Hands-On English! : Ready-to-Use Games and Activities That Make Language Skills Practice Fun

For English and language arts teachers in grades 6-12, here's a unique collection of over 180 fun-filled, ready-to-use activities that help build the skills your students need for test-taking and overall academic success.  These activities make learning enjoyable and stimulating while covering the entire English curriculum, including grammar, mechanics, vocabulary, creative writing, literature, research, and critical thinking.   You'll find a variety of exciting games such as crosswords, word searches, scrambled words, magic squares, letter substitutions, cryptograms, and word play - plus activities on story writing, literary analysis, word origins, and more.  These exercises can be used to introduce new topics, review skills, complete as homework, or just to take a quick break from the routine!    For easy use, the activities are printed in a big 8 ½ " x 11" spiral-bound format that folds flat for convenient photocopying, and they're organized into 7 sections: This Is Not Your Grandma's Grammar: The 29 activities in Section 1 review and reinforce grammar concepts and skills, including "Adjective Hunt" (adjectives) ... "Parts-of-Speech Magic Square" (parts of speech) ... and "By the Letters" (sentence construction). Playing with Words: Section 2 gives you 29 exercises to improves student' vocabulary and their word choice in writing and speech, such as "Mind Your P's and Q's" (vocabulary) ... "Three's a Charm" (word recognition) ... and "Making a Compound Elementary" (word construction). Getting Set for the Standards: The 26 activities in Section 3 give students practice with some of the topics typically found on standardized tests.  Examples include "Jam-packed" (synonyms) ... "Hear Our Eras" (homophones) ... and "He and I or Him and Me?" (pronoun usage). Really Writing and Really Discussing: Section 4 provides 24 activities covering literature and writing, such as "Examining Emily" (poetry interpretation) ... "A Purpose to Every Word and Every Sentence" (literary analysis) ... and "Passing It Along" (Story Writing). Critical Thinking is Critical: The 25 activities and games in Section 5 help improve students' critical thinking skills, including "Seeing Double" (word play) ... "As the Animals Go" (expressions) ... and "Alliterative Slogans" (imagination & creativity). Researching and Remembering: Section 6 features 23 exercises to build research and library skills, such as "And Where Did This One Come From?" (word origins) ... "Look It Up" (research skills competition) ... and "Literary Hunt" (literary research). You Are Special:  Section 7 covers creative writing and critical thinking skills with 25 stimulating activities, including "Your Bedroom" (descriptive writing) ... "Start the World's Next civilization" (critical thinking) ... and " Build the Perfect Person" (literary characters & imagination).   In short, English Brainstomers! gives you a ready store of exciting activities that help your students develop their skills and build proficiency across the English curriculum - all while they're having fun!  Umstatter, Jack is the author of 'Hands-On English! : Ready-to-Use Games and Activities That Make Language Skills Practice Fun', published 2002 under ISBN 9780130445186 and ISBN 0130445185.