This practical resource gives new and experienced English teachers over 200 reproducible one-page activities to build a wide range of skills across the English curriculum.A The activities are presented in a stimulating variety of formats and can be used in any order to supplement and enrich teaching/learning. For quick access and easy use, the activities are organized into eight sections, numbered consecutively throughout, and printed in a big 8-1/4" x 11" spiral-bound format that folds flat for photocopying as needed.A Here's just an overview of what you'll find in each section: LITERATURE presents 34 activities that explore fiction through setting, point of view, character, plot, conflict and more.A Students may complete a fishbone chart in A"Plot FishingA" to indicate dramatic points of plot or use a Venn diagram in A"Compare and ContrastA" to note similarities and differences between two stories, plays, poems or novels. WRITING offers 32 worksheets focusing on sentence structure and stylistic devices and unique ways to begin writing such as A"Word Paintings,A" in which students create pictorial images using words and art to reveal their favorite things.A A"A Warm FuzzyA" encourages students to write positive comments about others. READING includes 26 activities emphasizing comprehension and understanding and calling on students to read e-mail messages, classified ads, newspaper stories and, in some cases, answer questions.A They can read a fictional letter, A"Dear Mr. Twain,A" find their way through A"Subway Mania,A" or examine A"Ingrid's Daytimer.A" GRAMMAR, PUNCTUATION & SENTENCE STRUCTURE provides 36 exercises that give students skill practice with puzzles and games such as the crossword puzzle A"Irregular Verb Forms,A" A"A Sentence or Not a SentenceA" (finding fragments or complete sentences in a list of song titles), or A"Do It Yourself Sentences,A" a chart for creating sentences from given verbs, nouns, and more. SPELLING promotes spelling through 21 ready-to-use activities like A"Able or Ible,A" A"What Is the Missing Vowel?A" or A"Problem Words,A" games like A"A+ Spelling,A" and A"The Spelling Hexagon,A" in which students earn more points by spelling long words than short ones. VOCABULARY & WORD BUILDING offersA 23 worksheets to help students improve and expand their vocabulary.A For example, A"Word Wheels,A" A"Letter Word FunA" and "Rhyming WheelsA" encourage the creation of as many words as possible using the letters, prefixes or suffixes from unique patterns provided. LISTENING & SPEAKING SKILLS provides 21 activities that help students fine-tune important listening and speaking skills.A As the teacher reads A"The Shopping Trip,A" students listen and write the name of each shop on a plan with blank squares.A A"First-Day BingoA" encourages students to get to know their classmates, and A"The Thirty-Second PracticeA" gives students a non-threatening chance to speak in front of the class. WORD FUN is packed with 32 special challenges like A"A Simile Snake,A" A"A Palindrome Letter,A" and A"What Is the Mystery Word?A" and A"School Scramble.A" In short, READY A... SET A... ENGLISH! provides a unique store of ready-to-use exercises to enliven and enrich all areas of study in the English curriculum.A And the answer key at the end can be reserved for the teacher's exclusive use or be copied and placed at a central point to permit student self-checking.

Sandra McTavish holds a master of Science in Education from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.á She teaches English part-time at Humber College and is currently on leave from her position teaching English at Southwood Secondary School in Cambridge, Ontario, while she writes educational resource material at the Baxter Group.