Use this handout as a guide for students as they read "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut. These questions encourages students to read the text through a dystopian lens, focusing on a variety of dystopian genre elements. There is no answer key provided, as most of the questions can be answered with multiple examples from the text. The questions serve as a great discussion starter in the classroom.
This anticipation guide is designed to introduce students to the major themes and ethical dilemmas explored in The Giver before reading. Students will respond to a series of 10 thought-provoking statements by agreeing or disagreeing and then explaining their reasoning in writing. This activity encourages discussion, activates prior knowledge, and helps students begin making personal connections to ideas such as freedom, individuality, memory, rules, and choice that will appear throughout the nov
This resource sheet and practice activity are designed to help students move beyond simply “dropping in” evidence and instead introduce sources in a way that builds ethos and strengthens their argument. By comparing weak and strong examples, students see how naming the author or organization, along with briefly establishing credibility, makes their writing more persuasive and trustworthy. The “Try It Yourself” section gives students structured practice using real, researchable sources, allowing
Use this printable after reading the short story, "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut and alongside a class viewing of the short film version, 2081. Students should be assigned groups, each focusing on a different dystopian characteristic as they take notes throughout the film. After the film viewing, this handout guides groups in making a one-slide presentation, closely comparing the illustration of their assigned dystopian characteristic in both the film and the written story. Purchase the
This paper-based escape room engages students in practicing key grammar and mechanics skills, including compound and complex sentences, capitalization and punctuation rules, spelling, and parts of speech. It includes teacher instructions, an engaging scenario to introduce the activity, and five printable escape room challenges with corresponding answer keys. As students solve each set of questions to generate a code, they’ll bring it to the teacher for approval before moving on to unlock the nex
This resource includes a student-facing instruction sheet and a sample poster for an activity designed to help learners review different types of figurative language. The activity works well for afternoons following state testing, as it is interactive while reinforcing key terms. Students should be assigned to groups/pairs and given a specific type of figurative language to master. Each group creates a poster to teach peers about the assigned concept. Afterward, students create worksheets for pe
This is a complete, student-facing packet ready to print for a fishbowl-style discussion on the beginning of Part II of Tangerine by Edward Bloor. It includes three categories of questions: Character, Plot, and Theme. There are three discussion-based questions in each category. I typically run three rounds of discussion, selecting one question from each category for each group to discuss. The packet also includes a discussion rubric and a note-taking page for students to use during the discuss
This handout is ready to print or display for student to use while writing constructed responses. Organized by text type (non-fiction, fiction, and poetry) it provides a list of sentence starters to support students in introducing and explaining evidence in their responses. This is best fit for middle and high school students as they begin to move away from the cookie-cutter sentence frames learned in earlier grades and begin to use a more sophisticate style in their written responses.
This poetry guide includes a definition, step-by-step instructions, and an example for both found and blackout poems. Provide these guides as students explore these two forms of poetry using any text you're reading in class!
This slide deck includes 20 days of sentence-editing practice focused on parts of speech. The opening slides provide instruction on basic editing marks and a review of each part of speech. Each practice slide includes a student-friendly editing checklist, with the corrected sentence shown on the following slide for review.
This ready-to-print dialogue worksheet will teach students how to correctly punctuate and capitalize dialogue. Designed for student use, this resource provides examples of correctly punctuated dialogue and clear demonstrations of how to use standard editing marks directly on the text. Students will practice identifying and correcting errors in dialogue formatting, such as misplaced punctuation marks, missing commas, and incorrect capitalization. An answer key is included for easy grading or sel
This bundle includes a slide deck and paired student handout/worksheet which help teach students the key skills of writing in a formal style. The activity is inquiry-based: students first brainstorm, individually or in groups, what formal writing does and does not look like. Next, they review sample sentences from a student essay comparing two familiar texts ( The Boy Who Cried Wolf and The Tortoise and the Hare). The sentences feature common style errors such as vague wording, informal languag
This slide deck is designed for use with middle or high school GSAs to spark meaningful conversation during Transgender Awareness Week. It explores five common myths about transgender identities, with each slide clearly debunking a misconception and providing thought-provoking discussion questions to encourage student reflection, understanding, and respectful dialogue.
6th - 12th
Health, Social Emotional Learning, Speaking & Listening
This slide deck is designed for use with middle or high school GSAs to spark meaningful conversation on Bi Visibility Day. It explores six common myths surrounding bisexuality, with each slide clearly debunking a misconception and offering thought-provoking discussion questions to engage students in reflection and dialogue.
6th - 12th
Health, Not Subject Specific, Speaking & Listening
This printable can be used as students read a new poem for the first time. Answering the basic questions of Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How, the worksheet guides students through a basic analysis of any poem.
This form helps students reflect on their performance across different grading categories. I created it after repeatedly encountering frustration around students questioning why a high test score didn’t significantly raise their overall grade, when they often overlooked missing or incomplete assignments in the homework or classwork category. Students complete this independently using our online gradebook, recording the weights of each grading category, and analyzing their performance in each on
This goal tracker allows students to track their writing goals throughout the school year, categorized into the three types of writing in the CCSS (Narrative, Argumentative, Informative/Explanatory). Each time students write, they will look at their previous writing task and document glows and grows in their writing. Based on those glows and grows, students will write a specific, achievable writing goal for their next writing task.
This worksheet is designed to complement a slide deck (included in the bundle) and helps teach students the key skills of writing in a formal style. The activity is inquiry-based: students first brainstorm, individually or in groups, what formal writing does and does not look like. Next, they review sample sentences from a student essay comparing two familiar texts ( The Boy Who Cried Wolf and The Tortoise and the Hare). The sentences feature common style errors such as vague wording, informal
This PDF printable is designed for the first days of school to help teachers learn more about their students, their general interests as well as their preferences specific to reading and writing. Most questions are quick check-box responses, while a few open-ended prompts give students the opportunity to share additional information that may be helpful for teachers as the year begins.
This Slide Deck is designed to complement a student facing worksheet (included in the bundle) and helps teach students the key skills of writing in a formal style. The activity is inquiry-based: students first brainstorm, individually or in groups, what formal writing does and does not look like. Next, they review sample sentences from a student essay comparing two familiar texts ( The Boy Who Cried Wolf and The Tortoise and the Hare). The sentences feature common style errors such as vague wor