Darcy Leis

After reading a chapter (or sometimes two chapters) of The Giver, my students work in pairs or small groups to fill in blanks in a summary of the chapter(s). This should help enhance students' understanding of the text. This sheet can also be used as a way to make sure students who miss chapters of the book actually make up the reading! This activity would be fairly difficult without having read the chapter. An answer key is included. Chapters are available for individual purchase, and as of Ap

I have students complete this planning sheet after brainstorming ideas for narrative poems. I also complete a plan sheet for my own narrative poem sample (written as students write their own). Students use this as a guide throughout the writing process.

After reading chapters 8-10 of The Giver, my students work in pairs or small groups to fill in blanks in a summary of the chapter. This should help enhance students' understanding of the text. This sheet can also be used as a way to make sure students who miss chapters of the book actually make up the reading! This activity would be fairly difficult without having read the chapter. An answer key is included. Other chapters available! Some of the fonts used are created by A Perfect Blend and pu

While we read Lois Lowry's The Giver together, my students and I work through this Slides presentation. The process of recalling and sharing memories usually adds depth to our shared experience of reading the book, and of course the process adds a deeper level of understanding with regard to the text itself. The template is one I found on Slidesgo.com. Students often ask to add slides for photos, and I encourage that! I have had students, too, who can't locate a baby/toddler picture. Students c

Each year, as we read The Giver and learn about imagery and sensory detail, I ask my students to create a color poem. Students select a color and then write a carefully-formatted stanza for each of the five senses as they relate to this color. We often discuss coordinate and non-coordinate adjectives during this unit as well. At the end of the activity, we add pictures to the poems, print them in color, and hang them in our school's hallways. Some fonts used in this item are from Perfect Blend a

After reading chapters 18-19 of The Giver, my students work in pairs or small groups to fill in blanks in a summary of the chapter. This should help enhance students' understanding of the text. This sheet can also be used as a way to make sure students who miss chapters of the book actually make up the reading! This activity would be fairly difficult without having read the chapter. An answer key is included. Other chapters available! Some of the fonts used are created by A Perfect Blend and p

Because, like any good English teacher, I am a fan of Kelly Gallagher's, I wanted my students to complete Gallagher's six word memoirs near the beginning of the year. This helps me introduce narrative concepts, and it also helps me get to know my students. After students complete this sheet, I make a poster of each class's narratives, one for each student. I then hang these in the hallway. I keep all the old posters, too, and now I have a little collection lining my classroom walls.

I pair this sample narrative poem with my narrative poetry unit. As we know, students benefit from model texts, and I find that so many of them relate to the sense of loss the poem communicates. The poem contains examples of imagery, metaphor, and alliteration, among other literary devices and elements.

I take my students through a narrative poem writing process, and this is the rubric I use to evaluate their final poems. I created it using categories based on the narrative Common Core goals for students.

After reading chapters three and four of The Giver, my students work in pairs or small groups to fill in blanks in a summary of the chapter. This should help enhance their understanding of the text. This sheet can also be used as a way to make sure students who miss chapters of the book actually make up the reading! This activity would be fairly difficult without having read the chapter. An answer key is included. Other chapters available! Some of the fonts used are created by A Perfect Blend an

After learning various literary terms and concepts from Scholastic Scope's Literary Terms Glossary, my students take this assessment. It is a 58-point assessment that covers figurative language, plot components, point of view, mood, and many other literary terms and concepts.

I offer this handout to students after we've taken our literary review assessment (based mostly on Scholastic Scope's list of literary terms, available online). It reviews perspectives, mood, figurative language, and conflict type. All quotations are properly cited. Many are from Lois Lowry's The Giver. Some of the fonts used in this updated version are from Perfect Blend Fonts and purchased on TPT.

I use this with my seventh grade students after we read Sandra Cisneros's short story "Eleven." This plot line could be used for a variety of texts, though, and asks students to identify elements of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. It also asks students to identify setting, characters, theme, protagonist, and antagonist. It could also be used successfully as a support for Literature Circles.

Before reading The Giver with my seventh-graders, we work in groups to create our own communities as a way to introduce the novel. This double-sided handout is what we record our community information on. Some of the fonts used are created by A Perfect Blend and purchased on TPT!

I used this to check that my students were closely reading chapter 12 in our class novel. I allowed them to work in pairs to complete the handout, but they had to read the chapter once before even viewing the handout.

After students read chapters 15 and 16 of The Giver on their own, I ask them to complete this plug-in activity to illustrate comprehension. A word bank and answer key are included.

After reading chapter one of The Giver, my students work in pairs or small groups to fill in blanks in a summary of the chapter. This should help enhance their understanding of the text. This sheet can also be used as a way to make sure students who miss chapters of the book actually make up the reading! This activity would be fairly difficult without having read the chapter. An answer key is included. Other chapters available! Some of the fonts used are created by A Perfect Blend and purchased

After reading chapter two of The Giver, my students work in pairs or small groups to fill in blanks in a summary of the chapter. This should help enhance their understanding of the text. This sheet can also be used as a way to make sure students who miss chapters of the book actually make up the reading! This activity would be fairly difficult without having read the chapter. An answer key is included. Other chapters available! Some of the fonts used are created by A Perfect Blend and purchased

This handout is meant to be used after students have some familiarity with haiku. Generally, middle school students pick up haiku quickly. After learning the basics, this handout encourages (through format reminders and haiku samples) students to create their own haiku.