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Reading Study Guide: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Meant for use with Maya Angelou's first autobiographical volume I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the materials here are designed for a homeschool setting, but they'd suit any classroom or text. Graphic organizers, chapter summary...
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Celebrate Change
Learners develop fantasy creatures and characters, describing personalities in terms of gestures, actions, and expressions displayed. Then they make fantasy masks, focusing on shape, form, proportion, line, and emphasis to demonstrate...
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Textual Analysis Lesson: Segregation: Past or Present?
Are your scholars reading Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee? If so, use this textual analysis packet and lesson guide to drive deeper thinking about the characters, create personal connections, and apply historical...
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Character I.D.
Create ID cards for characters. Provide readers with a template that asks them to affix a photo, identify character traits and list evidence from the text to support this analysis. They indicate changes the character experiences at...
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King of the Forest
Students in a special education classroom use the internet to research the characteristics of the rainforest. Individually, they decide whether to write a short story or poem with a main character who lives in the rainforest. To end the...
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Around-The-World Storytellers
Students examine what daily life is like for children living in other countries around the world. They read different books in the "Maya's World" series of books by Maya Angelou, write and illustrate an original story about a child in...
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Writing A Storybook
Students create a storybook using vocabulary from the topic "urban and rural life". They write about past events in a children's story. They present their story to the class at an author's tea.
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Compare and Contrast: Literary Analysis
Seventh graders are able to use active listening skills, take notes and identify literary elements of a short story. They use/create graphic organizer, compare/contrast literary elements from various stories and compare and contrast traits.
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Focus on Figurative Language
Using the poems "First Snow" by Ted Kooser and "Eating Alone" by Yi-Young Lee (or other suggested poems by Robert Frost or Sara Teasdale), middle schoolers search for examples of figurative language. Guide your learners by discussing...
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Bearstone: A Novel Analysis
Seventh graders need to be able to distinguish between major and minor characters and need to have read the novel Bearstone and be familiar with the sequence of events as well as the qualities displayed by each character over the course...
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My Writing Portfolio
Emerging writers create a portfolio showcasing various writing formats. They discuss Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. They observe the key features of picture books and then create their own book to add...
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Remembering Waiting
After a close study of the pastel drawing Waiting by Edgar Degas have the class imagine the story Degas may be telling through the body language and clothing of the people in the work of art. Your young writers then create a...
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Drama/Theatre
Learners discover how setting, props, and character-action communicate information about the characters and the story. Access to videos and a video camera are important to make this lesson a success.
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Archetypal Images and Polarities
Here is a rather esoteric resource that presents the archetypes found in “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” and would be appropriate for a college-level psychology or literature class, or as a teacher resource. Considered the “world’s oldest...
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Reading Response Journal Lit Logs
Here is a worksheet presenting many ways to create topics and start sentences. The writing prompts are best used for young writers who are creating reading response journals or literature logs. Sometimes, all a writer needs is a good...
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Breaking News
Young scholars organize a newspaper article using a worksheet that helps them study the vocabulary of news articles. They write newspaper articles about mythical creatures invading contemporary Los Angeles.
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The Outside Dog
Students observe the book, "The Outside Dog," and predict the events of the story. At the conclusion of the story, students act out various paragraphs from the book and write about specified characters. Additional cross-curriculum...
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Using a Venn Diagram to Compare / Contrast: Double Bubble
Create a "Double Bubble" to organize information in a Venn diagram-like graphic organizer. There are a few options included to differentiate this assignment, but unfortunately, there are no topics for selection. Provide your...
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Friendship
Gather your first graders and read Franklin's New Friend. First, show the book's cover and title. What can your youngsters infer from these along? Then read through the comprehension questions you created and start reading the...
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On The Day You Were Born
Students engage in a study about the holiday of a birthday with the help of using children's literature. They make cognitive connections of using the characters of the book and relating them to the personal celebration of a birthday.
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Patterned Leaf Cloths
Students identify and reproduce simple patterns (e.g., red blocks alternating with blue blocks; clap-clap-stamp) and create and extend simple patterns using a variety of materials or actions (e.g., popsicle sticks, pebbles, stickers,...
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Another Side of Paradise
Students write a sequel to a book read as a class. In this culminating activity, students write a sequel to the novel This Side of Paradise by Stephen Layne. Students use the epilogue to guide their writing.
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Adrian Mole - Diary
Students read a passage from the Diary of Adrian Mole in their groups and then discuss the different characters of the story. They bring the scene to life by setting the scene, selecting who in the story would be involved in their scene,...
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How the Kangaroo Got Its Pouch
Students perform a play based on a legend. For this performing arts lesson, students read the legend Kangaroo Gets a Pouch and brainstorm ways to turn the story into a play. Students prepare for a short play, including costumes and...