Literacy Lab
5 Followers
Clayton, California, United States
About the store
I am a veteran educator with over 19 years of teaching experience across grades K–8. For the past decade, I’ve specialized in middle school English Language Arts, History, and Reading, where I’ve focused on building strong literacy skills, academic dialogue, and collaborative learning routines.
In addition to my classroom work, I serve on my school’s Instructional Leadership Team and our ELA ILT, where I help guide curriculum, support colleagues, and design schoolwide systems that strengthen teaching and learning.
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A Guide: How To Implement Collaborative Structures in Your Classroom
Product Summary for Teachers Pay TeachersHow to Introduce Collaborative Structures Into Your Classroom is a practical, classroom-tested teacher guide designed to help middle school educators build strong academic dialogue, student agency, and collaborative learning routines. Written by Adriana Ayala, this resource walks teachers step-by-step through introducing, modeling, and sustaining the most effective collaborative structures used in ELA and across content areas. This guide breaks down 20+
1st - 8th
Science of Reading
Socratic Seminar Guide & Graphic Organizers
This Socratic Seminar Guide and Student Packet is a complete, ready‑to‑use resource designed for grades 5–8. It gives teachers everything they need to introduce, model, and run meaningful Socratic seminars—whether students are brand‑new to academic dialogue or ready to deepen their discussion skills. The guide includes clear teacher directions, planning steps, norms, roles, and quick tips that make implementation simple and predictable. Students receive minimalist, easy‑to-follow worksheets
5th - 8th
Informational Text, Other (Social Studies), Reading Strategies
Thanksgiving Persuasive Writing Activity: "Don't Eat Me"
This humorous and highly engaging persuasive writing activity invites students to step into the role of a turkey trying to survive Thanksgiving by convincing the farmer to choose someone else for the dinner table. Designed for grades 4–7, the resource includes a brainstorming chart, a structured speech outline, and a creative mini‑poster component that encourages students to blend persuasive techniques with imagination and humor. With clear directions, transition word support, and space for a fu
3rd - 8th
Creative Writing, Writing
Quote of the week - Pericles
This reflective writing activity invites students to explore the famous Pericles quote, “What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others,” through accessible prompts and structured thinking routines. Designed for grades 5–8, the worksheet guides students to interpret the quote in their own words, connect it to what they’ve learned about Ancient Greece, and reflect on how its message applies to their own lives today. With sentence start
5th - 8th
Ancient History, Creative Writing, Writing
Book Review Worksheet
This simple and student‑friendly Book Review Worksheet is perfect for helping young readers reflect on the books they’ve finished while practicing opinion writing and comprehension skills. Designed for elementary and middle school students, the worksheet guides readers to record the book’s title and author, give a star rating, explain whether they recommend the book, and describe their favorite part with clear reasoning. A drawing section allows students to visually represent the story, making t
2nd - 8th
Reading, Writing
Creative Writing - The Famous Dinner Table
This creative narrative writing activity invites students to imagine hosting a dinner party with four famous guests from any time period or field, encouraging rich storytelling, character development, and dialogue practice. Designed for grades 5–8, the resource includes two structured brainstorming sheets that help students plan the who, when, where, and why of their dinner, along with character traits, possible dialogue, and guest behaviors. Students then use their planning pages to draft a det
4th - 8th
Creative Writing, Other (ELA), Writing
Quote of the Week by C.S. Lewis
This thoughtful writing activity helps students explore C.S. Lewis’s inspiring quote, “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream,” through a structured graphic organizer, sentence frames, and an easy‑to‑use rubric. Designed for grades 5–8, the resource guides students to interpret the quote in their own words, make personal connections to their goals and dreams, and reflect on how the message can encourage someone who feels stuck or discouraged. With clear paragraph promp
5th - 8th
Creative Writing, Writing
Quote of the week by Walt Disney
This inspirational writing activity helps students reflect on Walt Disney’s famous quote, “If you dream it, you can do it,” through structured vocabulary practice and a guided three‑paragraph response. Designed for grades 5–8, the resource includes a student‑friendly vocabulary chart that builds understanding of key terms like dream, goal, challenge, and success, followed by a clear writing prompt that supports opinion writing, text‑to‑self connections, and evidence‑based reasoning. With step‑by
4th - 8th
Classroom Community, Writing
Middle School Survival Guide
This engaging writing activity invites students to step into a leadership role as they create a “Middle School Survival Guide” for incoming fifth graders. Designed for grades 5–8, the worksheet guides students through brainstorming, organizing, and writing about the key differences between fifth and sixth grade, including the pros, cons, and challenges of transitioning to middle school. With structured prompts, planning supports, and clear writing expectations, this resource helps students refle
6th - 8th
Creative Writing, Writing
Readers Summarize
A reading strategy that is important for students to develop is how to summarize a story. A summary is a shortened version of the story. It retells the main ideas, theme, problems, solutions, and all the important parts of the story. This is an important strategy for students to learn so they can find the most important parts in a text, integrate central ideas in a meaningful way, and to develop a deeper level of comprehension as they read independently or listen to stories read aloud to them. A
1st - 8th
Literature, Reading, Reading Strategies
RAFT Creative Writing
Are you wondering what a RAFT writing assignment is? RAFT is an acronym for role of the writer, audience, format, and topic. The goal is to have students understand the varied formats of writing, and how to effectively communicate their ideas so a reader can easily understand everything written. By using the RAFT technique, it encourages students to write creatively, as well as, consider topics from multiple perspectives. This graphic organizer provides an overview of what RAFT is and a variety
4th - 8th
Creative Writing, English Language Arts
Readers Make Predictions
Readers make predictions to encourage thinking about reading, and to develop that "I can't wait to find out what happens" feeling. A prediction is a guess about what will happen next in the story. This document contains an anchor chart and student recording sheet. Students can make predictions before, during, and after reading a book of their choice or a teacher read aloud. The first page contains the anchor chart and student recording sheet. The second page has three of the same anchor charts f
1st - 8th
Reading, Reading Strategies
Book Report
This handout provides students with a structured book review template. Book reviews provide students with an opportunity to express an opinion through writing. It also helps with their reading comprehension. Remind students that book reviews are a sneak peek at a book! They want to lure other readers to want to dive into the book themselves! Additionally this document is a Word doc so you can edit it to fit the needs of your students.
2nd - 8th
Literature, Reading
All About Me Gazette
Break the ice at the start of the school year or at the beginning of a new quarter with this interactive, fill-in poster template that prompts students to share all about themselves! Even your most reluctant writers will have fun making a list of their favorite things, drawing a self-portrait, writing about their personality, and more!
2nd - 7th
English Language Arts, Writing
Showing 1-14 of 14 results
About the store
Experience
I am a veteran educator with over 19 years of teaching experience across grades K–8. For the past decade, I’ve specialized in middle school English Language Arts, History, and Reading, where I’ve focused on building strong literacy skills, academic dialogue, and collaborative learning routines.
In addition to my classroom work, I serve on my school’s Instructional Leadership Team and our ELA ILT, where I help guide curriculum, support colleagues, and design schoolwide systems that strengthen teaching and learning.
Teaching style
⭐ My Teaching Philosophy
I believe students learn best when they feel confident, supported, and empowered to think deeply. My resources are designed to:
Lower cognitive load
Build predictable routines
Support diverse learners
Strengthen academic talk
Promote collaboration and independence
Make complex skills accessible through structure and scaffolds
My goal is to help teachers create classrooms where every student participates, every voice matters, and every learner grows.
Additional biographical information
⭐ What You’ll Find in My Store
My store is designed for busy teachers who want high-quality, print-ready, classroom-tested materials that actually work. You’ll find:
Collaborative learning structures (Think-Pair-Share, Jigsaw, RAGE, Fishbowl, Socratic Seminar, etc.)
Close reading and annotation tools
Text-dependent question guides and organizers
Student-facing packets, role cards, and sentence stems
Teacher-facing planning guides, checklists, and handouts
Minimalist, Google-Docs-friendly layouts
Resources that support academic dialogue, evidence-based thinking, and student agency
Everything I create is built to be clear, scaffolded, and ready to use tomorrow.
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