jc-schools
The Persuasive Writing Graphic Organizer
A variation of a standard graphic organizer for a five-paragraph essay, young writers may find this style of organization helpful while drafting their writing. Some key features of this particular organizer are sections for transition...
Curated OER
Poetry--Homeless People
Eighth graders create a poem about homeless people using images they saw on websites. After reading the book "The Outsiders", 8th graders make connections of real life homeless people with characters in the book. Students search the web...
Curated OER
Cooking Terms
Using culinary text books, matching exercises, and an "Old Maid" style card game, classroom chefs learn and distinguish cooking vocabulary. They identify terms and techniques used in a chicken/vegetable stir fry demonstration.
Curated OER
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.
Curated OER
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...
Bright Hub Education
Introducing "Number the Stars"
Prepare your class to read Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry, with these prereading activities. This resource lists three ideas to ready your readers. Learners explore the historical context, connect to the book, and preview the book....
Curated OER
Spelling Review Game
Students play a fast-paced game to review spelling words. This quick spelling practice game can fill a 2-minute transition time or serve as a 20-minute review lesson plan. It can be used in a class which has the same, or different...
Curated OER
Getting the Story
Students examine and discuss the basic elements of a newspaper article. They listen to articles, discuss the 'inverted pyramid' style of a breaking news article, and list imaginary current events based on mythological characters.
Curated OER
Vocabulary Strategy: Call of the Wild
Here is a strategy for groups to contribute to whole class vocabulary development. Teams (based on seating rows) work together to look up dictionary definitions of words from upcoming sections of the book (though previous sections seem...
Curated OER
Literature Study Guide: Gulliver's Travels
Although the title suggests this resource is devoted to Gulliver’s Travels, the materials and templates can be used with any work of literature. Readers fill out a reading schedule chart, write a summary, keep a vocabulary word list, and...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Women in History
Students read excerpts from Amelia Earhart's autobiography, "The Fun if It," and identify her character traits. To aid visualization of her transatlantic flight, they search books and the Internet for photos related to Earhart's flights....
Curated OER
What's the Purpose Anyway?
Examine author's purpose in newspaper articles, comic books, cookbooks, encyclopedias and other forms of written materials. Working in groups, middle and high schoolers read teacher-selected articles and write an explanation of the...
Curated OER
Identifying Author’s Purpose and Viewpoint in Nonfiction Text
Why do people write books? Pupils discover how to identify the author's viewpoint. They read non-fiction passages their instructor selects (the plan has the class look at nonfiction children's picture books), and then identify the...
Curated OER
The Diary of Anne Frank: Review/Discussion
Explore the hopeful and tragic world of Anne Frank and her family in this presentation. A background to Hitler's rise to power and the writing of The Diary of Anne Frank is given. Additionally, the slides include discussion questions...
Curated OER
Walk Two Moons: DR-TA, Chapter 17: “In the Course of a Lifetime”
Use this question and answer worksheet as an assignment for Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons. The questions listed support better comprehension and critical thinking of chapter seventeen.
Virginia Department of Education
Elaborating with Showing, Not Telling
This engaging activity is a great change of pace for the classroom. The activity starts with a simple message on the board “The teacher is angry.” The instructor is to stomp around, drop books and glare—anything to show anger. The...
Appalachian State University
What Are Graphic Novels?
To do this engaging and pleasurable activity, your learners should have already read a graphic novel, and produced a piece of writing that can be reproduced into the format of a graphic novel. This exercise provides a script that...
Virginia Department of Education
Researching and Narrowing Topics
Internet research is becoming more common, so why not conduct an online research project in your classroom? Use this resource to get you and your class started. The lesson includes basic instructions and a list of questions to help...
Curated OER
More Joy of Abstract Nouns 1
Students are provided with a list of 20 adjectives that they must generate abstract nouns to match. For example, the first term, luxurious, would prompt the answer luxury. Directions for this activity explain that abstract nouns don't...
Curated OER
More Joy of Abstract Nouns 2
Continue your classes' study of related vocabulary with a second list of adjectives that have corresponding abstract nouns. Students must fill in the missing abstract noun for each provided adjective. For example, satisfying (satisfied)....
Curated OER
Commonly Confused/Misused Words
Demystify tricky words and homophones with this activity on commonly confused words. Learners read each sentence and identify the misused word, choosing the correct word from a short list underneath each question. All of the words...
Curated OER
Tom Sawyer Questions: Chapters 1-13
Reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer? Give your class a list of reading questions to guide their reading. Questions are divided into seven sections according to the chapters they accompany.
Curated OER
Spelling Proofreading Worksheet
Looking for a quick spelling activity to use as a quiz or warm-up? This resource provides a paragraph of eleven sentences, all of which contain a spelling error. Young learners list the mistakes on the lines below. Make a game out of...
San Antonio Independent School District
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Comprehension questions and vocabulary
Young readers can review chapter one of C. S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with a simple vocabulary and reading comprehension learning exercise. Included here is a list of 17 idioms and vocabulary words...