lesson plan fluency or vocabulary assignment

Five Evidence-Based Ways to Improve Reading Fluency in Elementary and Secondary Grades

Imagine this conversation between an instructional coach and a sixth-grade social studies teacher concerned about student performance on unit tests.

Instructional Coach: When we spoke last week, we decided that you would interview a few students to learn why they struggle with their social studies unit tests and talk to other teachers to see if they are noticing similar trends. What did you learn?

Teacher: I began by talking to colleagues, and they are experiencing similar things. I then spoke to a few students and learned that they often struggle on unit tests because they have difficulty reading and understanding the questions.

Coach: How do students perform when working on daily activities?

Teacher: Students usually do well and can answer the questions that I ask about what we are reading. This is why I am confused by their poor performance on the unit tests.

Coach: When students are reading during daily activities, what do you notice?

Teacher: Well, some have low reading levels, so I often read the material to them.

Coach: Do you read the material when it comes time for the test?

Teacher: No, I want to see what they can do independently.

Coach: What I heard you say is that students perform well on daily activities when you read the material to them, but they struggle when they are expected to read and answer questions on their own. We may need to dig into their reading fluency skills and help them develop their skills in this area in order to help them perform better on their social studies unit tests.

Teacher: I see what you mean, and I will need help thinking about how to better support my students’ reading fluency.

In this blog post, we focus on reading fluency in elementary and secondary classrooms. Reading fluency is a critical reading skill that facilitates reading for understanding and is our ultimate goal for teaching reading. It involves reading with appropriate rate, accuracy, and expression (National Reading Panel, 2002). Pikulski and Chard defined reading fluency as “efficient, effective word-recognition skills that permit a reader to construct the meaning of text. Fluency is manifested in accurate, rapid, expressive oral reading and is applied during, and makes possible, silent reading comprehension” (2011, p. 510).

The importance of reading fluency for students’ reading comprehension is further supported by a recent National Assessment of Educational Progress report (NAEP, 2021). The NAEP study found that oral reading fluency was consistently and positively related to fourth-grade students’ performance on the NAEP reading test, which measures reading comprehension and is used to evaluate our nation’s progress in reading. In particular, students who scored low on the NAEP reading test showed difficulty with reading fluency, word-level reading skills, and text comprehension. Despite the importance of reading fluency, many teachers may be unsure how to best support the students they teach who struggle with reading. In this blog post, we share five evidence-based recommendations for improving reading fluency among struggling readers.

5 Recommendations for Improving Reading Fluency Among Struggling Readers

1. develop students’ ability to decode words..

Many students who struggle with reading fall behind early in their education because they struggle with skills such as letter identification, letter-sound correspondence, or word recognition. These underlying word-reading skills are foundational for reading fluency. For students with significant reading difficulties, this word-level instruction is key to unlocking passage-level reading fluency.

When teaching these skills, it is important to deliver instruction that is explicit and systematic. Instruction should be explicit in the sense that the teacher must implement familiar routines, include many examples, and explain each skill in ways that are clear, visible, and consistent for students. Instruction should be systematic in that it should move from easier to more complex, build on higher-utility skills and what students know, and be appropriate for the task or lesson goal. The “I do, we do, you do” model is often used to plan an explicit and systematic lesson.

What foundational reading skills are important to teach in each grade? Here are some examples (The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk [MCPER], 2016) of specific activities teachers might use when teaching one or more of these skills (this is not meant to be an exhaustive list):

• Kindergarten: Introduce new and review previously learned letters and sounds; make or build words; introduce new and review previously learned high frequency words; use fluency practice with skills.
• Grade 1: Review phonological awareness skills; introduce sound, spelling partners, and morphemes; make or build words; introduce new and review previously learned high-frequency words; use fluency practice with skills.
• Grade 2: Make or build words; introduce new high-frequency words; use fluency practice with skills.
• Grades 3–5: Make or build words; use fluency practice with skills.

2. Ensure that each student reads connected text every day to support reading rate, accuracy, and expression.

Students may be proficient enough at reading lists of individual words, but they must also practice their skills in books or passages (i.e., connected text) to become fluent readers. Reading familiar books or passages allows students’ skills to become more automatic, which enables them to free up their attention to connect ideas in the text to background knowledge and increase their reading comprehension.

To get better at reading requires more time reading. When developing lesson plans, it is important that teachers identify opportunities for students to practice reading. This can, of course, happen in English and language arts classes, but it also should happen across content areas. Students often are motivated to read more when they are interested in the reading material and when they have adequate support.

At home, parents can encourage more reading each day by scheduling dedicated time for students to read independently (i.e., reading material independently with 95% to 100% accuracy) and by establishing a purpose for reading. For example, children can select a book to read that is of interest to them, and each day they can document what they read in a reading log. Daily entries in this reading log might include recording progress toward achieving a goal (e.g., increasing the number of words or pages read each day), brief summaries, connections made, difficulty vocabulary encountered, etc. Entries could be used to create a presentation to be shared with a student’s peers. Schoenbach, Greenleaf, and Murphy’s Reading for Understanding (2012) provides additional recommendations for reading logs (what they refer to as metacognitive logs).

3. Model reading fluency for your students.

Read-alouds are a powerful and useful instructional tool that model important foundational skills (i.e., prosody, vocabulary, and that print conveys a message) for children in a way that explicitly and unambiguously teaches something (Roberts & Burchinal, 2001; Trelease, 2001). When paired with think-alouds, teachers can promote vocabulary acquisition and help students make sense of or make connections between ideas beyond the classroom (Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2013; Gold & Gibson, 2001; Massaro, 2017).

Read-alouds can be used to model reading fluency. For example, before reading a text, a teacher might say, “Follow along as I read. Listen to how I read the words at a steady pace and how I pause to take a quick breath at each period.” Modeling reading fluency has been found to be an effective tool for improving reading fluency. Teachers or parents who are interested in incorporating this modeling within their read-aloud routines may find this read-aloud resource , developed by The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk, to be helpful.

4. Take advantage of repeated reading routines.

Repeated reading is reading and rereading material to match the (a) purpose of the lesson and (b) student’s reading ability. For example, if the purpose is to enhance reading rate, then select a text that is appropriate and at the student’s decoding level. The teacher and student can monitor the number of words read correctly and can discuss the story to check comprehension. Discussions after each read can change to focus on a different reading element (e.g., character, main idea).

Teachers who are interested in this routine can find lesson plans here  that show how this routine can be taught following an explicit instructional approach (see page 59 of the PDF, which is page 196 in the original resource book).

• Students select a passage.
• The higher-performing student reads the lower-performing student’s passage first to provide a model.
• The lower-performing student practices reading through the passage three times with their partner. The partner marks student errors on a copy of the passage and provides feedback on student errors.
• Students read the passage a fourth time as quickly as possible. Partners time the student reading for 1 minute. This time is referred to as the “first timing.”
• Students record progress on their individual graphs in their workbooks.

5. Set fluency goals and use progress-monitoring data to inform instruction.

The combination of reading accuracy and rate (automaticity) is considered a student’s oral reading fluency (ORF). Beginning in the middle of first grade, ORF is a complex skill that develops gradually, measures accuracy without regard to reading rate, and is one way to screen students quickly to monitor progress and determine whether additional support is needed. Measuring ORF provides valuable information about the child’s ability to read connected text fluently. Below are a few resources to use when setting fluency goals and monitoring student progress:

• Reading Fluency Goal Setting template (Iowa Reading Research Center, n.d.a)
• Oral Reading Fluency Reflection Guide (Iowa Reading Research Center, n.d.b)
• Oral Reading Fluency Norms (Reading A-Z, 2021

Tracking or monitoring progress is important to determine student reading growth and is closely linked to both screening and diagnostic assessment. Progress monitoring, administered weekly or biweekly, is a systematic process to formatively track the progress of student growth of an intervention skill (e.g., fluency). It additionally provides information about the appropriate levels of text to use (The University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts, 2002). Progress monitoring can help you answer a number of questions, such as: Is learning happening? Is my teaching helping students make progress?

Take Action

• Review current or historical school and classroom data to determine how information and resources included in this blog might be used to further student learning.
• Choose one of the resources, routines, or strategies to implement in your classroom. Write and share reflections. How did the routine improve or strengthen your current practices? How did students respond differently to this routine versus what you normally do?
• Select one of the five recommendations about which to learn more. Based on this new learning, make adjustments in one of your current classes to target one or more student’s needs.
• Review one or more of the additional resources below and choose one to add to your existing classroom practices.

Beck, I., McKeown, M., & Kucan, L. (2013). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction (2nd ed.). The Guilford Press.

Datchuk, S., & Hier, B. (2019). Fluency practice: Techniques for building automaticity in foundational knowledge and skills.  Exceptional Children , 51 (6), 424-435.

Duke, N. & Pearson, D. (2008). Effective practices for developing reading comprehension.  Journal of Education , 189 (1/2), 107-122.

Florida Center for Reading Research. (n.d.).  FCRR student center activities .  https://www.fcrr.org/student-center-activities

Glaser, D. (2002). High school tutors: Their impact on elementary students’ reading fluency through implementing a research-based instruction model [Doctoral dissertation, Boise State University]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.

Gold, J., & Gibson, A. (2001, June 14).  Reading aloud to build comprehension . Reading Rockets.  https://www.readingrockets.org/article/reading-aloud-build-comprehension

Iowa Reading Research Center. (n.d.a ). Oral reading fluency skills goal setting template.   https://iowareadingresearch.org/oral-reading-fluency-goal-setting-template

Iowa Reading Research Center. (n.d.b). Oral reading fluency reflection guide .  https://iowareadingresearch.org/oral-reading-fluency-reflection-guide

Massaro, D. (2017). Reading aloud to children: Benefits and implications for acquiring literacy before schooling begins.  The American Journal of Psychology ,  130 (1), 63-72.

The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk. (2014).  Read-aloud routine for building vocabulary and comprehension skills in kindergarten through third grade . https://meadowscenter.org/files/resources/FlipBook_Screen1.pdf

The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk. (2016).  Sample literacy blocks, K-5 .  https://buildingrti.utexas.org/instructional-materials/sample-literacy-blocks-k-5

The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk. (2017).  Sight word fluency lists . https://texasldcenter.org/lesson-plans/detail/sight-word-fluency-lists

The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk. (2020).  10 key policies and practices for reading intervention .  https://www.meadowscenter.org/files/resources/10Key_ReadingIntervention_WEB-Rev2.pdf

National Assessment of Educational Progress. (2021). The 2018 NAEP oral reading fluency study . https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/subject/studies/pdf/2021025_2018_orf_study.pdf

National Reading Panel. (2002). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction . https://www.nichd.nih.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pubs/nrp/Documents/report.pdf

Pikulski, J., & Chard, D. (2005). Fluency: Bridge between decoding and reading comprehension.  The Reading Teacher , 58 (6), 510-519.

Reading A-Z. (2021). Fluency standards table. https://www.readinga-z.com/fluency/fluency-standards-table/

Roberts, J., & Burchinal, M. (2001). The complex interplay between biology and environment: Otitis media and mediating effects on early literacy development. In S. B. Neuman & D. K. Dickinson (Eds.),  Handbook of early literacy research  (pp. 232-241). The Guilford Press.

Schoenbach, R., Greenleaf, C., & Murphy, L. (2012).  Reading for understanding: How Reading Apprenticeship improves disciplinary learning in secondary and college classrooms . Jossey-Bass.

The University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts. (2001).  Essential reading strategies for the struggling reader: Activities for an accelerated reading program .

The University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts. (2002).  Effective instruction for struggling readers: Research-based practices .

The University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts. (2004).  Effective fluency instruction and progress monitoring .  https://meadowscenter.org/files/resources/Fluency_Guide.PDF

Trelease, J. (2001).  The read-aloud handbook  (5th ed.). Penguin Books.

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Engaging Reading Fluency Activities for 1st and 2nd Grade

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Reading fluency activities to help you focus on fluency in your classroom. Weekly fluency activities that can be completed in class or at home!

Reading Fluency Activities

The National Institute of Child Health and Development identifies fluency as one critical component to becoming a proficient reader. Along with phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, and comprehension; reading fluency should be a focus in your classroom. So, set a clear focus on fluency with these fun and engaging activities for first and second grade. These fluency packets are a perfect daily or nightly(for homework) assignment to practice fluency.  Print weekly packets and place them in a fluency folder for students to complete throughout the year. What’s more, there is a unit for each month with seasonally appropriate poems and response sheets. 

Weekly Plan

Each week of reading fluency activities is easy to print for you (or parents)! Students read a new poem each week and are provided with a fluency passage. There are two levels of passages to allow for easy differentiation. 

There are additional response activities, too! 

Using these packets for homework ensures engagement and appropriate tasks that parents appreciate. Most parents love being able to effectively support learning at home. However, sometimes they are unsure of what to do. These reading fluency activities are the perfect way for parents to be confident in their ability to provide additional learning support.  After all, teachers are often trying to bridge the gap between home and school. This is a great solution!

• Click HERE for Reading Fluency Focus for August. 

Classroom Fluency Activities

Each month includes either Reader’s Theater scripts or other small-group activities and centers to be completed during the day. Reader’s Theater is so much fun!

Small-group activities keep students engaged while improving reading fluency.

Click below to start focusing on fluency in your classroom! 

• Reading Fluency Focus ALL YEAR BUNDLE

Read about sight word fluency with this blog post:

• Sight Words: Working on Fluency

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Readers Theatre

• Resources & Preparation
• Instructional Plan
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Students become excited and enthusiastic about reading when they are presented with the opportunity to participate in Readers Theatre. In this lesson, students develop scripts, perform in groups, and practice using their voice to depict characters from texts. Through this activity, students have the opportunity to develop fluency and further enhance comprehension of what they are reading.

Featured Resources

Reader’s Theater Scripts and Plays : This website with an excellent compilation of scripts will get your students focused on reading texts with expression

From Theory to Practice

• The use of Readers Theatre can offer a different context in which students are exposed to texts focusing on poetry, science, social studies, or other content-related topics.
• Readers Theatre is another way to enhance comprehension of text, as well as to create interest in and enthusiasm for learning.

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 1. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
• 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
• 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
• 11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.

Materials and Technology

• Chapter books or short stories that contain large sections of dialogue
• Highlighters (various colors)
• Music stands to hold scripts (optional)
• Overhead projector, transparencies, and markers
• Stools for Readers Theatre performers (optional)

Readers Theatre Rubric

Preparation

Student objectives.

Students will

• Reformat a text according to Readers Theatre guidelines
• Perform a Readers Theatre piece
• Read with fluency and expression
• Conduct a lesson on the Readers Theatre Rubric . Give the students practice in scoring other groups using the sheet. Students can then assist with the evaluation of the final performances.
• Have students perform plays from the PBS Kids ZOOM Playhouse .

Student Assessment / Reflections

• Assess student copies of scripts to determine if the text was appropriately formatted for the performance.
• Use the Readers Theatre Rubric to assess student performances.
• Each student should complete the Readers Theatre Rubric to self-assess his or her own performance.
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QuickReads Tutorial Guide: The Instructional Routine*

What is quickreads.

QuickReads is a research-based, classroom-validated program to increase fluency, build vocabulary, and improve comprehension. QuickReads passages are short, high-interest, non-fiction texts on social studies and science topics designed to be read meaningfully in one minute.

Overview of the Instructional Routine

The QuickReads instructional routine is comprised of three parts or three “Reads.” QuickReads is appropriate for either whole class or small group instruction. A QuickReads lesson, which involves completing the instructional routine for one passage, takes approximately 15 minutes.

Teachers will need a stopwatch, watch, or clock with a second hand. The laminated instructional routine card is an optional teacher support resource that outlines the three read process. Every student will need a copy of the student book.

Instructional Routine:

The first read.

The first read begins with activating background knowledge. Ask students to look at the passage illustration, read the caption and think about what they already know about the topic.

Ask students to scan the passage looking for new and unfamiliar words and underline these words in their student book. You may ask students what challenging words they found and then you provide a brief definition of these harder words.

Then, ask students to read the passage silently. They may take as much time as they need.Now ask students to read the entire passage quietly and then complete the graphic organizer with key words or ideas that will help them remember the passage content. The graphic organizers are located at the end of each topic in the student books.

The Second Read

The Second Read is the modeled read. Read the passage aloud to the class asking them to follow along as you read. Read the passage in one minute, which is the goal rate for the passage (Passages from other reading programs with different text length and text difficulty may not have the same goal rate) . Ask students to reflect on what the author wants them to remember about the passage.

The Third Read

The third read is the timed read. Ask students to begin reading when you tell them to start. Students will read independently and quietly to themselves. This is not a class choral reading of the passage.

At one minute, have students circle the last word they read in their student book. Students determine the number of words they read in one minute using the superscript numbers to assist them.

Students then chart their score on the Self-Check Graph located at the back of the student book.

As a final check of comprehension, students complete the review questions for the passage.

*We used QuickReads as an example but this process can be adapted for use with FYI for Kids , SummerReads , Stories of Words, and Talking Points for Kids .

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30 Meaningful Vocabulary Activities for Every Grade

These activities are the definition of fun!

Learning new words is like adding to your writing toolbox. Your writing becomes so much more interesting and engaging when you have more tools available. Check out these fun and engaging vocabulary activities for kids in grades K-12, and give your students the equipment they need to build their wordsmith skills.

1. Write vocabulary short stories

Using vocabulary words in writing shows mastery. Challenge your students to use all of their vocabulary words in an original short story. Allow students to pair up and share their stories with a partner.

Learn more: Lucky Little Learners 

2. Put your students in the “hot seat”

Divide your class into two teams. Choose one student from one team to go to the front of the room and sit in a chair facing the class with his/her back to the board. This person is “on the spot.” Place a word on the board so everyone can see it except the person in the chair. One at a time, team members give the person a clue about the mystery word. If the word is guessed before two minutes are up, the team gets a point and play turns to the other team.

Learn more: On the Spot/Upper Elementary Snapshots

3. Match up words and definitions

Download these vocabulary words and matching definitions. Distribute one card to each student (either a word or a definition). Allow students to circulate in the room and find their “match.” Switch cards and repeat.

Learn more: Teach Starter

4. Sketch up some word maps

Creating word maps from vocabulary words encourages students to find the relationships between the vocabulary word and other words. Have them include words, pictures, examples, real-world connections, definitions, descriptive words, etc.

Learn more: Southern Fried Teachin’

5. Create Post-it stations

Post vocabulary words around the room, then have students circulate and write an original sentence using that word on a sticky note. Follow along and make sure students use the words correctly.

Learn more: Now Spark Creativity

6. Play a game of Pop!

Write vocabulary words on cards or craft sticks and place in a paper bag. Write the word Pop! on three to five cards or sticks and add them to the bag as well. To play, students will take turns drawing cards or sticks out of the bag, reading the word and giving the definition. If they correctly define the word, they keep the card or stick. If not, it goes back in the bag. If they pull the word Pop! they must return all their cards or sticks to the bag and start over. The player with the most cards or sticks wins.

Learn more: Pop/Not So Wimpy Teacher

7. Take a gallery walk

Hang six to eight large sheets of chart paper in various places around the room. On each sheet, write one vocabulary word. Have students work in small groups, rotating between stations. At each station, ask students to come up with a different, original way to use each word. Continue the activity until all students have visited every station.

Learn more: Teachwriting.org

8. Create vocabulary strips

Have students draw a diagonal line across an index card. On the top half, have them write the vocabulary word and definition. On the bottom half, have them draw a picture of the word and use it in a sentence. Cards can be joined together in a strip for easy review.

Learn more: Teaching Fourth

9. Play a round of Pictionary

This fun activity requires students to draw a picture for each word to create their own visual dictionary. When students create their own visual representations, they develop an association with the word that they will be able to tap into when needed.

Learn more: Pictionary/Lit in Focus

10. Make a word map

Word maps help deepen understanding of a vocab word by relating it to other words and concepts students already know.

Learn more: Word Map/Upper Elementary Snapshots

11. Use the Frayer model

Frayer models are a popular way to learn new words and concepts. Kids define the word in their own terms, then list facts and characteristics, examples, and non-examples.

12. Draw vocabulary Sketchnotes

Kids and teachers love Sketchnotes ! Rather than writing out definitions, have students draw a sketch that sums up each word instead. It’s a lot more fun and gives kids an image for visual association and to help remember the meanings.

13. Bump words along

Group vocab words together with a few other words with similar meanings and one that’s an antonym. Students identify the antonym and “bump” it to the next box, filling in the next group of words. They continue until the worksheet is full.

Learn more: Reading and Writing Haven

14. Post a graffiti wall

Think of a vocabulary graffiti wall like a collaborative word wall. In the classroom, post the words on the wall and have kids add sticky notes to illustrate the term (they can use words or pictures). Online, try a tool like Padlet or Google Slides.

Learn more: Digging Deeper

15. Match words to describe character

This is a terrific way to practice vocab words pulled from books you’re reading. Ask students to use various words to describe the different characters in the book and their feelings, thoughts, and actions.

Learn more: The Sassy Apple

16. Fill in words from A to Z

This vocabulary game is fun and challenging, and you can play it at any age. Choose a word, then challenge kids to come up with related words for as many letters as possible. These could be synonyms, antonyms, examples, and more. Trickier letters are worth more points!

Learn more: A to Z/Lit in Focus

17. Try Flip for vocabulary activities

Forever a Teacher at Heart/Twitter

Are you on the Flip (formerly Flipgrid) bandwagon yet? It’s perfect for vocabulary activities! Have kids record a quick video for each word, using their creativity to make it fun and meaningful.

18. Battle it out in Vocabulary Jeopardy

Good vocabulary activities encourage more than just memorization of definitions. That’s why we like this Jeopardy game idea. It explores synonyms and antonyms and how words are used in real sentences.

Learn more: Not So Wimpy Teacher

19. Use RAFTs to write vocabulary stories

Writing a story using vocab words is a perennial favorite, but the RAFT method gives it a new twist. Students are assigned a Role (the point of view from which they’ll tell the story), an Audience, a Format, and a Topic. For instance, they might be an astronaut (Role) writing a postcard (Format) to their friends back home (Audience) about what they’ve seen on Mars (Topic). RAFTs are especially great for kids who claim they don’t know what to write about.

Learn more: RAFT/Teachingwriting.org

20. Discover the power of words

Vocabulary words take on greater meaning when students incorporate them into their daily lives. Challenge kids to use their vocab words in conversation and writing outside the language arts classroom. Use the free printable worksheet here to help them keep track of how often they use them.

21. Create graphic organizers

Colorful organizers like these are terrific vocabulary activities. Want to go digital? Have kids make a slideshow, one slide per word. They can include the same information, but instead of drawing a picture, have them find one online that illustrates the concept.

Learn more: Graphic Organizers/Upper Elementary Snapshots

22. Focus on a Word of the Week

Give really important terms the attention they deserve. Choose a new vocab word each week, then explore it in depth day by day.

Learn more: Lit in Focus

23. Join the Million Dollar Word Club

Post a list of target vocab words. If a student uses one of the words in class (outside of vocabulary activities), they become a member of the Million Dollar Word Club! You can have them sign their name on a wall in the classroom or award a badge online. You could even develop this into a reward system for homework passes or extra credit.

Learn more: Million Dollar Words/The Sassy Apple

24. Explore shades of meaning

This is a cool idea for exploring synonyms and the slight differences that make words unique. Ask for paint sample strips at your local hardware store, or buy a clip art set . In the classroom, use these paint strips to make crafts for a bulletin board. Working in a virtual environment? Have kids print clip art strips at home or use the images to make slides or digital worksheets.

Learn more: Around the Kampfire

25. Personify a word with social media

This is one of those vocabulary activities kids will want to do over and over again! Assign each student a word and have them create a fake Facebook, Instagram, or other social media page for it. They can draw them freehand or complete a template like these from Teachers Pay Teachers . Post the images to a shared Google slideshow so other students can use them for review.

26. Play vocabulary word Taboo

In this game, the goal is for one student to get their partner to guess the word by describing or giving examples of it. The trick? There’s a list of additional words they’re not allowed to use! Let other students see the card in advance to help keep the players honest. (Flash it on a whiteboard and have the guesser face away.)

Learn more: Teaching Talking

27. Roll a die for vocabulary activities

Choose a vocab word, then have the student roll a die ( these virtual dice are handy ) to see which activity they get to complete.

Learn more: Roll a Word/Lucky Little Learners

28. Write an acrostic

Write an acrostic poem for each vocab term, using the letters to determine the first word in each line. This can get really challenging when words are longer!

Learn more: Vocab Acrostic/Upper Elementary Snapshots

29. Play vocabulary board games

Everyone knows that playing games is the best way to learn! Try some of these fabulous board games with your students and watch their vocabularies grow!

Learn more: 11 Vocab Games to Make the Learning Stick

30. Become a Word Collector

This is one of those picture books that grown-up kids will enjoy as much as little ones. Use it to remind your kids that they don’t need a vocabulary list to learn new words—new words are all around them. Encourage them to keep a word list or journal of their own to record new words they want to explore and use more often.

Buy it: The Word Collector by Peter Reynolds on Amazon

Reading poetry helps students expand their vocabularies. Check out these must-share poems for elementary school and middle and high school .

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Sentence Fluency

• Students of all abilities will increase the complexity of their writing/sentence structure by first modeling Steinbeck (“painting with words”) and then the writing of their classmates.
• Students will learn to listen to the writing exercises of other group members and recall what images stood out as particularly powerful.
• Students will be able to write their own powerful sentences (“painting with words”) by describing an original setting.

To increase the level and complexity of students’ writing, students can improve their sentence fluency by emulating the sentence structure of Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and those of their classmates. This can work with all levels of students’ writing abilities. Essentially, students will learn to “paint” with words and create powerful sentences.

Throughout the year, as the students grow more sophisticated and experienced, the assignment can become longer than a few sentences.

The writing exercises will address descriptive and narrative writing styles.

Materials Needed/Preparation

• Copies of Of Mice and Men
• Copies of the Opening Passages of Of Mice and Men (optional).
• Students’ Of Mice and Men notebooks

Estimated Time

2-3 class periods.

• Break the class into small groups and explain to students that they will take turns reading sentences from the first two paragraphs of Of Mice and Men (see below). Advise them to listen closely as they will, as a group, be writing several sentences (descriptive and narrative) and imitating the sentence structure of Steinbeck.

A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green. The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool. On one side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains, but on the valley side the water is lined with trees--willows fresh and green with every spring, carrying in their lower leaf junctures the debris of the winter's flooding; and sycamores with mottled, white, recumbent limbs and branches that arch over the pool. On the sandy bank under the trees the leaves lie deep and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among them. Rabbits come out of the brush to sit on the sand in the evening, and the damp flats are covered with the night tracks of 'coons, and with the spread pads of dogs from the ranches, and with the split-wedge tracks of deer that come to drink in the dark. There is a path through the willows and among the sycamores, a path beaten hard by boys coming down from the ranches to swim in the deep pool, and beaten hard by tramps who come wearily down from the highway in the evening to jungle-up near water. In front of the low horizontal limb of a giant sycamore there is an ash pile made by many fires; the limb is worn smooth by men who have sat on it. (Steinbeck 1-2)

• After student groups have read the opening two paragraphs of Of Mice and Men , have them discuss which sentences were particularly powerful and were truly an example of “painting with words.”
• In their groups, students will rewrite/impersonate several (or all) of Steinbeck’s sentences emulating his sentence structure and imagery. Students in the group will be responsible for dividing the work to be done. Tell students that this is a fun activity and no one should feel intimidated. All students should work together.
• Students will then take turns reading out loud their emulation of Steinbeck’s opening paragraphs and discuss what images were powerful. This is a non-judgmental activity, and there are no “wrong” responses.
• While still remaining in their groups, students will individually write several sentences describing a setting near their home (a park, shopping mall, a street, a school playground, and so on). As an alternative, students may describe the classroom/something in it. Time permitting, students may go outside for this exercise. Keep in mind the “painting with words” sentence structure model.
• Students will then share their writing with each other by reading out loud to the group. Students must listen carefully and may take notes.
• The other group members will then emulate/impersonate the writing/sentence structure of each member in the group.
• All group members will read out loud their emulations of other group members.
• Time permitting, each group may rotate to other groups and share their writing.
• Time permitting, individual students may read their “Painting with Words” exercises for the entire class.

Post Activity/Takeaways/Follow-up

Post activity.

• Have students finalize their own “Painting with Words” exercises and post them on the classroom walls for all to see, read, and enjoy.
• For the artistically inclined, students may add illustrations to their “Painting with Words” exercises.
• The main purpose of this activity is to improve student writing, particularly creative, descriptive writing.
• Teachers can have students write an evaluation of the project and what they have learned.
• During the exercise, teachers will monitor the process, making sure everyone is on task and is participating. Participation grades can be issued daily.
• A final group/individual grade may be issued after the exercise.
• A test on “Painting with Words” is an option. The test could include:
• Giving students a passage from Of Mice and Men and having them rewrite it by emulating Steinbeck’s style.
• Having students write their own passage using the “Painting with Words” model.

Common Core State Standards Met

• Reading Standards for Literature 6-12
• ~Key Ideas and Details: 1, 2, 3
• ~Craft and Structure: 4, 5, 6
• ~Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: 9
• ~Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity: 10
• Writing Standards 6-12
• ~Text Types and Purposes: 1, 3
• ~Production and Distribution of Writing: 4, 5
• ~Research to Build and Present Knowledge: 9
• ~Range of Writing: 10
• Speaking and Listening Standards 6-12
• ~Comprehension and Collaboration: 1
• Language Standards 6-12
• ~Conventions of Standard English: 1, 2
• ~Knowledge of Language: 3
• ~Vocabulary Acquisition and Use: 4, 5, 6
• Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 6-12
• ~Key Ideas and Details: 2, 3
• ~Craft and Structure: 4, 5
• Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects 6-12

Related Lesson Plans for this Work

Short answer questions.

Short answer questions test student understanding and reading comprehension for Of Mice and Men.

Quiz Questions

Download quiz questions for use in the classroom or by students at home.

The Final-Final

The Final-Final requires students to take action on writing assignment feedback and to resubmit their work for a last round of teacher feedback.

Correcting the Grammar of Others

Besides students’ usual grammar exercises in English class, they can learn literature-based ways to enhance their grammar capabilities.

Provides a list of slang terms as well as an interactive, student driven, "word wall" to help students understand the new words encountered in their readings.

Literary Terms

This guide includes a comprehensive list of literary terms, their definitions, and examples of their usage as found in the novel.

Plot and Theme

Challenge students to create and act out their own skits that demonstrate the differences between plot and theme.