Michele Panzera

Here is a great lesson that will walk your students through the steps necessary to create a strong character in a setting for a story. The slides have the students select and develop a specific character. Students are asked to give specific details about the characters appearance and personality. Dialogue for the character is written by the student for the story. Once the specific elements for the character and setting are developed, the student will write a story using the character in the set

Here is a great final project to go along with a Holocaust unit of study or novel. During the Holocaust, the shoes of the prisoners were taken away. The shoes that were left behind at the time of liberation are on display in the camp museum. In this project, students use their shoes to tell their life story through a written assignment. This high interest project includes teacher directions that include a video that you can show to the class of the camps and shoe display, project directions, an

This high interest essay lesson contains videos and text discussing both sides of the argument of whether or not drones should be banned in private neighborhoods. Discussion on the topic involves issues of personal security violations as information about you is gathered, national security uses of drones, educational uses of drones, and criminal investigation of drones. After viewing the videos, reading text, and conducting additional research as needed, student will write an argument essay with

This is a fun project that teaches students how to write a business letter and address an envelope. Students will write to a business or a person and request something back. The persuasive technique included in this lesson increases the chances of receiving something back and motivates the student to want to write a letter. Lesson includes sample business letter format, sample addressed envelope, and teacher directions to assist with executing the lesson. Kids love this project and want to write

Students will love this project! A group of students will write an original children's book with illustrations. I have had students make these books digital so that all members have a copy when complete. They can also add a scan bar to open with an IPAD. When complete. I invite an elementary class for the reading of the books. I also get a list of the first names of the students in the elementary class and give students the option of using their names in the books. The elementary students LOVE s

Students will LOVE creating an original myth with a new, original god. This myth will then be turned into a movie trailer. The project can be used as a culminating activity for the novel The Lightening Thief or a mythology unit. Lesson includes project requirements, student handout, teacher step-by-step instructions, and scoring rubric. Used in grade 8 with incredible success.

Here is what you need to teach the Argument Essay to your students! The PowerPoint explains the difference between argument and persuasive essay, breaks down the elements of each paragraph, explains how to set up a counterargument, and gives transitions to use throughout the essay. Pages can be printed out and placed in student notebooks.

Here is a fun way to introduce the novel Gathering Blue to your class. Students will become detectives and solve a mystery based on the clues given that connect to the novel. When the mystery is solved, students will have a clear understanding of the main concept of the novel. Students work in groups with the clues to solve the question posed in the mystery.

This quick reference sheet gives easy to execute modifications for both regular and special education students. Modifications include how to modify material presented in your lesson for students with visual processing problems, language processing problems, problems working in groups or independently, problems focusing, or problems behaving in class during the lesson.

Kids will love this interactive lesson that teaches external and internal conflicts. Students will act out scenes that will teach the types of conflicts. Once you teach this lesson, your students will remember the types of conflicts.

Use this fun PowerPoint activity to challenge your students and test their knowledge of common confused homophones. Each slide has one or more sentences that require students to use each of the homophones correctly. For example, students will have to fill in there, their, and they're on one slide. This activity can be used as a mini-lesson, a game with teams. or whole activity using student whiteboards to write their responses. Answers are provided on the slide following the question to answer.

Looking for a fun book report that will quickly engage students and decorate your room? Students will create a set of posters with step-by-step instructions that will show their understanding of the setting, plot, and main character.

Here is a great assessment that you can use during or after a poetry unit. Students become the teacher and present a poem to the class and discuss the poetic techniques used in the poem. This assessment can also be used with a song of the student's choice. Includes student direction sheet and scoring rubric. My students loved this project and enjoyed reading their favorite poems to classmates in small groups prior to the whole class presentation.

This fun PowerPoint verb game will be the perfect review of verb tenses for your students. Verbs include singular and plural forms of the verbs along with verbs used in inverted sentences. This game can be used with the entire class, teams, or as a class mini-lesson activity with whiteboards. Includes questions and answers along with a teacher note slide at the end of the presentation.

As students read the novel Night, they will complete these Journal responses. Require students to cite evidence from the novel to support their responses. These responses will help prepare students for writing portions of tests where they are required to answer a question and cite evidence from the text to support the answer.

Students will use higher level thinking skills as they work in groups to solve a mystery based on the novel The Outsiders. Activity includes mystery questions to be answered, clues to help solve the mystery, and step by step instructions. By the end of the lesson, students will have an understanding of the characters, setting, and plot.

This quick reference sheet will give you tried and true accommodations for your special needs students. The sheets include modifications for your lessons in the classroom as well as homework and projects that are sent home. Organizational strategies are also included in the reference sheets.

This powerpoint contains 21 slides that can be used to teach your students different types of compositional risk. Each slide has the type of risk along with an example of that risk. Use this all year to teach your mini-lessons in writing.

This fun practice reviews common misspelled words in a game format. Students will see a picture that represents a common misspelled word and will then write down the spelling of that word. You can ask students to use paper, whiteboards, or computers to write down answers. The word that represents the picture is properly spelled on the following slide. All of the words are common misspelled elementary words.

Here is a high interest PowerPoint lesson to teach narrative writing and prepare students for narrative writings that are required to the PARCC and other state tests. Students will watch a video based on Star Wars The Force Awakens and will be prompted to pay attention to the story elements in the trailer. Using those elements, students will write the next scene of the movie based on the elements discussed in class. Students will be instructed not to write the scene from the actual movie but rat