InterrobangTeaching

This is a final project for a novel unit on "The Giver", and it also ties in well with a service learning project to a nearby nursing home. Our 8th graders compiled a memory book that was composed of memories from three generations- theirs, their parents', and a senior citizens'. We visited a nursing home (we went around Christmas time, so we took along some Christmas cards), and the students conducted "interviews" about their memories of family, holidays, historical events, etc. They then co

Poor punctuation is one of the first indicators of weak writing ability. This lesson plan strives to celebrate National Punctuation Day (September 24th) by reviewing the purpose and use of various forms of punctuation. It involves a punctuation scavenger hunt that gives students a review of the different marks, introduces students to lesser known punctuation marks (such as the interrobang), incorporates the use of youtube, and lets students exercise their own creativity by inventing their own

This is a traditional alphabet for across the top of your whiteboard- only it uses literary terms and devices. Each page contains the letter, literary term, and an example. A few letters have two options available. Here is a list of literary terms included: Allusion Alliteration Biography Connotation Diction External Conflict Foreshadowing Genre Hyperbole Imagery Irony Juxtaposition Kenning Limerick Metaphor Narrative Onomatopoeia Personification Quatrain Resolution Symbolism Tone Voice (no e

This is a set of four worksheets that ask critical thinking questions about the novel "A Wrinkle in Time". I used these with my 7th and 8th grade Advanced Literature class. They are all short answer questions that challenge the students to think about their answers- no rote memory or recall questions are on these worksheets.

This is a test I gave to my 7th graders on the book "Freak the Mighty."

This is a great "facebook" review activity template for any book or story called "tracebook", since the students are "tracing" the events of the plot and information about the characters. The page contains places for doing each of the following: -drawing pictures of the main character, climactic event, and setting -reviewing the events of plot (introduction through resolution) -identifying theme and drawing a connection to other stories read with the same theme -giving the "likes" and "dislike

This is a unit plan outline for teaching "The Giver." It describes the objectives that studying a novel can accomplish, the objectives that reading specifically "The Giver" can accomplish, a day-by-day schedule for reading the book and discussion about its content (18-20 days in length), and several project ideas for the end of the unit. A couple of the project ideas are cross-curricular with Art and History. I used this outline for teaching some of my colleagues what the schedule for a novel

This is a test I gave my 7th and 8th grade Advanced Literature class over John Boyle's "The Boy in Striped Pajamas".

This is a test I gave to my 7th and 8th grade Advanced Literature test when we read the novel "A Christmas Carol." It contains matching, true/false (corrections needed), short answer, and essay questions.

This is a test I used for my Advanced Literature class of 7th and 8th graders. It has matching, true/false, short answer, and essay questions. No answer key is included since most of the test is more subjective in nature.

This is a test I gave my 7th and 8th grade Advanced Literature class over the novel "A Wrinkle in Time."

This is a collection of writing exercises designed for my middle school students, especially for those students who do not enjoy writing. Each of these exercises are fresh and creative, designed to be used either as lesson starters or as writing practice for a number of learning objectives. Each exercise showcases a different element of English or Literature, such as mood, perspective, character, descriptive writing, writing with transition words/phrases, etc.

This is a vocabulary assignment I made for my Advanced 7th and 8th grade class when they read John Boyle's "The Boy in Striped Pajamas". It is easily adapted to fit any novel.

This is a book report I use with my 8th graders. They choose a multicultural fiction book (I go over examples of the genre in class) and get it approved by me. Then they create a brochure or travel booklet that is about their book and the culture they read about. This book report could be used very effectively in correlation with a geography class or a world history class.

This is a test I gave my 7th and 8th grade Advanced Literature class on the novel "Animal Farm".