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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Writing the Final Narrative: Monologue or Concrete Poem

For Teachers 6th Standards
Get inspired to help those creative juices flow. Using the resource, scholars write their final, best version of their narrative monologues or concrete poems. Next, they prepare for a performance task by watching and discussing a video...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

End of Unit Assessment, Part 2: Drafting Introduction and Conclusion of a Narrative

For Teachers 6th Standards
First and last impressions matter. Scholars compose the introductory and concluding sections of their narrative writing assignments. Also, to prepare for an upcoming performance task, pupils watch a modern-day monologue from the movie...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

End of Unit Assessment, Part 1: Drafting the Experience or Event of the Narrative

For Teachers 6th Standards
Don't be tone deaf. Scholars study two photographs to better understand the concept of tone, so they can incorporate the literary device into their writing. Additionally, they draft the experience or event portion of their personal...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Writing and Sharing: A Narrative of Adversity Plan

For Teachers 6th Standards
When life brings you lemons .. write about it! Scholars work with partners to complete graphic organizers analyzing two narratives. Next, they develop an outline for their narrative writing assignment about a personal experience with...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Introduction: Writing a Narrative of Adversity

For Teachers 6th Standards
A little adversity is good for writing. Scholars review narrative-based monologues and concrete poems and choose which genre to use to express their own theme of adversity. Pupils also consider how to structure their narratives by...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

End of Unit Assessment: Final Draft of Hero’s Journey Narrative

For Teachers 6th Standards
All journeys must come to an end. Using the final lesson in the series, pupils analyze a model narrative for use of transitional words and phrases. Next, they apply their learning to their final drafts of their hero's journey narrative. 
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Writing: Getting Feedback, Setting Goals, and Drafting

For Teachers 6th Standards
Why is it important to set goals as a writer? Scholars process feedback from their mid-unit assessments, writing down their strengths and weaknesses on index cards. Next, pupils use the feedback to begin drafting their hero's journey...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Mid-Unit Assessment and Establishing a Context for My Hero’s Journey Narrative

For Teachers 6th Standards
How do writers engage their readers in a story? Pupils consider the question and use the informational text, "The Hero's Journey" to justify their plan for their own fictional narrative. To that end, scholars write an explanatory...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

“The Hero’s Journey”: Analyzing a Model Narrative and Continuing to Plan a New Hero’s Journey Narrative

For Teachers 6th Standards
Many elements go into an engaging narrative story. Using a helpful resource, scholars analyze a model narrative and deconstruct it using a graphic organizer. Next, they apply their learning from the model to update their plans for their...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

“The Hero’s Journey”: Using a Graphic Organizer to Deconstruct Percy Jackson’s Hero’s Journey and Plan a New Hero’s Journey Narrative

For Teachers 6th Standards
Time to go on a journey! Using a graphic organizer, scholars deconstruct Percy Jackson's hero's journey from the Rick Riordan novel, The Lightning Thief. Next, they begin planning their own hero's journey narrative, creating a profile of...
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Activity
Thoughtful Learning

Using Perspective Shifting to Imagine History

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Imagine what it would have been like to walk from Georgia to Texas! Perspective shifting, a key part of developing social awareness, involves just this sort of imaging. A short mini-lesson asks learners to shift their point of view and...
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Activity
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Thoughtful Learning

Using Perspective Shifting to Understand Others

For Students 4th - 12th Standards
Being able to see things from another's perspective is an important part of social awareness. A short activity permits scholars to practice perspective-taking, which in turn helps them develop empathy, appreciate diversity, and promote...
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Activity
Newspaper Association of America

Celebrating Women’s History Month

For Students 4th - 8th Standards
Examine the lives of four women—Blanche Stuart Scott, Madeleine L'Engle, Margaret Evans Price, and Sybil Ludington—in a 23-page activity packet. Each profile comes with a set of vocabulary and reading comprehension questions. Further...
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Unit Plan
Teachers & Writers Magazine

Persona Poetry and Mask-Making

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Looking to engage scholars in poetry with hands-on activities? What better way than making masks? Readers analyze literary devices in poetry, examine Native American masks, create their own masks, and then write poems to tell its story!
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Lesson Plan
Penguin Books

One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt - Teacher's Guide

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Children in foster care face a lot of uncertainty in their lives. A guide for the novel One for the Murphys introduces a main character, Carley, who is thrust into the foster care system. Chapter-by-chapter questions cover key details in...
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Unit Plan
Penguin Books

The Curriculum Guide for The Secret Hum of a Daisy by Tracy Holczer

For Teachers 5th - 10th Standards
The death of a parent can turn a child's world upside down. A curriculum guide for The Secret Hum of a Daisy explores defining moments in the main character's life, including the loss of her mother. Chapter-by-chapter discussion...
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Lesson Plan
Penguin Books

An Educator's Guide to The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages

For Teachers 5th - 6th Standards
A lot of secrecy shrouded the creation of the atomic bomb. Readers uncover some of that secrecy using an educator's guide for the novel The Green Glass Sea. Three weeks of lesson plans feature discussion questions and reading...
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Unit Plan
Penguin Books

An Educator's Guide to Al Capone Does My Shirts

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
It's hard to imagine that life on Alcatraz could be dull. A series of intriguing lessons take readers through the novel Al Capone Does my Shirts. Pre-reading questions introduce the text and a range of suggestions, from comic strips to...
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Lesson Plan
Penguin Books

Folklore and Fairytales: A Guide to Using Traditional Tales and Reimagined Classics

For Teachers K - 8th Standards
Every culture has its own stories to tell. An interesting educator's guide shares a large collection of fairytales and folktales, some from different cultures and some re-creations of classics. A summary and brief teaching ideas...
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Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Lesson 3: Essay Organizer

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
A three-minute exercise warms-up scholars' writing abilities in order to follow a writing process that ends in an essay. The essay's topic is a barrier and the values used to break it. Four steps include choosing a topic, jotting-down a...
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Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Lesson 1: What Are Barriers?

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Scholars discuss the concept of a barrier with a short passage on Jackie Robinson. The writing process begins with a paragraph and several other sentences about Robinson's unique traits that made breaking a barrier possible.  
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Activity
Spreading Gratitude Rocks

A Gift of Gratitude

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
Words of appreciation make great gifts for special occasions, but people can't tie them up with a bow ... until now! Using the lesson plan, learners write gratitude messages to a chosen recipient. Next, they fill a box or paper bag with...
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Lesson Plan
Spreading Gratitude Rocks

Token of Gratitude

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
What would the world be like if everyone expressed gratitude? Pupils explore the concept by watching a motivating time-lapse video. Scholars express appreciation by handing out tokens of gratitude, and then write about their experiences. 
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Lesson Plan
Spreading Gratitude Rocks

Gratitude Bank

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
Money isn't the only type of currency that fills a piggy bank. Learners practice filling their banks with the the things that make them grateful. Pupils write about their talents, relationships, challenges, and life skills, making...