Hooks Teacher Resources

Twelfth graders interview war veterans about their combat experiences and write newspaper stories about their interviews. They share their interviews with classmates. they discuss the impact of war on the veteran and the United States.

Students write with controlled and/or subtle organization. They learn three ways to arrange a formal outline. Students demonstrate this knowledge by creating an outline as class. They cover the concepts of anticipation, investigation,...

Sixth graders select a topic to research. They gather information from at least 3 sources and take notes according to the categories chosen. Students write a rought draft using the notes. They edit, revise and publish the information....

In this making introductions instructional activity, learners practice good manners as they draw a picture, write their name, and practice 5 sentences.

Pupils discover how to organize essays effectively. In this writing lesson, students construct a spider map to develop their ideas for an essay.

Fifth graders write emails to a friend imagining they are traveling to colonial America.  In this emailing penpals lesson plan, 5th graders discuss appropriate language and topics in email communication, use correct format and write...

Students explore making introducdtions and how they bond the speaker to the listener.

Eleventh graders define freedom, write about what the Star Spangled Banner means to them, and in cooperative groups write a new verse to the national anthem.

Young scholars listen to a story about "Pandora" and write five details they remember from listening to the story. They share their ideas and details with the class. When another student reads a detail they have written, students raise...

Students write journals in response to the beginning of The Stone Cutter.  In this The Stone Cutter lesson, students discuss the opening of the book and the main character.  Students look for connections with architecture in...

Irony, hyperbole, and other rhetorical devices are at play in this presentation about urban legends. Several examples of urban legends help to clarify the analysis, making it valuable for those who have a hard time wrapping their mind...

How does a conversation flow? Have your learners practice with conversation and dialogue by asking them to rearrange sentence strips in order to make a coherent conversation between two people. After ordering the strips, pairs...

Bring the beauty of "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost to middle school language arts. After learners read a copy of the poem, they follow an instructional sequence that focuses on sound, figurative language, and theme.

A fun, modern twist on journaling! Instead of responding to prompts in their composition notebook, writers use the Internet to complete blog entries. A sample blog (with prompts) is shown here, and writers are assessed on conventions and...

Werner Herzog's film, Lessons of Darkness is the topic of this lesson on art, politics, and culture. Learners discuss the concepts of utopia, dystopia, detournment, and Scorched Earth then compose a paper which describes dystopian reality.

This detailed lesson plan from New York Times' The Learning Network centers around Carroll Academy and its girl's basketball team. Learners compare their school to Carroll Academy, read anywhere from 1 to 5 engaging articles about the...

Transitions, words that reveal the relationship between two ideas, are the subject of a presentation that provides color-coded illustrations to show viewers how this part of speech functions in sentences. The PowerPoint concludes with an...

Fifth graders conduct research. They explore how to give an oral presentation with visual aids. Students have the opportunity to create a proposal which could help alleviate world hunger. They brainstorm different ways children could...

Watch your tone! Scholars take a close look at Robert Browning’s My Last Duchess. After listening to the poem, they work together to determine the impact of word choice and mood of the introduction. They then work independently on a...

Develop a sequence of descriptions. Learners watch an introduction to sequences, their notations, and how to graph them. Pupils use full sentences to describe the sequence and how to get from one term to the next, without needing to...

Stella Louella’s Runaway Book launches a study of point of view and storytelling. After reading the tale, class members retell the story from the point of view of another character. The scripted plan, developed by a teacher candidate,...

Expose your readers to the fascinating legends of Norse Gods Thor and Sif. They read a brief introduction about traditional stories and myths then read several paragraphs on these figures, marking unknown words as they go. Learners look...

How can people better understand their rights? Scholars explore the question with the second of four installments in the Introduction to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights lesson plan series. Learners watch and write descriptions...

Revisit your own childhood memories of long summers and lakeside fun with E.B. White's essay, "Once More to the Lake." Included here is the actual text as well as a series of short-answer questions that follow. Not only do readers study...