Curated OER
Literature Circles
Literature circles let kids interact with each other and hear different perspectives. explore literature circles. Group your class into small reading groups, and then assign each class member a specific role to keep them focused. After...
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Sequencing
Are you looking for a way to teach sequence of events in your narrative writing unit? Bring this lesson to your middle school class, as it prompts young writers to create a narrative sequence map of events that have happened at school...
Curated OER
Punctuation (The Comma vs. The Semicolon)
Explore English by participating in a grammar correcting activity. Elementary and middle schoolers distinguish when to use commas from when to use semicolons. Then they correct twelve sentences by placing commas and semicolons in the...
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Worksheet 2: Demonstratives
Sometimes it's difficult to identify the idea that demonstrative pronouns refer to. Polish the use of this, that, those, and these in your class's writing. Several sentences are given, and your pupil must rewrite the sentence to clarify...
Curated OER
Grammar Lesson Plan: Simple Past vs. Present Perfect
What's the difference between the present perfect and simple past? Have your class practice identifying and using both of these verb tenses through pair activities, whole-class discussion, and a worksheet.
Civil War Trust
Civil War Reader's Theater
Encourage class members to add expression and put themselves back in time during the Civil War with a reader's theater activity. The scripts include dialogue on what it was like for the Union and Confederate sides during this time.
Sacramento Country Day School
7th Grade Character Development Workshops
Be proactive. Begin with the end in mind. Synergize. These are just a few strategies outlined in Sean Covey's ground-breaking best-seller, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. With a series of five character development workshops...
Smarter Balanced
Environmental Interdependence (Environmental Awareness)
Whether introducing a study of environment awareness or preparing your classes for a performance task related to environmental interdependence, you will find this resource useful. Key terms and concepts are introduced so that all...
Smarter Balanced
Technology in the Classroom
To prepare for a formative assessment on the benefits of technology in the classroom, groups generate a list of the types of technology that could be used in a classroom and then discuss how each of these items could be used. Group...
Smarter Balanced
Growth and Expansion of America
Despite the difficulty of travel, the US expanded significantly between the 1800s and the early 1900s. To prepare for a performance task assessment on the rapid expansion of the US in the 1800s, class members engage in a write-pair-share...
Curated OER
Exercise on Parallel Structure
Learners examine 10 pairs of sentences. Then, they identify the sentence in each pair that has parallel structure.
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Be a Good Sport!
Students explore the sport of lacrosse to improve their reading and grammar skills. For this reading and grammar lesson, students read and discuss the sport of Lacrosse. Students complete a Cloze activity, a grammar activity, and a...
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.
Smarter Balanced
Renewable Energy
Renewable and non-renewable energy sources are the focus of a series of activities that prepare learners for a performance task assessment on energy. Groups identify the various sources of energy and classify these sources as either...
Curated OER
ESL Picture/Idiom Matching Worksheet
In this ESL picture to idiom matching worksheet, students examine 7 small clip art images before matching them to the idioms they best represent. They work with idioms such as "blood is thicker than water," and "as you make your bed, so...
Curated OER
Organizing A Persuasive Speech
Have the class listen to a lecture on persuasive speeches. They practice outlining and detailing the components of a persuasive speech. The lecture outline also includes suggestions for researching a topic or thesis, organizing the...
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Gerund Phrase Recognition Practice
In this gerund phrases practice worksheet, learners discover what gerunds are as they read an informative lesson. Students then respond to 10 questions that require them to identify gerund phrases and identify the types of nouns they act...
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Infinitive (Adverb) Recognition Practice
In this infinitives and adverbs practice worksheet, young scholars read an informative instructional activity. Students then respond to 10 questions that require them to identify infinitives that are being used as adverbs.
Curated OER
Troublesome Word Rap
Create songs and raps to develop an understanding of the proper use of common misused words and homophones. First, your class defines misused words and homophones correctly by utilizing the words in a rap or song. Then they use poetry...
Curated OER
The Delicate Balance - Iowa's Natural Resources
Discover the natural resources in Iowa by studying it's history. For this environmental lesson, your students will observe a topographical map of Iowa and identify where its most valuable resources are. They complete an Iowa name...
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Uniform Design
Learners investigate the military by examining their uniforms. In this design lesson, students analyze the military uniforms from different locations and time periods. Learners create new ideas for current military uniforms.
Curated OER
Grammar Practice: Don't Get Frazzled over Fragments!
Following a brief definition of the required components of a complete sentence, and models of incomplete or sentence fragments, learners are asked to revise a series of sentence fragments into complete sentences. Suggested rewrites are...
Curated OER
Who/Whom
Mixing up who and whom is a common mistake made by young writers. After a lesson on the topic, assign the activity provided here for practice. There are 10 sentences on the page. Class members circle who or whom to make each sentence...
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Modals: Can, May and Will Verbs: Present Tense
Cover can, may, will, and shall with this lesson on using modals in the present tense. Starting off with a warm-up activity, the resource includes a text to analyze, examples of modals, and exercises with answers. The language in the...