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Unit Plan
Roald Dahl

The BFG Lesson Plans

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
A 55-page unit examines the novel, The BFG, by Roald Dahl. Six lessons pay close attention to friendship, dreams, and believing themes while analyzing interesting characters, writing creative vocabulary, smilies, metaphors, an exciting...
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Assessment
IPA Productions

A Christmas Carol - The Story

For Students 5th - 8th Standards
Thirty-six pages familiarize scholars with the story and vocabulary of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. After reading and listening to an abbreviated version of the holiday tale learners show what they know about the sequence of...
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Unit Plan
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Echoes & Reflections

The "Final Solution"

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Nazi policies shifted from deportation and imprisonment to extermination of the Jewish people in death camps in the "Final Solution." Learners examine photos of artifacts, read poetry written by survivors, analyze testimony from...
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Unit Plan
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Echoes & Reflections

Survivors and Liberators

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The end was just the beginning. The period immediately after the end of World War II and the Holocaust is often called "The Return to Life" as survivors looked to reunite and recreate broken families and shattered lives. A two-lesson...
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Unit Plan
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Echoes & Reflections

The Ghettos

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young historians examine primary sources, including diaries, poems, and photographs, to consider the conditions in the ghettos and how they fit into the escalation of the Third Reich's plot against the Jewish people. 
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Interactive
Mr. Nussbaum

Abraham Lincoln Reading Comprehension—The Middle Years (Part 2)

For Students 5th - 7th Standards
Abraham Lincoln's face may only be worth one cent, but the online reading passage and questions about his life are an invaluable resource. Pupils read a passage about Lincoln's experience with the Illinois Legislature, earning his law...
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Study Guide
Scholastic

A Reading Guide to A Wrinkle in Time

For Students 4th - 8th Standards
Accompany a reading of Madeleine L'Engle's classic tale, A Wrinkle in Time, with a detailed guide equipped with 15 informative and useful chapters. Scholars discover who the author is, why she wrote the book, and crucial story elements...
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Unit Plan
2
2
Poetry Foundation

Dream in Color — Middle School

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Celebrate diversity with a toolkit designed to inspire young poets to develop their own voices. After examining poems by African American poets, individuals craft their own poetic stories. The packet features poems by Gwendolyn Brooks,...
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Worksheet
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K12 Reader

If

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Rudyard Kipling's advice to his son in the poem "If" is a resounding message that echoes through generations. After reading the famous poem, middle schoolers work on analyzing specific lines, completing activities based on unfamiliar...
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Lesson Plan
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Illinois State Board of Education

Common Core Teaching and Learning Strategies

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Here's a resource that deserves a place in your curriculum library, whether or not your school has adopted the Common Core. Designed for middle and high school language arts classes, the packet is packed with teaching tips, materials,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"As You Like It" by William Shakespeare

For Teachers 7th Standards
Jacque's soliloquy from Act II, scene ii of As You Like It sets the stage for a close reading exercise that models how to approach difficult, dense text and enables readers to practice reading comprehension and analysis skills. Learners...
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Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Writing to a Historical Poet

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Poetry is a very personal and introspective art form. Give your class the opportunity to understand how a poet's voice can speak to them on a personal level, and that every reader can respond to an author differently. After a poetic...
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Lesson Plan
Teachers.net

Figurative Language

For Teachers 6th - 10th Standards
When is a staple remover a fanged monster? In your ELA classroom when you're teaching this fun figurative language instructional activity, of course! Get your young writers using figurative language by making a game of it. Give groups a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Words as a Way into Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Use the Visual Thesaurus to predict the subject matter of Rick Riordan's book The Lightning Thief. A pre-reading activity encourages middle schoolers to use context clues and word meaning to discover what the book is about. After they...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poetry Shopping Spree

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Scholars demonstrate the ability to evaluate authors' use of literary elements such as metaphor, simile, personification, imagery, and onomatopoeia. They are provided with a checklist and must shop for poems that contain the poetry terms...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Reflection

For Teachers 7th Standards
The tenth lesson in the 12-part poetry unit asks seventh graders to reflect on their learning about poetry and share their work with other poets.
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

A Voice for Hard Issues

For Teachers 7th Standards
Ouch! The final lesson in the 12-resource poetry unit models for young writers how poems can be used to voice hard truths.
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Poems and Resources for the Struggling Writer

For Teachers 7th Standards
The 11th resource in a 12-part poetry unit is a bonus lesson comprised of poems, activities, and resources that review the essential concepts of the unit.
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Ballad

For Teachers 7th Standards
Young balladeers analyze examples of ballads and generate a list of common traits (story, quatrains, rhyme schemes, refrains, etc.), then identify these traits in Robert W. Service's "The Cremation of Sam McGee" and a ballad written by...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Concrete Poems

For Teachers 7th Standards
Concrete poems, or shape poems as they are sometimes called, are the focus of the eighth lesson in this poetry unit. Young scholars examine several examples of concrete poems and consider how the shape contributes to the poem's meaning.
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Personification

For Teachers 7th Standards
Spongebob Squarepants helps teach middle schoolers about personification! After discussing the human characteristics demonstrated by the cartoon character, scholars identify the personification in poems by Emily Dickinson and Langston...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Poetic Devices

For Teachers 7th Standards
Introduce middle schoolers to poetic devices with a activity that asks them to find examples of alliteration, anaphora, onomatopoeia, metaphors, similes, and personification in various poems. Young scholars craft examples of these poetic...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Mood

For Teachers 7th Standards
Young scholars learn how to distinguish between the mood of a piece of writing (how the work makes the reader feel) and the tone (the writer's attitude toward the material) in the sixth instructional activity in a poetry unit. After...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Theme

For Teachers 7th Standards
A study of Rudyard Kipling's poem, "If," launches a lesson plan about theme. Class members read Kipling's poem and poems by other seventh graders to identify the themes.