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The Color of My Words
Explore the story The Color of My Words by Lynn Joseph using this resource. Learners answer comprehension questions, fill in graphic organizers, and write a poem.
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Investigating the Harlem Renaissance
The work of Langston Hughes opens the door to research into the origin and legacy of the Harlem Renaissance and how the literature of the period can be viewed as a commentary on race relations in America. In addition, groups are assigned...
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Shakespeare Analysis
Eighth graders focus on the Shakespearian sonnet as a form and analyze the sonnet in terms of structure, the particular rhyme scheme of the quatrains and the rhyming couplet, the rhythm of iambic pentameter, as well as any figurative...
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The Common Core Literacy Standards - Pre-K Posters
Knowing the Common Core standards is a must for educators and learners alike. Here is an extensive set of literacy standards based on current kindergarten standards, but modified for learners in pre-school. The set includes display...
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The Common Core Literacy Standards - Kindergarten Posters
Can we do it? Yes we can! Your class can become Common Core masters with a fine set of posters that state each of the kindergarten literacy standards in a friendly "we can" statement. Each of the posters contains two standards, a "we...
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Literature and History of the Holocaust
Students examine quotes and text passages related to the Holocaust. They generate a list of questions about the Holocaust and analyze a piece of writing based on the authorship of the work. They infer the meaning of a poem and determine...
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Digging Deep for Figurative Language (Hyperbole)
What are hyperboles? Examine the attributes of hyperboles with your high school classes. Pupils read selected poems and prose selections that feature hyperboles and discuss their functions in each work of literature. Specific poems and...
Curriculum Corner
7th Grade ELA Common Core Checklists
Track your class's progress on all of the ELA Common Core standards with these handy charts. Along the left side, each seventh grade identifier is listed along with the full text of the standard. As you teach, reteach, assess,...
Channel Islands Film
Dark Water: Lesson Plan 3 - Grades 6-12
After watching the documentary Dark Water about a traditional Chumash ceremony and reading a Chumash origin story, viewers are asked to create a coat of arms and to craft an essay that details a family tradition or their own origin story.
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Figurative Language
What is figurative language, and why do we use it? Introduce your high schoolers to some examples and discuss the importance of including this element in your writing. After studying a text and searching for examples, writers will...
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Could You Repeat That?
Pupils participate in an oral story telling activity designed to show how story embellishments occur. They read "Beowulf" and identify incongruities that suggest additions and embellishments over the years.
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Deshawn's Days
Students read about a boy while exploring poetry. In this poetry lesson plan, students discuss how Deshawn's neighborhood and family are described.
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Valentine's Day: Love Letters
Oh the joys of love! As a special Valentine's Day assignment, budding authors research the life of one of the most romantic poets, Keats. They read the letter, "To Fanny Brawne, 13 October 1819," then compose a love letter of their own....
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Nonfiction Genre Mini-Unit: Persuasive Writing
Should primary graders have their own computers? Should animals be kept in captivity? Young writers learn how to develop and support a claim in this short unit on persuasive writing.
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How Advertisers Persuade
This plan centers around the article "How Advertisers Persuade," although it is not included in the lesson itself. Get your class thinking about advertising, appeals, and techniques that companies use to get their products from the shelf...
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Introduction to Ludwig van Beethoven
"Ode to la Tortilla" and "Ode to Joy"? Sure! Use Gary Soto's poem to introduce learners to the ode format. After examining the descriptive words Soto uses, class members study a poster of Ludwig van Beethoven, suggest words that describe...
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News Poetry
Third graders select a small item in a newspaper and then dramatize it in a well-constructed poem. They share their poems with the class.
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Poetry Pot
Third graders illustrate a favorite poem with images, title, author's name and words of the poem on a clay pot.
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Parallel Studies in American/Afro-American Literature, Part II -- Black and White Images in Alienation
Students begin the lesson with a review of the elements of poetry. Individually, they read a variety of poems and literature one white and one black author focusing on decay, sterility and alienation. They identify these images within...
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Pablo Neruda
Eighth graders explore the life and works of Pablo Neruda. They complete an author map concerning his personal and professional life. Students identify the key components of an ode. They write an ode to a common object around their...
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Native American and Colonial Literature Debate
Students compare the tone, purpose, point of view, etc. of traditional Native American poems and creation myths to traditional Colonial American literature. they debate which is the right way of thinking/living.
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Auto-Bio Poem
Students create an autobiographical poem. In this writing lesson, students write an eleven line autobiopoem after read the teacher's model. Students include their name, fears, and family in the poem.
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Where in the World is...?
Students work in groups to locate an appropriate planet where inhabitants of a fictional place can be relocated. They create a PowerPoint presentation to introduce their relocation site, as well as ecosystem information about the site....
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Geo Jammin' - Day 5, Lesson 16: Capturing "Lions" of Poetry
Second graders participate in the Author's Chair, which is placed in the front of the room. The puppet, Geo George, asks students to take out their poems, then brings them to the Author's Chair individually to share their poems with the...