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Building Up Books
Students participate in a book club in which they share the setting, characters and plot of the book they read. Individually, they make a list of the most important or appealing features of the book on construction paper to try to...
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Bringing Rain
Students research folklore and scientific information about rain and water cycles. Then they communicate their understanding of water cycles by creating mobiles showing each stage. Students also write their own folk tales, explaining the...
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Big-as-Life Book Report
Students read fiction or nonfiction books that stretch their reading levels. They reflect on the books they read with classmates and select a dynamic scene, colorful setting, or appealing characters to illustrate in a visual book report....
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Bas-Relief Book Report
Learners, after reading a variety of books, choose one book to analyze story events and summarizes them in one illustration for a book jacket cover. They gather information about bas-relief sculpture and use that technique to create a...
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Third-Person Limited, Omniscient or Objective Point of View?
Help your readers identify different points of view by studying key words the author uses to mold the story. There are four story excerpts provided here, and readers must identify the point of view, record the words that led them to that...
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Word Pair Analogies 1 (low-advanced level)
Help your advanced English language learners prepare for the upcoming SAT's with this word analogy exercise. The words are tough (examples include enigma, enshroud, and tumultuous), but appropriate scaffolding ensures that it's...
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Graphic Organizer for Vocabulary: Gary Paulsen's Canyons
Although the activity is designed for Gary Paulsen’s Canyons, these procedures could be used with any novel or vocabulary study. Readers select an unfamiliar word, record the sentence and chapter where the term is found, write two...
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Conflict Resolution Lesson Plan
What is a bully? Romeo and Juliet's Act 3 Scene 1 gives eighth and ninth graders the perfect opportunity to explore bullying. After doing some Internet research on bullying characteristics, groups reenact the scene to decide who is the...
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"Cask of Amontillado" by E.A. Poe Practice Test
Assign this practice test to your ninth graders reading "Cask of Amontillado," by Edgar Allen Poe. They examine the characters, the plot line, the mood, and different themes in the text during this 32-question quiz.
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Characterization Worksheet
Use any story with this characterization worksheet! On the first page is a graphic organizer that encourages the reader to look for examples of direct characterization. On page two, read about direct and indirect characterizations,...
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He Said, She Said, So: What's the Point?
Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin! Upper graders and middle schoolers read the story The Three Little Pigs and other tales related to the story from various points of view. They use the Internet to find more stories from...
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A Fairy Tale By Any Other Name
Many classic tales, like "Cinderella," can be found worldwide. Bacis events are similar, but each retelling is molded by the culture in which it exists. Present your class with several version of tale (links provided) and have them...
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Classroom Language
A very interesting worksheet on language aquisition is here for you. In it, learners are presented with many common phrases in the English language, and they must write down how they would say that phrase in their own language. This...
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Wiki Comment: The News and You
Kids explore the world of news media by creating a wiki page. They will create a wiki page on the Internet in order to comment on and question the stories that take place in the world. They will practice creative writing by summarizing...
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Let's Discuss Current Events
Investigate articles from the daily news and share opinions with classmates. Using current events, learners view a news program without sound and predict what news is being discussed by analyzing the visuals. Then they read news articles...
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The New York School: Action and Abstraction
Students examine the influences and similarities between the New York School poets and Abstract Expressionist artists. They analyze paintings and poems, and write original poetry.
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Graham's Appalachian Spring: A Study
High schoolers explore choreographic narrative. In this choreography lesson plan, students explore the elements of Appalachian Spring as they develop a series of written responses to assignments that challenge them to investigate the...
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Sondheim: Voice of Cultural Change
Students explore Stephen Sondheim's contributions to musical theatre in the context of the dramatic cultural shift that occurred in American life in the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
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Cheerful Hearts and Willing Feet
Students explore characterization in Little Women. In this literature lesson, students participate in written analysis and research in order to explore Alcott's characterization in the novel.
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Graphs of the Heart
Students study Greek literature. In this Greek tragedies instructional activity, students explore the dance-dramas of Martha Graham. Students study the choreography that brings ancient Greek literature to life.
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"Clean Water Act"
Read the short reading passage entitled "Clean Water Act" to help your class build reading fluency and comprehension. While most questions focus on recall, learners are asked to use the context to define select vocabulary words. This...
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English Lesson Plans for Grade 7
Discuss the correct use of certain phrases such as "managed" and "could" in this English lesson. Middle schoolers listen to interviews on work customs in different countries and compare them. They make inferences after reading given...
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Creative Writing Workshop (Middle, Reading/Writing)
Bring this lesson into your unit about creative writing and precise language. First, middle schoolers create a piece of writing with the help of their classmates. In the second part of this workshop, they edit their own piece of writing....
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Simple, Compound, Complex, and Compound-Complex Sentences in Your Writing
Have you ever graded a stack of essays that felt like a series of bland simple sentences? A helpful grammar presentation will help learners spice up their writing by varying their sentence style, making them stronger and more attentive...