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Analyzing the Use of Irony in a Short Story
Ninth graders examine how literature connects to real-life and see how irony aids in the development of theme. They read Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, and discuss elements of foreshadowing and situational irony. Then learners will write...
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Flashbacks
Pupils create a piece of original fiction utilizing flashbacks. Students define and identify the use of flashbacks in the novel Holes. Definitions and examples are recorded in student journals. They use their examples as springboard...
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Native American Culture: The Light in the Forest
Seventh graders read the novel, The Light in the Forest. They work in groups to research and create artifacts for a Native American Living Museum. They complete a Powerpoint presentation of their virtual museum to classmates.
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Dragonwings: Evaluate Chapters 10-12
As your class finishes the novel Dragonwings, use these culminating projects. A vocabulary list is given for chapters eleven and twelve and either an epitaph or letter activity concludes the book. The final project consists of creating a...
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Louisiana's Tragic Hero - "Evangeline"
"Ye who believe...List to a Tale of Love in Acadie." Longfellow's epic poem, "Evangeline," launches a study of tragic heroines, epic poetry, the expulsion of the Acadians from Canada, and their subsequent migration to Louisiana. The...
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Discovering Language Arts-Intermediate Fiction
Explore the elements of science fiction. Students investigate the literary elements present in science fiction and write their own science fiction stories.
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A Little Mystery and Intrigue in Writing Short Detective Stories
Pupils read and analyze the twelve short stories in the novel "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." They create their own detective that has to solve a new kind of crime, and write and edit a short story with their original detective as...
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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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The Days of Jane Eyre's Life
Students watch the movie Jane Eyre and complete a viewing log. They take a test on their findings.
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Analysis of Character in a Short Story
Ninth graders examine a character from the short story, John Steinbeck's, "Flight." students respond to questions about the story and illustrate the character's journey.
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Comparing Characters Across Two Short Stories
Ninth graders listen to a read aloud of two short stories focusing on literary devices. The write about the settings and realism of the stories, and decide each main character handles the conflict he faces with nature.
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A Sure Bet!
Ninth graders analyze Chekhov's "The Bet". They repsond to a journal quesiton and use examples from the novel. In groups, they take on different roles analyzing the novel and then write one of my prompts to complete the instructional...
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How Logical is Garfield?
Third graders analyze comics found in the newspaper for samples of logical, emotional, and ethical appeal. They write a paragraph for each selected comic strip explaining how the comic strip represents the use of logic, emotions, or ethics.
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Reading the Movies: Another Approach To Teaching Critical Thinking Skills And Writing
Young scholars explore the elements of film to analyze character, action, and the themes in the movie, "Quiz Show." The lesson encourages students to make personal connections and real life applications as they view the movie, critically.
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Up Close and Personal with Black Bayou Lake
Students get up close and personal with Black Bayou Lake. Visiting web sites and taking virtual tours, they write multi-paragraph essays using descriptive words and literary devices.
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Building a Literature Pyramid
Young scholars create a literature pyramid. They review and discuss their assessment task and rubric and select the literature for their pyramid. They read the literary selection and complete a pyramid sheet for one of the four literary...
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Bunnicula
Students create a dictionary of vocabulary after reading a story. Individually, they create a story web making sure to include all of the basic story elements. They also create a timeline and write a book report of all important events.
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Fall Similes and Metaphors
Students interpret what a similies and metaphors are. They give examples of similies and metaphors. Pupils write different similies and metaphors using fall or autumn descriptive words. Students base their comparisons on facts, once they...
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Dragonwings
Middle schoolers engage in a lesson that is concerned with the literature study of Dragonwings. They write about the story from the perspective of a reader that is well informed towards the last chapters. Students also find target...
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Voices from the Holocaust: A Message of Hope
Students develop a sense of historical empathy as they discuss The Holocaust and roll play activities designed to highlight prejudice in today's society. In this Holocaust history and The Diary of Anne Frank lesson, students...
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Life's Lessons: Survival of the Fittest
Students analyze Jack London's use of anthropomorphism to identify the importance of adaptability in life. In this literature lesson, students use the novel The Call of the Wild to identify key elements in survival. Students...
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Cyrano De Bergerac: Understanding Drama Through Characterization and Dialogue
Students explore three major dramatic concepts using Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. In this dramatic concepts lesson, students research the concepts of universal theme, characterization, and dialogue using the given text. Students...
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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.