HarmonTeach

I created this packet as a way for my students to stay engaged with the Agatha Christie murder mystery "And Then There Were None". The packet should be printed and distributed to students and then updated as they read the novel, or perhaps updating the packet during class time. Students use process of elimination to rule out potential murderers, with space to list each character's profession, past known criminal activity, and their status (suspect, victim, deceased). It even lists the character

This form provides a way to assess and discuss student writing. The idea is to select only two or three items from each section, so as not to overwhelm the student, and provide three doable "must improve" goals for future writing assignments.

Students in high school, especially entering freshmen, struggle with the concept and importance of Grade Point Average. This activity walks students through the process by having them consider grades from their most recent quarter, or by predicting what grades they will receive in a subsequent quarter. After the step-by-step process, students are encouraged to extend the activity with a journal entry.

Analogies allow us to make comparisons to other know relationships, and therefore enhance our understanding of new and unfamiliar words. This two-page document with a two-page answer key provides a solid foundation for students to learn and practice analogies. In addition, the fourth section asks students to integrate past vocabulary words into analogies they create from scratch. You can make adjustment to this by printing in your own vocab words, or customizing the sheet before copying. This wo

I've realized that while my students understand the basics of conflict, (internal vs external, character vs...) they have yet to grasp how conflict relates to cause and effect and the development of the plot in a given story. That's purpose of this tool. We've discussed cause and effect as dominoes falling, and I've used Rube Goldberg devices as examples in class. The next step is identifying conflict using this organizer: identifying the cause of the conflict, documenting page #, the nature and

These colorful and fun posters can be printed, laminated and hung on your classroom walls to remind you, students, administrators, parents and guests of the Common Core ELA standards. The simplicity of the posters makes the standards easily understood accessible to all! ELA Common Core Standards Posters by James Harmon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.

This self-contained kit makes the English Language Arts Common Core Standards accessible to students in grades 6-12. Simply print the log as a poster, or print a weekly copy for students to keep in the class binder. Then print a class set of the standards cards, and laminate them to last the school year. With each lesson delivery, select a few key standards targeted in your plan. I like to select a few students at random each day and hand them the card as they enter to hold during the lesson. As

A great follow up to my Writer's Conference product, this abbreviated, half-sheet form provides a structure for students to lead peer writer's conferences. Based on the 6+1 Writing Traits, the form asks student conference leaders to identify specific strengths and weaknesses. I ask students to attach this form to their resubmitted drafts so I can track what feedback they were given and what they decided to act upon in their subsequent rewrite.

This handy guide is perfect for student binders and accommodates a three-hole punch. Covering a basic explanation of the role transitions play in our writing, this handout also features dozens of commonly used transition words and phrases to help students maintain organization in their writing.

Using many graphic organizers, this six page study guide covers comparison of Widow Douglass and Miss Watson, a focus on the cruel tricks played on Jim and his reaction to them, open-ended higher order thinking questions, themes of the book, an investigation of the perspectives of the characters on many of the same topics, and a section that provides students with an opportunity to discover satire. This guide may be used for either the novel or various film versions.

This tracking tool is for readers at any level in grades 4 through 12. The sheet provides students with the simple, yet concise steps necessary for deconstructing new and unfamiliar words as they read a book. It can be used with fiction or nonfiction, shorts stories or chapter books. Teachers can determine the amount of points if needed. This activity can be used to differentiate instruction for those readers who may tend to struggle with grade-level reading, and can be used for students who nee

I conduct this Common Core writing activity with my students to give them an opportunity to receive feedback from someone outside the classroom. When students write for a real world audience, their writing improves. After conducting and interest survey and a writer's conference, students write blog entries over an extended period of time. In my classroom, we do it for four to six weeks. This unit contains student handouts, a rubric, targeted CCSS, links to examples of effective student blogs, an

This attractive set of 8 posters will provide an excellent reminder for your students as they complete classroom writing projects. Covering topics like fluency, conventions, ideas, professionalism, and editing/revising, each poster provides simple prompts to help students consider, evaluate, and improve their own writing.

Meet the kids where they are with this template loosely modeled after the popular social networking site "Twitter". Students work at higher levels to create microblog posts about what the characters in the novel feel, rather than simply quote what they say in the story. This template works with Comic Life® and your photo library to create a printable/displayable page for classroom or hallway display. Text fields are editable and photos dragged from your library will automatically resize. Mocki