Standing up for beliefs sometimes leads to trouble! The father in Flush takes knows this all too well when he sinks a boat in protest to its illegal dumping. With his dad behind bars, the son, Noah, takes matters into his hands by...

Introduce your class to the writing of the indigenous Americans and, even more well known, their story telling. An engaging presentation describes what kinds of texts would be included in the oral stories performed and some common...

Beginning with anticipation guide strategies is a powerful method for improving reading comprehension. First, list initial ideas for a topic the class will be reading about. These ideas are formulated into statements, some of which are...

Students explore all the uses of commas by finding sentences using commas and describing how they are used by comparing the sentences to the rules for utilizing commas. They create a poster with five rules of commas and examples for each...

A solid description of one way to teach narrative writing, this resource outlines the writing process from concept to completion. Class members create concept maps of moments in their lives and follow the writing process to publish their...

Students write with a command of the stylistic aspects of composition. They respond to non-print text. Students demonstrate working knowledge of syntactical choices. They construct sentences using descriptive language. Students analyze...

Turning 11 comes with a range of emotions. Explore those emotions by reading the short story "Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros. Readers analyze the main character's reactions to the events of her day. Then, they write an essay describing what...

Lensey Namioka’s Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear provides an opportunity for young readers to observe how writers bring their characters to life. Each class member selects a character to trace through the novel, recording...

Talk about technology in the classroom. This plan has all the resources needed to create a non-linear or branching story. Included is a step-by-step tutorial that walks middle schoolers through the project description, a model of a...

Did you ever create an awesome graphic organizer only to find that your class was completely baffled by how to use it? This resource not only provides you with a great graphic organizer for a standard five-paragraph essay, but also...

Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass provides the text for a study of how writers bring characters to life. Using the provided character mapping worksheets, readers respond to questions and then write a short character sketch.

Students identify a topic for an open-ended question and evaluate the question. After developing ideas that lead to inquire, they investigate and research this topic on the Internet, and then create an iMovie.

Work on narrative writing with this lesson, in which middle schoolers analyze the characters from a selected piece of literature and write narrative diary pieces as the character. They work to understand the point of view of the...

To honor El Dia de los Muertos, scholars work together to create Day of the Dead displays—paper sugar skulls and banners—that bring a festive and memorable flare to the classroom.  

Get to know the meaning behind the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from the legendary 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Groups of two take the roles of performer and questioner. Performers sing lines of the song while questioners...

Challenge your class to connect to the text of "Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros with this activity, which prompts them to write a personal letter from the main character's point of view. The story, prompt, and letter template are all included...

Learners compare and contrast characters from various texts and compile the collected data into several graphic organizers.

Drama is ever-present in our daily lives and eloquently depicted on stage. Middle schoolers practice writing scenes based on different prompts and frameworks, and then perform those creative scenes for their classmates. The...

Create Ancient Egypt travel brochures. Research the culture of Egypt through the Internet and create an artistic travel brochure of the civilization. The final product is published for dispersal.

Prepare middle schoolers for life in the tech world with a lesson on entering, storing, sorting, and creating database collections. They use a database tool, such as excel, to record the contents of their CD collections. They then...

What kind of animals live on an ice planet like Hoth? How would the habitat on Tatooine allow different organisms to thrive? Connect social studies, science, and Star Wars in one engaging activity that focuses on the ecosystems...

Many people dream of getting a fresh start or starting over again. David, a main character in I am David, gets that chance and must learn to live life outside of the concentration camp. Scholars read about David's adventures as they...

Middle schoolers read a novel and discuss character personality. First, they analyze a character in a novel and keep a chart or web of the character's identity, which includes specific examples from the book. They then write a script...