spellzone: The Online English Spelling Course (Grades 6-8)

Make Beliefs Comix! Online Educational Comic Generator for Kids of All Ages
Students in grades 6-12 use their vocabulary to make a three-panel comic.

Quizzes

• Quizzes – Spelling Bee (grades 6-12)
• Vocabulary.com – tool/quiz (grades 6-12)
  6-12 tool/quiz

Printables

Calliope, Muse of Eloquence
Printable worksheets help grades 6-8 learn English words from classical mythology

Tools

Spelling & Vocabulary Website: SpellingCity (K-12)
Make games, flash cards, and tests

• Visuwords: Online Graphical Dictionary and Thesaurus (grades 6-12)

Books

• Vocabulary Games for the Classroom
  By Lindsey Carlton and Robert J. Marzano
  Marzano Research Laboratory (March 15, 2010
• Teaching Basic and Advanced Vocabulary: A Framework for Direct Instruction
  By Robert J. Marzano
  Heinle (Cengage Learning) and Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development (June 8, 2009)
• Creating Robust Vocabulary: Frequently Asked Questions and Extended Examples
  By Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G. McKeown, and Linda Kucan
  The Guilford Press (April 28, 2008)
• Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction
  By Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G. McKeown, and Linda Kucan
  The Guilford Press (March 20, 2002)
• Teaching English Spelling: A Practical Guide
  By Ruth Shemesh and Sheila Waller
  Cambridge University Press (March 13, 2000)
• Words, Words, Words: Teaching Vocabulary in Grades 4-12
  By Janet Allen
  Stenhouse Publishers (January 1, 1999)