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1984 by George Orwell
Readers of Nineteen Eighty-Four engage in a close reading exercise that directs their focus to the key details Orwell provides in the opening paragraphs to introduce his dystopian society. The included worksheeet is divided into three...
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Scripting The Great Train Robbery
Take writing prompts to another level in this activity, which allows pupils to create scenes of dialogue based on the 1903 silent film, The Great Train Robbery. Useful for a language arts/history cross-curricular activity, the lesson...
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CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: EXAMINE EXPRESSIONS THROUGH PORTRAITURE
Students use a work or art as a springboard to a personal narrative or descriptive writing, create a collage to identify tone through art, and use inference to discern what might have caused an individual to feel the emotion that is...
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Reading Fiction: Sentences
In this reading fiction-sentences worksheet, students read two selections from Dickens and Joyce, analyzing the pace and underlining words that create the effect that the author wants.
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Half Man, Half Limping Rabbit
Read your class a folk tale from Romania then discuss it. As they listen they discover how the author sets the mood using English conventions such as foreshadowing, magical elements, and they look for descriptive language while looking...
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The Sand Horse
Fourth graders are introduced to the book THE SAND HORSE and discuss the title and cover illustration. They listen to the story listening for words and phrases to describe the setting. They then brainstorm key words to illustrate the...
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The Cure: Guided Imagery
Prepare class members for a discussion of Sonia Levitin's dystopian novel The Cure, by leading them on a guided imagery exercise designed to encourage visualization of written descriptions.
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Writing About a Christmas Day Celebration
Middle schoolers write about a Christmas Day Celebration they have experienced. In this personal narrative activity, students use descriptive words to tell a story about their own family's Christmas. Middle schoolers organize plot and...
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Poetry Passport
Passport photos are notoriously unflattering but here's an activity that encourages youngsters to create a poetic picture of themselves using each category on the passport as a prompt for a poem.
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PowerPoint Short Story Report
Students make a Microsoft PowerPoint report from a short story read in class. They summarize and paraphrase a short story identifying the six story elements: characters, setting, plot, conflict, solution, tone/mood.
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"Theseus and the Minotaur"
Students analyze the features of myths and legends. They read the myths "Theseus and the Minotaur" and "Orpheus and Eurydice," identify the myth story elements, evaluate each story for the overall theme, describe the characters, and...
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Reading and Activity Suggestions for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Middle schoolers learn about characterization techniques in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. In this Adventures of Tom Sawyerlesson, students write a description of one character through the eyes of another character and identify...
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A Moment in Time
Eighth graders study poems to see how punctuation, line length, rhythm and word choice can be used to create a memorable moment. They read and discuss poems by Shel Silverstein.
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INTRODUCTION TO POETIC WRITING
Students read about the four elements of poetry: form, theme, purpose, and mood. They are given several questions to ask themselves about each element as they begin to write their own successful poems.
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It's A Blue, Blue Monday
Students create images that convey how the weather makes them feel. As a class, students discuss the way weather can effect their mood. After reading several passages describing the weather, students use vivid descriptions and...
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Adjectives
Pupils list adjectives to describe Anakin, his cloak and the mood of the poster to write an adjective-rich description. They then sort the adjectives into categories of what they describe: people, places, or things.
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Life Size Characters
Sixth graders analyze character traits and create a life size character outline. In this character analysis lesson, 6th graders analyze character traits of a character using character webs and poems. Students then create a life size...
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Standards Focus: Recognizing Vivid Details, Of Mice and Men
In this recognizing details instructional activity, students read 3 excerpts from chapter 3 of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, underlining each word that evokes some sensory stimulation (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste). Students...
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The Raven: Creator of the Universe?
Students explore biology by researching birds in class. In this raven identification instructional activity, students utilize the Internet to identify the anatomy, habits and habitat of ravens. Students write descriptive paragraphs about...
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Social Life in the 1950's and Domestic Politics and Policy
Eleventh graders examine the cultural mood and politics of the 1950's in the United States. They read a section of their text and take notes, view a clip of the movie "Pleasantville" and discuss societal roles in the 1950's, and listen...
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Worksheet 5. Reading: Type B Personality
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students read the descriptions of the Type B personality and then answer the 4 questions that follow.
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Crafting Poetry: A Sensory Journey
Tenth graders experiment with poetry devices to write poems. In this poetry lesson, 10th graders participate in learning stations. Students create a word pool and select a word from the list to create a line of poetry. Students complete...
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Opera Seria
In this opera movie soundtrack worksheet, students read a 1 paragraph description of opera seria and then use the dialogue from the film Speed to help them determine what music is appropriate to add to the film based on the style of the...
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Family
Young scholars use Microsoft Word to create the family newsletter which can be mailed out with the family Christmas cards.