Cogitare

This unit is a complete study of the novel Journey to Topaz, a story of the Japanese relocation during World War II. It includes an initial webquest to excite student interest, a variety of daily reading activities, such as a vocabulary list, comprehension questions, charts, plot pyramids, and review guides, and a teaching strategy for introducing point of view. In addition, a mid-book vocabulary quiz and a final vocabulary quiz and answer key are included, as well as the final essay topic and

This worksheet is a quick way to assess new students' retention of the parts of speech covered in earlier classes. I start the year with this so that I know how much review of the parts of speech, if any, must be done before moving into more advanced grammar concepts. It gives students a real sense of the emphasis I plan to place on their knowledge of basic grammar. If review and reinforcement of the parts of speech is necessary, I end the review unit with the same sheet to show students th p

This unit is a complete study of the novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry!, a story of one family's efforts to withstand and overcome a racist community that deprived them of their rights and freedom during the Great Depression. It includes an initial introduction to the Great Depression, a creative journaling project that lasts the duration of the unit, a variety of daily reading activities, such as a vocabulary list, comprehension questions, discussion guides, small group work, plot chronolo

This unit will allow teachers to review the novel The Witch of Blackbird Pond after students have read it as a summer reading project. The unit begins with a day of plot review in which students are put into groups and asked to recap a set number of pages for the class. In this way, the entire plot will be quickly recapped as a foundation for the unit. A vocabulary list is included, and students will define the words, write sentences for each word to practice meaning and usage, and be quizzed

This project allows students to work collaboratively or independently to analyze the strengths of the literature studied throughout the year. They will use the format of the elements of literature studied throughout the year, and they will give the "award" for each element of literature to two of the literary works studied. Since the project is a Word document, teachers can modify it to better assess the concepts covered in their own classrooms, using my format and requirements as a foundation

Peer reviewing is a skill to be developed, rather than a natural process for most students. Students need support to know the type of feedback they should provide and how to explain their feedback clearly. This peer review worksheet guides students as they review one another''s work. It provides five detailed prompts. For each prompt, students record a sentence or idea from the work they are reviewing and then explain, defend, or describe their evaluation. As it is a Word document, teachers

This outline will help students organize their ideas to support a thesis statement when planning their independent book review essays. I typically give students this format when I assign a book review/ report, so they can collect their thoughts as they read their chosen books. Before they are cleared to begin writing their essays, they submit this sheet to me for my approval. In this way, I can make sure their thesis statements are accurate and their organization is clear. I can ask them to