Mrs Joiners Library

A comprehensive 80+ page Research Manual designed for grades 4–8, guiding students through the entire research process. Includes step-by-step lessons, graphic organizers, citation guides (MLA & APA), checklists, and worksheets. Perfect for librarians, ELA teachers, and social studies classes introducing formal research projects. Written in easy-to-understand language for middle schoolers.

A comprehensive unit that introduces students to varying types of poetry and poetic devices. I call the literary analysis of poems, "dissecting poetry" and have worksheets to help students find varying literary elements in poetry.

Three presentations on the world of Greek mythology: The first begins with "what is myth?," moves onto an overview of the Big Twelve gods and goddess, and ends with an exploration of monsters and heroes.

This research paper process bulletin board shows students how to write a paper through seven steps and each step has four actionable items.

Compare and contrast the two works, "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman and "I, Too" by Langston Hughes.

A lecture: Take your students through the process of writing a research paper. Seven steps have four action items with bulleted descriptions about what each item means. Based on research done by college and high school librarians, this slideshow introduces the process in a formulaic way that they can understand and will inform them for years to come. Close the high school/college readiness gap!

A worksheet to help students evaluate the credibility of their sources.

A presentation on showing kids what plagiarism is and how to paraphrase and direct quote correctly.

Begin an introduction to mythology by explaining what constitutes a myth. Pair this with a mentor text, "Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears," by Verna Aardema and have a discussion with your class about what myths mean to us as humans.

A presentation describing the various types of meter in poetry.

A worksheet students can use to work in a small group to create their own MLA citations. First sheet is a "cheat sheet" which give the examples of what is expected of a book, scholarly journal, and a page on a website citation for MLA 9. Second sheet is a place for the students to write in their version of the citation for examples given by the teacher. I placed a book, a journal on each table of students and also gave them a link to a website to use as their own citations.

Using the Jacob's Ladder scaffolding, explore the details of Walt Whitman's poem, "I Hear America Singing" in a presentation.

A short presentation teaching kids how to use note cards to organize their information for a research paper.

A checklist for revising and editing a research paper. This simple document includes a column for the writer and a column for peers to check off required revision items.

An assessment to see if students understand the difference in research sources.

Based on Lucy Calkin's writing workshop, this presentation urges students to think beyond story elements and move toward drafting. It aims to inspire them to sit down and write! The last pages includes writing prompts for those who need help starting this process.

Teach your students a basic overview of the Greek gods! This presentation begins at with the swirling chaos of pre-gods and goes through the Big Twelve.

A worksheet for analyzing, "Mysteries, Yes" by Mary Oliver with vocabulary.

A presentation that walks students through the different types of poetic forms (haikus, sonnets, free verse, etc.) and poetic devices (enjambment, assonance, imagery, etc.).

Based on Lucy Calkin's writer's workshop, this presentation goes through the process of writing a strong lead sentence for their fiction writing.