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Letters to Poets
Add a strong poetry lesson to your literature unit. Middle and high schoolers investigate their writing voices with journaling and group discussion, then choose a famous poet to study. They write letters to their chosen poets, explaining...
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English Lesson Plans for Grade 8
Demonstrate how to engage in a polite and professional conversation with this banking and interfacing lesson. Focusing on explanatory and informaitonal texts, middle schoolers write sentences using banking and finance terminologies....
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Personal Experience Narratives
Help your middle schoolers identify personal experience narratives in their own lives through telling stories themselves and from family members or other adults. They study personal experience narratives in Swapping Stories and compare...
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Studying English Abroad
Pupils explore what it might be like to study English in another country. In this ESL lesson, students complete several activities that represent what it might be like to experience learning the English language in another country,...
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Imperatives 3
For this online interactive grammar skills worksheet, students respond to 14 multiple choice questions that require them to select the best imperatives to finish the sentences. Students may submit their answers to be scored.
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ESL Holiday Lessons: Good Friday
In this language skills worksheet, students read an article about Good Friday. Students respond to 6 matching questions, 29 fill in the blank questions, 30 multiple choice questions, 12 word scramble questions, 30 short...
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I am Special and You are Special Too - Project Children L.E.A.D.
Eighth graders recognize what makes them special through class participation and discussion of rap music, writing a poem about themselves, and designing their own special hat while working in groups.
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Speaker Report
Fifth through eighth graders think of themselves as newspaper reporters as they listen to a presentation by a guest speaker. As reporters, they take notes during the presentation. Using these notes, they create a rough draft and then a...
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The Gerund Phrase
Do your young grammarians need extra practice identifying gerund phrases? After reading a short definition and studying examples, learners underline the gerund phrases in 20 sentences. This worksheet could be used as the basis of a...
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Vanishing Verbs
Students analyze recent media trends, and develop critical thinking skills by summarizing main ideas, extracting details, formulating opinions, drawing inferences, and comparing and contrasting attitudes. They also practice paraphrasing...
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Just Off Mainstreet by Elmaz Abinader
Eighth graders read writings from Elmaz Abinader. In this author analysis lesson students read an essay from Abinader and discuss the story "Just Off Mainstreet." Students re-read the text and complete close reading activities.
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PhotoStory 3 Lesson Plan
For this lesson, PhotoStory 3, students create a story board of an original poem through the use of PhotoStory 3 presentation. Students write a poem and use it to develop their storyboard. Students publish and share their storyboard. ...
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Water: Read All About It!
Students discuss newspapers and water and work in groups to develop their own paper focusing on water issues. In this journalism lesson, students discuss the value of newspapers and water as an issue. They work as a group to develop a...
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Introductions
Pupils participate in the introductions at the beginning of the semester. As a class, they brainstorm questions that can be asked to gain more information about their classmates. Working in pairs, the students interview each other and...
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The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Getting Started with Literature Circles
Students complete novel analysis activities for The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In this novel analysis lesson, students work in literature circle groups to complete close reading activities for the novel. Students keep...
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Book Chats
In this book chat worksheet, students read a book and participate in a book chat for the novel. Students use the example questions to discuss the book. Students take turns asking each other questions as they participate in the speaker...
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Eckstine, Stayhorn, and the Dorseys: Masters of Swing
Students explore the history of swing music. In this music history lesson, students research the Dorsey Brothers, Billy Eckstine, and William Strayhorn to learn about swing music. Students define swing, develop a timeline of events in...
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Animal Top Trumps
Young scholars use adjectives to construct sentences. In this english instructional activity, students play a card game based on Top Trumps. They use superlatives and comparatives during the game.
Dream of a Nation
Big6 Research Project
Do research projects at your school look like a class of eighth graders staring at a blank screen? Use the Big 6 research method to guide middle schoolers through the process of finding a topic, searching for and evaluating sources,...
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Aerospace Engineering
Students are introduced to aviation history and aerospace engineering achievements. They assemble a class aviation history timeline from individual student research on people and events.
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Farewell to Manzanar
Examine human resilience across two texts with a detailed unit. Over the course of a week, learners will conduct a close reading of excerpts from Unbroken and Farewell to Manzanar. The resource includes clear procedures for reading and...
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My View's Write!
After researching issues involving panthers, middle schoolers practice writing persuasive letters. They become familiar with a controversial issue related to panthers and write their position on the issue. This lesson would be a good...
American English
Welcome to the Color Vowel Chart
Focus English language learners' attention on word stress and phrase stress with a pronunciation chart that breaks the sounds into moving and non-moving vowel sounds. The chart tool uses colors and key words to indicate where to put the...
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ELA Unit Planning Template Style One
Work with your department or on your own to create organized unit plans that connect to all parts of the Common Core standards. The three-page template includes space to summarize the unit, list standards for each category of the ELA...