Curated OER
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
Who would you love to see at your table? Groups research a decade, ranging from the 1840s to the 1960s, read a short story associated with that decade, and plan a dinner party, complete with table set-up and menu. After researching...
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The Hobbit
Here’s a series of exercises designed to be used after readers have finished reading The Hobbit. Pairs identify the speaker of a series of quotes, match characters with qualities, and provide evidence from the story to support their...
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Daily Routines
Start by listening to a short video involving conversation and dialogue. Listeners complete a variety of grammar tasks around the topic of daily routines. They complete seven lines of dialogue with 11 appropriate time periods. They also...
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Borrowing Narrative Skills from Mr. Fletcher: Using a "Prompts in Reverse" Technique to Inspire Your Writers
Help your class find their writing voices with this instructional activity which uses the work of Ralph Fletcher to guide a "Prompt in Reverse" activity. Using the chapter "First Pen" from Fletcher's Marshfield Dreams, learners decipher...
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Photographic Memories
Explore how photographs can represent a whole story to a viewer. Middle schoolers work on narrative writing techniques in this lesson, focusing on photographs from the New York Times to write first-person descriptive narratives....
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Developing Dialogue
Why do people argue? Use the article "A Holiday Medley, Off Key" to discuss the struggles that interfaith couples face when choosing to celebrate certain holidays. Then, in small groups, encourage learners to write dialogues that...
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NteQ Lesson Plan for S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders
Explore literature through the completion of reading comprehension worksheets in class. After reading the classic book, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, middle schoolers review each chapter by completing study questions and story webs....
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Quotation Marks, Commas, And More
Correctly punctuating a character's dialogue can become a fun activity as students learn to use quotation marks, commas, and more.
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Think
With the speed and easy access of online communication today, young learners often do not consider the full implications of their speech. Remind them to THINK (is it true, helpful, inspiring, necessary, and kind) before using...
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Writing Dialogue: Putting a Voice on the Page
Dialogue can really make or break a piece of writing. Help your creative writers craft thoughtful, effective dialogue that advances the plot and develops their characters. One example is provided, but consider adding a few more slides to...
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Folktale Writing
Review literary analysis techniques with this reading lesson about folktale writing. Middle schoolers read different folktales from many authors, and write their own folktales to share with the class. They identify the plot, morals and...
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Characterization Worksheet
Use any story with this characterization worksheet! On the first page is a graphic organizer that encourages the reader to look for examples of direct characterization. On page two, read about direct and indirect characterizations,...
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Pride and Prejudice, Chapter XIV: Lady Catherine and Elizabeth
Is your class reading Pride and Prejudice? In order to link scenes to the themes in Austen's novel, pairs take on the confrontation between Lady Catherine and Elizabeth (Chapter XIV). After writing their own version of the conversation,...
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Surveying Salinger with Dialogue and Disillusionment
Find creative ways to teach Salinger's stories by focusing on dialogue, cultural context, and characterization.
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Writing About Talking
The story of King Arthur is a fascinating one, and this retold excerpt offers an excellent example of narrative word choice in a dialogue. Learners read the text and examine the way the author uses synonyms for said. They write down all...
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What's in a Name?
Build conversation skills for your English language learners in this spoken language development lesson plan. In it, learners listen to descriptions written by the teacher prior to the first day of class which include predictions about...
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Dialogue Practice
Hola! Distribute this short dialogue to your beginning Spanish speakers. They have to read the entire dialogue before inputting the missing words. Then, in the second section, they read a short dialogue between two characters before...
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The Personal Narrative - Part 3
Let's peer edit! Have your writers exchange their personal narratives with another learner! While peer editing, they will look for any missing information and identify strong details. They can practice literary analysis skills using a...
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Rewriting a Dialogue (removing quotes)
This is a great activity! Upper elementary learners read a dialogue-driven passage. Then, they rewrite lines of dialogue by removing the quotation marks and shifting the verb tense to past. Grammar and great writing skills all in one. An...
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Yakety-Yak
Do talk back! The transcript of one side of a telephone conversation launches a study of dialogue. Class members imagine the response of the speaker on the other side of the conversation and record these responses on the provided...
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How to Write Really Good Dialogue
How do you create (and punctuate) really good dialogue so that it moves your story forward and provides strong characterization? Use this literary worksheet loaded with examples, clearly stated directions, and fun exercises. Fifth in a...
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Talking Heads
After processing notes from research or an interview, middle schoolers turn the information into a script or dialogue for narrative, persuasive, or expository text. Use this lesson in any writing unit to reinforce proper writing skills.
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Unleash Your Inner Editor
NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, is a writing project for which participants write an entire novel in a single month. If you have decided to this in your class, this resource will be useful for you. This is an editing...
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Spinelli's Maniac Magee (excerpt): Reading and Critical Thinking Practice
A brief, dialogue-rich passage from Jerry Spinelli's novel Maniac Magee is accompanied by a well-written literacy assessment tool. Thematic content lends itself to age-appropriate discussions about race relations and social justice....