Devin Plaas

This PDF of powerpoint slides contains an introduction to what the American Dream is, how it is defined, and how it has changed over time. It also introduces the idea of The American Dream as a theme and briefly discusses The Great Gatsby. It also includes brainstorming and summarizing questions throughout. This is the perfect way to give an introduction to The American Dream before starting a literature unit. You can find a follow up quiz/comprehension assessment here: https://www.teacherspay

This is a handout to go along with the study of Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabelle Lee." It asks students to respond to several questions utilizing textual evidence from the poem.

This is a common core aligned unit that uses fairy tales to explore multiple cultures. It includes daily plans, standards, objectives, and activities for 2 weeks worth of classes. It is designed for 9-10th grade but could easily be adapted for any age group. It is heavily writing focused. The font is avaliable on dafont.com If you have any questions or comments, please let me know! ***1/4/17 This product has been updated to include several more stories and details. Be sure to redownload!

This is a fun and easy activity to use after viewing the School House Rock video, "Mr. Morton." It includes the lyrics, and 5 questions as a quick comprehension check.

This is a Smart Board compatible PDF file for teaching about Epic poems. It includes background and history as well as examples of epic poems. It also includes an assignment to create your own poem, which can be used to meet Common Core writing standards. The font is available on dafont.com and the background can be found here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Chevron-Stationery-Backgrounds

This activity was designed to be used following the use of my American Dream powerpoint. You can find that lesson here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-American-Dream-2171884 It can be used a TOTD, an in class comprehension, or a quick quiz to gauge understanding. The fonts can be found at dafont.com and the images were from google search.

This is a SmartBoard compatible PDF that introduces students to banned books. It provides information about the most commonly banned books and statistics about why books are banned. It also includes quotes from famous authors about book banning and censorship. All of the statistics came from the ALA website. The fonts were found on dafont.com

This is a creative writing unit that is based on Lewis Caroll's "Alice in Wonderland." It includes a pre-writing activity, pre-test, several writing activities, as well as a final text over the whole novel. It culminates in a final activity of having students create their own "Wonderland" in which they host their own "mad tea party." If you have any questions or feel like you are missing details, please let me know! ****Updated to correct overlap of activities! I'm so sorry for this!

This is a "recipe" for a scary story. Students choose an element from each category to jump start their own scary story. They will then fill in the details to fully develop the story. This could be used with grades and ages of all level- simply choose how long/detailed you want the story to be!

This an introduction to Lewis Carroll and "Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass." It touches on the history of Carroll, the controversy surrounding him, and his literary success.

This is ready to roll workbook to use while reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This has an assignment to go with each chapter; these vary between short answer questions, writing tasks, to multiple choices quizzes. It culminates in a two page creative writing assignment. It comes as a printable pdf with link to an editable digital download.

This handout goes along with Laura Randozzo's fabulous Prezi on the Hero's Journey. You can find this prezi here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Heros-Journey-FREE-Lecture-Notesheet-for-Joseph-Campbells-Hero-Journey-467634

This is a creative writing assignment in which students create their own memoir. It is aligned with Common Core State Standards. It includes a graphic organizer for prewriting, handout with the assignment, as well as a rubric. The fonts can be found on dafont.com

This is an introductory SmartBoard compatible PDF that provides background information about the Harlem Renaissance and Langston Hughes. This was designed to be used when teaching "Thank You, M'am," but could be used when studying anything by Hughes.

This bundle includes the following products: Charles Dickins Active Listening Guide and answer keyThis is an active listening guide that goes along with the Biography.com video about Charles Dickens Life found at the following link: https://www.biography.com/video/charles-dickens-full-episode-2073085321Stave 1 Comprehension QuestionsStave 1 Setting Analysis Activity Stave 2 Comprehension QuestionsStave 2 Text Based Illustration Stave 3 Comprehension QuestionsStave 4 Comprehension QuestionsStave

This is a Smart Board compatible PDF file. It includes a journal prompt for a bell ringer and background on Emily Dickinson's life. It also includes a cooperative learning activity after reading the poem "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" as well as an independent creative writing activity. The activity concludes with a return to the journal entry to update with information learned through the lesson. The background can be found here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Stripes-and

This is a workbook to use in conjunction with Michaela DePrince's memoir, "Taking Flight." It is the perfect companion for simple preparation for teaching the book. It includes character analysis, figurative language identification, comprehension, reflection activities, and more. It also includes 4 articles for student understanding of context, as well as a glossary of ballet terminology. There are specific activities that correspond with the prologue, chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 11, 13, 14, 17, 18

This is a vocabulary notebook inspired by Robert Marzano's "6 Steps to Better Vocabulary Instruction." Students use this notebook to write their vocabulary words, create a definition for it, draw a picture or symbol that represents the word, and add notes to the word. The notes can be using the word in a sentence, writing synonyms, or anything that you find helps your students remember! My students LOVE being able to draw pictures while studying vocabulary and it really helps them remember th

This is a fun week long Bell Ringer series to get ready for Halloween. Each day is writing based and can be used for a quick activity or could be extended to be a more in depth writing activity. This is a Smart Board compatible PDF.

This is a short but sweet reference for teaching MLA citations. It uses a passage from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone to show the proper way to create citations for a research paper.