InterrobangTeaching

This is an activity I used to reinforce fraction operations in my 6th grade math class. The students created a class recipe book by each bringing in three of their favorite recipes. They had to include a list of ingredients, as well as instructions for doubling, tripling, or halving the recipe. They had a lot of fun designing their book covers and pages, adding in cooking tips and kitchen advice, and assembling the class book. They each received a copy to take home- and many of them brought

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 test I wrote for my 7th and 8th grade Literature class on the novel "Nothing But the Truth" by Avi. It has three sections- a multiple choice section that reviews the characters in the novel, a short answer section that tests for comprehension, and a short answer section that tests critical thinking skills in connection with the novel. The answer key is not included- I usually do not make one for my tests, since they are largely short answer/essay based.

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 book report I do with my 6th or 7th graders. They choose a book that has won an award- any book of their choice, with my approval. Then they write an award acceptance speech- including details about the plot, characters, and theme of the book, as well as a recommendation of why other kids should read it. The students usually get very into the speech- adding dramatics, music, and sometimes even creating a fake version of the award and having a friend present it to them. Not only do

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 an activity I made for my 6th graders when we were discussing unit prices. It is a practical exercise where students have to compare prices between two competing products and decide which is the better buy. It opened up discussions on how sometimes "sales" are not always offering the best price. Students learned how to get the most for their money.

This is a class project that I designed for my 7th grade that simulates the workings of a newspaper office. Two students serve as "editors-in-chief", in charge of choosing the lead stories, editing the columns, and placing the pages on the newspaper. The other students became journalists, columnists, and photographers in charge of writing articles and opinion pieces, as well as finding or taking pictures, to include in the paper. It is an excellent group activity, and a great review of mechan

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".

This is a student guideline for a personal narrative assignment that gives students practice in using and identifying nouns and pronouns in their own writing. The goal is to give students practice writing about their own life experiences, but also to reinforce basic noun and pronoun usage. It could be adapted to focus on any element of grammar, though since it is a personal story, pronouns are a perfect fit.