Student Achievement Partners
"The Glorious Whitewasher" from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain with Mini-Assessment
It's the classic scene: Tom Sawyer is whitewashing a fence. Expose your learners to Mark Twain's humor while reinforcing reading comprehension. Eighth graders are encouraged to read and reread, achieving as much exposure to the text as...
Curated OER
Jim Murphy, The Great Fire - Grade 6
The Great Fire by Jim Murphy provides the text for a study of the Chicago fire of 1871. The plan is designed as a close reading activity so that all learners have the same background information require for writing. Richly detailed, the...
Curated OER
Shakespeare and Poe Teach Six-Trait Writing
A Six-Trait Writing instructional activity helps your middle schoolers liven up their word choice and shows them how to evaluate their own writing. Class members take a close look at the language used in poems by Shakespeare, Kipling,...
Curated OER
What Makes a Novel a Novel?
As your authors prepare to write a hypothetical novel, they need all the inspiration they can find! Using a book they have already read (and enjoyed), learners complete a literary analysis by filling in eight short-answer questions....
Curated OER
Go Free or Die: Figurative Language
Figures of speech, sensory details, and academic language are all targeted while reading Chapter Two of J. Ferris’ Go Free or Die. First, learners engage in an exercise to practice describing with detail. Then, partners use a chart to...
Curated OER
When I Set My Hat at a Certain Angle: Trying on Zora Neale Hurston's Voice to Dress-up Prose
After reading and evaluating examples of prose nonfiction by Zora Neale Hurston and other authors, high schoolers write a personal reflective essay rich in figurative language. By incorporating this strategy, they utilize voice within...
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Reading Fluency
Aid readers in achieving fluency! Hone in on appropriate pacing, accurate pronunciation, and varied intonation through modeling and ample practice. In one-minute bursts, individuals rehearse reading a passage aloud, recording where they...
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Literature: What is it?
Eleven slides answer the question "What is literature?" with simple definitions and categories. Each genre of literature is briefly explained and split into subcategories. These bright, colorful slides work well to introduce literature...
Smarter Balanced
Poetry
How does poetry differ from other forms of writing? Class members view two writing samples, decide which one is a poem, and then identify the criteria they used to distinguish between the two samples.
Curated OER
Creepy Read Week
Here's a clever technology twist to writing in the round. Participants rotate through a series of computers adding to stories and editing by keystroke and mouse click. "Locked" forms prevent the loss of stories filled with suspense and...
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Snappy Solutions, Sizzling Sentences
An examination of the figurative language in Gwendolyn Brooks’ To Young Readers challenges your writers to think about the richness of language. Ask your class why Brooks says, “Good books are bandages.” This discussion of alliteration,...
Curated OER
Reading (Fluency)
Emerging readers practice reading fluency. First, they listen to the teacher and classmates model fluent reading, and then they practice fluent oral reading with a partner. To close the day, they participate in a Reader's Theatre based...
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Race into Fluency!
Elementary learners practice reading short passages to increase their fluency. They work in pairs to do repeated readings of Jane and Babe, recording their times. They switch roles and time one another in an effort to decrease the amount...
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Imagine That! Analyzing Imagery
Poems by O. Henry, Marion Dane Bauer, Monty Roberts, and Langston Hughes provide the text for a study of symbolism, hyperbole, and imagery. Employing the “think-pair-share” strategy learners generate definitions of these terms and locate...
Curated OER
Irony in Poetry and Prose (Fiction and Non-fiction Texts)
Middle and high schoolers examine the impact of irony in poetry and prose. In this figurative language instructional activity, they read instructor-selected literature and identify uses of irony. Then they discuss how irony enhances...
Curated OER
What's that Mammal?
Learning by example is always effective if it's paired with independent practice opportunities! Model good reading practices for your class. Learners listen to the teacher model examples of reading with voice, expression, and tone...
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Give Me Some Expression!
Work to improve oral expression while reading aloud. Young scholars read sentence strips, changing their volume, speed, and tone to match what is written, making the sentence more meaningful. They read an entire story with a partner who...
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Reading Aloud
Reading aloud is a great way to engage learners in pacing and pronunciation! They practice using voice, pitch and intonation correctly. The teacher introduces the lesson by example, correctly stressing punctuation and using appropriate...
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Advanced Spelling- "Prose"
In this spelling words instructional activity, students unscramble the letters in 13 questions to spell words that match the dictionary definitions. The first and last letters of the words are correct. All pertain to prose.
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Lecture 6 - Oral Interpretation - Verse
Students discuss how oral interpretation varies with prose and poetry. They select a piece of prose or poetry to present to the class, and then assess each other on the organization and delivery of their speech as well as on their...
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Renaissance Realities
Students analyze passages by Niccolo Machiavelli and Francis Bacon as an analysis of Renaissance ideas in contemporary situations. For this Renaissance writings lesson, students read excerpts from Machiavelli's The Prince and multiple...
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Focus on Figurative Language in Prose and Poetry
Young scholars place emphasis on the use of figurative language when analyzing prose and poetry. In this figurative language activity, students explore the tone of a story and its imagery. Young scholars read and discuss how the author...
Curated OER
Writing Prompts: Prose, Pamphlets and Poems
Young scholars practice reading an atlas and writing prompts. They use graphic organizers to construct their writing prompt. They use the Internet to do their research.
Curated OER
Reading/English Language Arts/ Instructional Strategies
Students are given a line drawing that only that students sees. They are asked to describe the drawings to the reset of the class to see if they can draw it as the teacher describes it. Students work with a partner, and they are given a...