Middle Miracles

Establish the difference between a story's theme (one-sentence life lesson), main idea (one-sentence summary of events), and topic (one-word description) with this unique matching game! This student-directed activity will become one of your classroom favorites. Watch students work as a group to read a short fable and then find that story’s title, main idea, theme, and topic among a mixed-up pile of game cards. You’ll be shocked at the depth of the conversation between your students as they deba

One of my favorite all-time classroom resources, this edit & revise flipbook is a flexible tool that's easy for students to use on their own. This resource includes a Google Drive folder that holds: 2 printable flipbooks on Google Slides (one in color, one in black and white) 1 teacher-directed lesson on Google Slides 1 student example essay on Google Docs 1 corrected student example essay on Google Docs 1 printable peer edit worksheet on Google Slide All these resources are editable and easy

Make character-focused reading into a game with this fresh take on Guess Who! Students read a humorous play on a fairytale ("Dragon, Dragon" by John Gardner), then complete a 5-question worksheet on the characters in the story. Then they get to play the Guess Who! game in partnerships. Listen to your students discuss characterization and return to the text again and again as they attempt to verify their guesses. At the end of the game, students create their own character description for two of t

One of my favorite all-time classroom resources, this edit & revise flipbook is a flexible tool that's easy for students to use on their own. I've used it in the following ways: 1. As a whole class explicit teaching experience, paired with my "Revision Strategies: Edit & Revise Along With Me" lesson. 2. In small groups where students are "experts" on one page and they rotate papers making comments on just that one aspect. 3. As a guide for peer reviews in partners--buy my "Revision Strateg

Do your students struggle to summarize? Are their summaries confusing, out of order, or full of unnecessary details? This lesson is built for you to solve THOSE exact problems! Materials include:  1 Google Drive Folder with:  Teacher lesson slideshow WITH guided instructions“Foolish Felons” task card summarizing practiceBonus set of graphic organizers for future continued practice. This is a fun, easy-to-teach lesson that really guides students to improve their summarizing with direct, immediat

Do your students struggle to find the main idea of a text? Are their summaries confusing, out of order, or full of unnecessary details? This lesson is built for you to solve THOSE exact problems! Materials include:  1 Google Drive Folder with:  Teacher lesson slideshow WITH guided instructions“Main Idea & Title” task cards and worksheet practiceBonus graphic organizer for future continued practice. This is a fun, easy-to-teach lesson that really guides students to improve their main ideas with

Spice up your classroom discussions by providing your students with kid-friendly sentence frames that will help them communicate lab results, hypotheses, and observations. These cards are so versatile, you'll use them every week! SCIENCE Academic Discussion Cards focus on the most basic discussion techniques that are often skipped by teachers, such as: -Voicing an idea you thought of -Supporting your findings with evidence -Assessing your hypothesis -Elaborating on something that has been said -

Spice up your classroom discussions by providing your students with attainable, concrete goals and kid-friendly sentence frames. These cards are so versatile, you'll use them every week! Level One Academic Discussion Cards focus on the most basic discussion techniques that are often skipped by teachers, such as: -Adding on to what another speaker has said -Voicing an idea you thought of -Broaching another subject -Elaborating on something that has been said -Agreeing with someone else by sayin

Spice up your classroom discussions by providing your students with attainable, concrete goals and kid-friendly sentence frames. These cards are so versatile, you'll use them every week! Level Two Academic Discussion Cards focus on more advanced discussion techniques to build on the basics you've already established, such as: -Supporting your ideas with evidence -Summarizing a text -Connecting your comments with someone else's -Using a text to guide your thinking -Proving or disproving a point u

Spice up your classroom discussions by providing your students with kid-friendly sentence frames to help them process their multi-step problem solving. These cards are so versatile, you'll use them every week! MATH Academic Discussion Cards focus on the most basic discussion techniques that are often skipped by teachers, such as: -Forming a specific question -Explaining their reasoning -Describing their thought processes -Detailing their problem solving -Asking a question to the group -Requesti

Spice up your classroom discussions by providing your students with kid-friendly sentence frames that'll they'll actually want to use. These cards are so versatile, you'll use them every week! SOCIAL STUDIES/HISTORY Academic Discussion Cards focus on the most basic discussion techniques that are often skipped by teachers, such as: -Adding on to what another speaker has said -Voicing an idea you thought of -Supporting your thoughts with evidence -Elaborating on something that has been said -Agree