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Figuratively Writing...It's for the Birds!
Students identify and use literary devices such as personification, idioms, hyperbole, and metaphors. They identify one literary device and illustrate the meaning. They write a letter using correct letter format and incorporates literary...
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Literature: Poetic Devices Review
Tenth graders examine poems by Shel Silverstein and identify literary elements in them. The exercise is part of an examination review about poetic elements. The review concludes with students writing nature poems displaying the devices...
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Strong Collocations 3
In this strong collocations worksheet, students complete multiple choice questions where they fill in the blanks to sentences with strong collocations starting with the letter a. Students complete 20 questions.
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Grammar Practice: Avoiding Double (or Multiple) Negatives
After an explanation of double negatives, young grammarians rewrite a series of sentences to eliminate the double or multiple negatives. An answer sheet is included.
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Lesson: Cultural Comparisons
A game, research, and cross-cultural comparisons are in the works as you open an artistic lesson plan. Upper graders get analytical as they make observations that will help them create a link between abstract and creative thinking. They...
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Lesson: From Time to Time
A portrait The Radcliffe Family circa 1742 is inspiration for creative writing and empathetic reasoning. Your class discusses the period in which the piece was painted, then imagines what life was like for one of the people seen in the...
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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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Identifying author's purpose
Why is it important to know an author's purpose? After reviewing the three main purposes of writing, seventh graders write a persuasive letter to convince why summer school is better than taking the summer off. They can then join in a...
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Five Paragraph Essay
The components of a five-paragraph essay are outlined on these slides. Not much explanation is given, but you can use this as you lecture and help your learners write. Follow the outline for what each paragraph should contain, and...
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Oral Presentation
Practice your speaking skills! Using a chosen visual aid, pupils present a previously written essay to the class. During the oral presentation, the listeners identify and write down the author's purpose and a question for the author. At...
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Word Wake
Put your common writing errors to rest with this resource, which prompts high schoolers to create eulogies and tombstones for overused and incorrect words. They work on correcting common errors in spelling and usage mistakes in their own...
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Word Roots 1: Dict, Vent, Duct Advanced-Crossword
Create a game out of learning vocabulary. The Latin roots dict, vent, and duct are part of the words used in this crossword puzzle. Definitions are given as clues; no word list is included but the answers are available so you can provide...
Anchorage School District
Writing Effective Summaries
Drafting a strong first sentence for a summary is an important step. Writers can use the formula presented on this handout to get started. The resource lists three steps to put together a strong topic sentence, as well as tips and hints...
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Passport to Africa
Learners begin the lesson by reading a novel about the diversity of geography in Africa. They are to create an oral report based on information they research. They also communicate with someone through email about the situation in Africa.
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Basic Paragraph
Students with special needs examine how to write an organized, basic, five-sentence paragraph. Students write a paragraph with a topic sentence, supporting sentences and a concluding sentence. They first practice by viewing and...
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Time Capsule Survey
Here's a fun way to incorporate technology into your curriculum. E-mail each of your class members a picture and 10 questions about the photo. Individuals then imagine the story behind the image and e-mail back their responses. Although...
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Speakers in Action
Tune into C-Span and tape politicians delivering testimony before congress. Class members view these tapes, formulate a rubric for rating the effectiveness of such a speech, and then emulate best practices and include them in their own...
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The Gift of the Magi
Test the true meaning of giving - and irony - with this lesson plan about "The Gift of the Magi." Using textual analysis, details, and text organization, middle schoolers make predictions about future events in the story and determine...
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Pragmatics
Discover the differences in dialect when teaching linguistics. Many examples from Creole, Pidgin, slang, and the UK are used. The slides are black and white and mostly consist of various examples.
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Truth in Advertising: When to Ask Questions
Students view different commercials and ad campaigns that present opposing notions of "truth." Students use these commercials to evaluate what makes an effective public service announcement (PSA) or advertisement, then choose a national...
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Gift of the Magi
While reading O Henry's "The Gift of the Magi," your class will define and identify situational irony and allusion. Use a study guide (not included, but easy to produce) to record and discuss examples of allusion as you read. Map the...
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Kamishibai Stories
Students explore kamishibai stories, Japanese stories told through illustrated picture cards, and become familiar with their form. Afterward, they develop their own illustrated kamishibai story. Students discuss the process of drawing,...
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Colons, Dashes, Hyphens, and Parentheses
When should you use a colon, dash, or hyphen? Middle schoolers insert different types of punctuation marks into given sentences. Rules for usage are included in each example.
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MyVocabulary.com: Word Roots CERN, JUR, and LEG Advanced Crossword Puzzle
A fun and challenging way of using word roots to increase learners' vocabulary, this crossword puzzle provides 12 clues to vocabulary words containing the word roots cern, jur, and leg. In order to complete the puzzle, they must supply...