Syracuse City School District
Reading Comprehension Unit Plan
A unit plan uses short texts to teach literary elements such as theme and characterization. Included are passages by authors such as Walter Dean Myers and Sandra Cisneros. Activities include quick writes, filling in graphic organizers,...
Curated OER
Visions for Students: A Study of British Ghost Stories
Ghost stories are the hook suggested in this proposed unit to engage reluctant readers.
Curated OER
Animal Farm Chapter 8
In this Animal Farm comprehension check worksheet, young scholars respond to 10 short answer questions and define 4 terms pertaining to chapter 8 of Animal Farm by George Orwell in order to help them better understand the novel.
Curated OER
Activity 3: Composing Personal Narratives
What was your most (exciting, maddening, nervous, thrilling, etc.) experience in school? A part of a unit on narrative writing, in this lesson class members review the elements of the form and then choose an event when they learned a...
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Harry Potter and the Spellbound Children
Help your class explore the world of Harry Potter. Learners visit selected websites to learn the background about the book series, discover details about the marketing of the books, and investigate book banning.
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The Call of the Wild: Differences Between a Book and a Movie Adaptation
Fling your class members “into the heart of things primordial” with a Venn diagram activity that highlights how the same themes are treated in the film and book versions of The Call of the Wild. Consider extending the exercise by having...
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: K-W-H-L Strategy
Ah, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer! Before your class reads this classic novel, encourage them to activate prior knowledge and build interest in the book with the KWHL strategy. Directions for walking your class through this strategy are...
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The Lightning Thief: Vocabulary Strategy
Take an in-depth look into the vocabulary from the novel, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. With a list of words to choose from, scholars discover the definition, origin, stories associated with the...
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"The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson
Middle schoolers who are about to read the chilling tale, The Lottery, do some writing beforehand. They are asked to write how their lives would change if they won a huge lottery jackpot. Then, they read the short story, and will be...
Curated OER
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: Chrono-Log
A chrono-log enables readers to see the natural progression of events in Steinbeck's tragic tale of Geroge Milton and Lennie Small. By beginning with the reason for their flight from Weed, learners are able to track the escalation of...
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Poetry Appreciation – "The Raven"
Introduce your class to "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe with this series of activities, exercises, and worksheets. Class members examine an image, analyze a movie trailer, read a prose version of the poem, look up vocabulary, and pick out...
PBS
Shakespeare & The Renaissance: Activity Ideas
Looking for ways to implement the words and works of William Shakespeare into your curriculum? This list of activity ideas is a great starting point, as it covers a wide range of grade levels and a wealth of online references to explore.
Freeology
Strategies for Reading Posters
Clarify, connect, evaluate, predict, question. Laminate and display these colorful posers about the classroom to remind readers of the five basic strategies for comprehending all sorts of text.
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Science Fiction Literature
Students identify the elements of science fiction literature. They write and illustrate a science fiction story using real and exaggerated science. In addition, they read their stories aloud in small groups.
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Character Scrapbook Teacher's Guide
Students analyze a book's characters and create a scrapbook to print and save. In this on line interactive characterization lesson plan, students identify character traits and gain a deeper understanding of a book's characters.
Curated OER
Rudyard Kipling's "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi": Mixing Fact and Fiction
"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," from The Jungle Book, offers young readers a chance to examine how Rudyard Kipling uses setting and personification to bring to life the brave mongoose who battles cobras to protect his family. Class members explore...
Curated OER
Shakespeare Shows
Students study, interpret, perform, and present various Shakespearean works adapted for middle school Students. They choose a scene from one of the plays covered in this teaching unit to reenact with a group.
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The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Learners examine the breaking out of traditional gender roles in this story by Avi Wortis, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. Gender limitations are explored in this instructional activity.
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"Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
Students complete a variety of activities that revolve around the book "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen. They view and discuss stills from the move "Hoot" and compose original storylines, conduct Internet research about the life of Carl Hiaasen,...
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"The Cask of Amontillado" Study Guide
For this study guide worksheet, middle schoolers complete 10 vocabulary definitions, 8 literary terms definitions and 11 short answer questions about the story.
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Of Mice and Men: Viewing Guide
In this Of Mice and Men viewing guide worksheet, students study movie terminology as they read brief descriptions and respond to 26 short answer questions as the watch the film based on Steinbeck's novel.
Curated OER
Nibble, Nibble, Little Mouse
Learners complete activities to analyze points of view in different texts. In this point of view lesson, students read Hansel and Gretel and The Magic Circle and discuss the points of view. Learners choose a character from the story and...
Curated OER
Teaching Story Elements: Jack and the Beanstalk
Middle schoolers define fictional story elements. In this reading comprehension lesson, students read Jack and the Beanstalk and view an included SMARTboard lesson. Middle schoolers use the SMARTboard to match the story element terms...
National Endowment for the Humanities
A Story of Epic Proportions: What Makes a Poem an Epic?
Learners analyze the epic poem form and its roots in oral tradition. In this epic poetry instructional activity, students research the epic hero cycle and recognize the pattern of events and elements. Learners analyze the patterns...
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