Jodie Laing

This is designed for middle school students to share a book they have read with the class. The direction sheet is a simple list of what students need to include in their book talk and steps to complete it. I use the rubric to evaluate students as they share their books with the class. The last page is a handout for the student audience so they can give feedback to the presenters. I have students write their name at the top so that I know who gave the feedback but cut each of them apart so the

I created this checklist to be able to easily keep track of where each of my middle school students are in meeting the new ELA Common Core Standards. On this spreadsheet is a separate sheet for each grade, 6th through 8th. You can type or hand write student names at the top of each page. To fit enough columns for 25 students, I've formatted it to be landscape on a legal size paper. I've left it in excel format so you can customize it for your needs and number of students.

This is a simple direction sheet and scoring guide for students to follow to create their own poetry anthology. The anthology asks them to include both poems from known poets as well as a few of their own. They also have to research and write a biography for each of the poets they include in their project. This is easy to customize to fit your needs.

This is a simple 2-page handout intended for middle school students. I use it to support students independent reading and for me to see what they know about the elements of literature. I will post the book reviews in the classroom as a resource for students when they are looking for a new book to read.

This is a simple handout that requires students to show a little of what they are thinking while doing independent reading. I use this after I have spent time teaching the strategies on this handout. I usually give students several days to complete the handout as a homework assignment to go along with their daily reading. It asks students to make connections & predictions, ask questions, and sketch pictures of a scene in their head.