Curated OER
The Greatest Survival Story of All Time
Students use the Internet to read about an explorer's survival in the Antarctic. They try to find a better route for him to have taken.
Curated OER
Making Photo Essays Easy
Young scholars generate ideas about what makes a good story and a good photograph then place them together to create a photo essay. For this photo essay lesson, students assemble random photos into a story, select the best photos, and...
Curated OER
Powerful Poetry Presenting the Writer's Soul
Students research Langston Hughes poetry for his use of figurative language. For this poetry analysis lesson, students research the life and poetry of Langston Hughes and his use of vivid words. Students complete 23 different activities...
Curated OER
Shakespeare Film Clip Assignment Worksheet
For this Shakespeare Film Clip worksheet, students list main ideas in the play, important images and motifs, and chose at least six main scenes or quotes that relate to the theme. Students then discuss what is complex or contradictory...
Curated OER
STORY MAPPING: THE HUNDRED DRESSES
Students illustrate and paraphrase each chapter of The Hundred Dresses, creating a graphic organizer through the use of story mapping. After students have completed their story maps, ask for a few volunteers to present theirs to the class.
Curated OER
Solving Word Problems
Young scholars explore the different techniques for solving Word Problems.
Curated OER
The Play's the Thing
Students study the life and works of William Shakespeare. They investigate the art of playwriting and write a play of their own.
Curated OER
How Does Ancestry Affect Folklore?
Students break into groups of 4 or 5 and choose an option to demonstrate a different cultural perspective in a fairy tale or other folklore that they are familiar. Possible choices are: PowerPoint presentation, video, digital...
Curated OER
Where is Flat Stanley?
Students create a story map of the basic elements and significant events of the book Flat Stanley. Students brainstorm places they would like to visit if they had been flattened and then, write about an imagined experience. Students...
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Exploring the Poetry of Pablo Nueruda
Young scholars read selected poems by Pablo Neruda. They also read short biographies of the author online to gain a better knowledge of the types of adversity Neruda faced throughout his lifetime. They begin to explore the concept of...
Curated OER
Comparing or Contrasting Two Books
Students compare two pieces of literature. In this literary comparisons lesson, students read 2 books that they personally select and then compare and contrast the literary elements of each in a comparative essay.
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Main Ideas Of Artists
Students explore the main idea and stories behind paintings. In this art lesson plan, students discuss how paintings tell stories and take tests based on details of paintings. The tests are embedded in the plan. Links that students...
Curated OER
Focus on Figurative Language
Using the poems "First Snow" by Ted Kooser and "Eating Alone" by Yi-Young Lee (or other suggested poems by Robert Frost or Sara Teasdale), middle schoolers search for examples of figurative language. Guide your learners by discussing...
Tech Coach Corner
Narrative Writing
A comprehensive presentation on narrative writing, this should be shown to a class before the writing process begins. There are not activities listed, so pupils can take notes on the elements of narrative writing and figurative language....
Curated OER
Summarizing Key Information
Imagine the surprise when small groups present their Evidence Charts to the class and discover that each group has studied a different version of the Cinderella story. Irish, Ojibwa, Egyptian, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Mexican, and...
Curated OER
Scenarios: Beginning, Middle (incidents), End
Young scholars investigate writing scenarios that can be performed. They examine the parts and levels of scenarios that can actually be performed.
Curated OER
Author's Day
Have your learners choose an author to study. One resource link gives a list of approved authors. Scholars read at least three works produced by that author and produce three separate book reports as well as a two-page author report....
San José State University
MLA Formatting Guidelines: Ellipsis for Omissions
If you would like a concise overview of MLA formatting, this two-page handout provides it. It addresses page layout, parenthetical citations, and works cited (including when and how to use ellipses to indicate an omission), but it does...
Curated OER
Dear Peter Rabbit
Write dear old Peter Rabbit a letter with this lesson. First, youngsters listen to the story Peter Rabbit and analyze the story elements. Then they complete a story map graphic organizer in order to write a letter to Peter Rabbit using...
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Harmony and Expression in Writing Form
How do you write an interesting beginning, middle, and end of a story? With this lesson, young writers look to other stories as examples. Then, they use some of the attached graphic organizers to help them create their own story. Note:...
Curated OER
Narrative Literature Response Letters: Original Lesson Plan
Readers write a formal letter to an author offering an alternative ending to a story the author has written. First, the class reads a story or novel. Upon finishing the reading, they are introduced to the format of a formal letter. They...
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Narrative Writing
Imagine a day in the life of a child who has to work 12-14 hours a day, seven days a week. After viewing images and reading stories of child laborers, class members select an image and write a richly detailed narrative about a typical...
English Resources
Buddy by Nigel Hinton
The lessons that come from reading the novel Buddy by Nigel Hinton might be masked by how much you have just enjoyed the story, but don’t let an opportunity for learning pass you by. Let this learning scheme bring clarity to the ideas...
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Comparing Two Poe Classics
Students read and discuss The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart. In this poetry lesson plan, students construct a Venn diagram to compare and contrast two pieces of literature.