Fun Fresh Ideas

Everything you need to start a 3-week drama unit tomorrow!12 Angry Men is a short but powerful play that will hook your students' attention and keep them engaged throughout the unit. Students will build background knowledge about the legal system, study character development and theme, and make real-world connections to text. This fun, fresh product comes with an in-depth teacher's guide and suggested timeline for each day's activities making your lesson plans a breeze! What is included in this

Why should elementary school students have all the Halloween fun? If you love Halloween as much as your students do, than this product will help bring the spirit of the season to your middle school or high school classroom! Based on the internet phenomenon asking people to write the most terrifying story they can in just two sentences, this resource gives you everything you need to bring the excitement and challenge to your classroom. This fun, fresh product comes with an in-depth teacher's guid

A complete 2-3 day friendly letter writing project perfect for fall leading into the Thanksgiving holiday or at the end of the school year as a reflection piece. Students are asked to consider and define "gratitude." They then look at two non-fiction articles on how expressing gratitude can improve school morale and make students happier and healthier. Finally, the project culminates with students writing a letter of gratitude to an adult that has had a positive impact on their lives. Project

A fun, hands-on reading comprehension game that helps students master the skill of sequencing (order of events). Students become detectives, organizing data from a classroom theft into a logical order to discover who committed the crime. A great activity for individuals (a learning center), partners, or groups. What is included in this resource:---------------------------- • comprehensive teacher's guide • printable student worksheets (color and b & w options) What teachers are saying about this

A fun project to help your students gain familiarity with the number of interesting creatures and monsters that populate the world of Greek Mythology. In this project, students choose 8 different "monsters" from Greek Mythology (i.e. Pegasus, Medusa, sirens, mermaids, hydras, etc.). They create a "dictionary" of their chosen creatures, listing their descriptions and a few interesting facts about each creature. They must also create 2 monsters of their own. The download includes: - In-depth T

Searching for a way to show your students the fantastic film based on Louis Sachar's novel, "Holes," while still keeping them on-track and learning? This wonderful resource keeps students focused on learning while still enjoying the movie. The worksheet includes 25 questions: multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, and short answer that cover major events, plot points, and characters in the movie from beginning to end. Additionally, this download also includes a venn diagram that asks students t

A complete literature unit to use when reading author Gordon Korman's popular "Island" series. This unit is for Book One: Shipwreck. The unit includes reading comprehension questions for each chapter, an opening activity, activities on characterization and understanding 24-hour clocks, and a 20-point quiz. A great high-interest, low-readability series perfect for use with unmotivated readers, learning support students, boys who don't know what to read, and as an exciting series to get student

A thorough, interesting, final test for a literature unit/novel study on "My Side of the Mountain." Not just a multiple-choice test, this assessment contains questions on vocabulary, characters, plot, motivation, cause and effect, theme, and more. Answer key is included. Part of a comprehensive literature study of "My Side of the Mountain" which you can find here: My Side of the Mountain - Complete Literature Unit Feedback & Followers ---------------------------- Did you know that you ca

A fun, hands-on reading comprehension game that helps students master the skill of sequencing (order of events. A perfect cross-curricular activity for a science class and/or a Language Arts, English, or Reading class. Students read about a student performing a science experiment and have to place events from the experiment in their correct order. A great activity for individuals (a learning center), partners, or groups. What is included in this resource:---------------------------- • comprehen

A fun, unique way to get to know students at the start of the school year. Works especially well in math and/or science classes, although it can be used anywhere. Students are asked to create a self-portrait following specific instructions to use "glyphs" or symbols for different features. For example - "If you loved school last year, give yourself a round head. If you liked school last year, give yourself a square head. If you thought school was just "ok" last year, give yourself a triangle h

A great, quick activity for those moments when students may be finishing at different times and need an activity to remain occupied! This download is available as part of a larger packet of fun autumn-themed activities. Please search for: Fall Activity Pack - 6 Fabulous and Fun Ways to Celebrate the Season Meghan Mathis

A comprehensive 100-point final test to be used after completing a literature unit on Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men." This assessment includes sections on conflict, characterization, plot, vocabulary, quotations, and includes an essay where students choose what they would like to write about from a list of three essay choices. An answer key is provided. A great test to let you know if your students have really mastered all that you have been teaching them throughout the unit. This activity is

A colorful version of the worksheet you may have seen before for you to challenge and entertain an entire new group of students. Give your students' brains a holiday workout as they try to determine which classic Christmas carol is being depicted in each picture. An answer key is included. This activity is available for download individually or as part of an incredible package of unique and fun holiday and winter themed activities. Please search for “Winter Holidays Activity Pack: 20+ Fun Wa

A perfect activity for those days when your classes have been shortened because of assemblies, snow days, or when you want to reward your class for their hard work with a little bit of holiday fun. This activity asks students to unscramble a set of common winter and Christmas-themed words. An answer key is included. This activity is available for download individually or as part of an incredible package of unique and fun holiday and winter themed activities. Please search for “Winter Holidays

Looking for an instantly useable activity to launch a novel unit dealing with survival or outer space? Need a fun, fresh way to review appropriate behavior during group work and discussions? Want an exciting, different way to get-to-know your students in a way that will leave them energized and entertained, not bored and anxious? Then this is the resource for your class! Your students will work independently and in groups to come up with the tools they will need to survive being stranded on the

A wonderful activity for the first days of a new school year OR if you are coming into a classroom that needs to get back on track with behavior management and positive discipline. This activity asks students to consider what teachers AND students must do in order to make their classroom a comfortable place to learn successfully. Students come up with obligations that a teacher must meet and obligations students must meet and use those obligations to create a Classroom Contract. A great way t

A perfect activity to use when discussing classroom rules, procedures, and expectations. An excellent way to bring up the topic of showing respect in your classroom in a fun, engaging way. Students will take turns reading and acting out common gestures and then vote on whether or not they think that gesture is respectful or rude (in our culture and in other cultures). Afterward, students will work in pairs/groups to come up with ways they can show respect for themselves, their teacher, an

This is a complete unit for George Orwell's "Animal Farm," that I used with an 8th Grade classroom containing both Regular Education and Learning Support students. The activities are easily adaptable to students in all reading levels. The unit contains vocabulary activities for each chapter, study questions for each chapter, and a variety of different projects and activities that develop students higher-level thinking skills as they extend and refine their knowledge about the novel. Other act

A fun, high-interest, low-readability literature unit for Gordon Korman's popular "Island" series. This download includes worksheets, activities, quizzes, and a final test for "Book One: Shipwreck," "Book Two: Survival," and "Book Three: Escape." Activities are hands-on and help raise student interest, especially in unmotivated readers. Reading comprehension questions include a mix of prediction, reaction, questioning, and visualizing techniques to really heighten student comprehension, and q

A complete, interesting, easy-to-use literature unit to use with Scott Westerfeld's very popular novel, "Uglies," the first novel in a trilogy. This literature unit contains: - anticipation activities - study questions for every chapter (with answer key) - vocabulary activities - activities on characterization, mood, theme, conflict, setting, plot, summarization, and figurative language - three quizzes (with answer keys) - final test (with answer key) Over 20 activities in all! This unit is