Mrs Difficult

Wouldn't it be nice if parents, teachers and students could all get on the same page? The truth is that many parents are unclear about just what their role is in their child's education. The Parent-Teacher-Student Contract is a contract that turns parents, teacher and student into a team working toward the same goal: the success of the student. It outlines what is expected of parents, what is expected of teachers and what is expected of students. Introduce this to your students at the start o

Teaching poetry can sometimes feel a bit dry! Turn it into a fun, detective activity. With this Poetry Detective Guide, your student collects clues about stanzas, rhyme, and figurative language---then your students apply what they have learned to a challenging poem. Voila! Your students have mastered the basic elements of poetic structure! Look for more advanced Poetry Detective Guides to come!

With 25 roles---one for each student in your class---this play brings the amazing life of Ruby Bridges alone. Perfect for any study of civil rights, for Black History Month and Women's History Month---or any time you want your students to be inspired. With multiple choice questions, short response questions and answer key.

With 25 roles--one for each student in your class---you can bring to life the extraordinary life and brilliance of Marie Curie who won two Nobel Prizes---one in Physics and one in Chemistry. A great STEM moment in your ELA classroom. Ideal for Women's History Month. Complete with multiple choice and short response questions with answer key.

Mum Bett was an enslaved woman who sued her "owner" in 1781 for her freedom. She won her freedom. She also brought about the end of slavery in Massachusetts. A heroic woman who deserves to be celebrated at any time of year, but especially during Woman's History Month and Black History Month. There are 18 roles---enough for most classrooms.

Celebrate Black History Month and Women's History Month by empowering your class to read and act out the story of Elizabeth Freeman, also known as MUM BETT. An enslaved worker, MUM BETT sued her enslaver for her freedom, using the language of the Massachusetts Constitution to prove that slavery was illegal. She not only freed herself but freed all the enslaved peoples in Massachusetts at that time---and brought an end to slavery in the state in the early 1780s---80 years before the Civil War.

There is no better way to teach story elements such as plot, character, villain, setting, conflict, etc than to have students write a version of a traditional fairy tale. This product provides students with an illustrated book of the fairy tale of Cinderella ---with blank lines underneath each picture for students to write their own version of the story. The pictures serve as prompts---reminding students of each part of the story---and helping them to tell it in their own words with a clear be

It is time to prepare for the Grade 3 state exam in ELA. Practice makes perfect. This practice test will give your students the opportunity to flex their muscles on multiple-choice, short response and extended response questions. This contains nonfiction as well as fiction passages. And, of course, it is CCSS aligned.

Fables are an important part of the Grade 2 curriculum. This delightful Readers Theatre version of The Tortoise and The Hare has enough parts for everyone in your class. Students will love dramatizing this classic story---especially because this version incorporates modern touches such as twitter! The play also allows you to add the name of your school to the script with write on lines. This is a very funny Readers Theatre that is perfect for helping students practice their reading fluency whil

Most ELA exams have the "two-point" short response questions. Teach your students a tried and true strategy for answering short response questions. Then help them memorize the strategy by practicing the strategy with practice prompts. Note that these practice prompts use familiar topics that don't require the reading of texts. This helps the student to memorize the strategy for writing the short response. Once this step is completed, give them practice tests and let them apply the strategy to

Puss in Boots is a beloved fairy tale that belongs in every early elementary classroom. This lively, entertaining Readers Theatre version brings the story to life.Your students will delight in performing the varied roles in the play from the King to the ogre to Puss in Boots himself! This is a delightful classroom activity and works equally well in literature circles and reading centers.

Teaching students how to complete the Extended Response essay on a state exam can be a daunting enterprise---but no longer! This fabulous set of lesson plans walks you and your students through every step of the process. Starting with analyzing the prompt to making an outline to drafting to editing to proofreading. It even offers you a timeline of how to develop automaticity in each skill in the run-up to the exam. With this technique, you and your students will be ready to face anything the

The Danielson Framework is well known to many teachers. Carol Dweck's research into the Growth Mindset has revealed important insights into helping students --and teachers--- learn . So how do we integrate the two? This document takes the Danielson Framework and offers two tips for each component of every domain. This document gives your teachers concrete strategies for applying the Growth Mindset to each aspect of the Danielson Framework. Whether you are a teacher, a coach, a principal

Sleeping Beauty is a beloved fairy tale that every child should have the pleasure of reading. Children particularly love this story because it touches on one of the most painful experiences of childhood: feeling left out! This Readers Theatre has 17 roles and brings this wonderful story to life with great drama and humor. Your students will build fluency skills as they read aloud this lively tale!

The CCSS exams LOVE to give questions on point of view. And point of view can be tricky. The term can be used in a number of different means. It can be used to mean "first person point of view" or "third person point of view". It can be used to refer to an author's bias toward a subject they are writing about. And it can be used to describe a character's feelings about events in a story. This worksheet really drives home each of these different uses of "point of view" so that your student

In this Common Core-aligned, rigorous and highly engaging unit, students will learn about major historic figures: Queen Isabella, the Warrior Queen Christopher Columbus Ponce de Leon John Cabot The narrative text is rich and a pleasure to read. It tells a compelling historical narrative in a way that students will never forget. It also features beautiful maps and paintings. The packet includes many short response questions to enable students to practice their writing skills. It is over 35 pages

The must-read fable in fun, Readers Theater script form!

The Emperor's New Suit is a classic tale that every elementary school student should read. In this delightful play version of the Emperor's New Suit, every student in your class can play a role in bringing this ageless story to life. We've made this version of the story more fun by making it about an Emperor...AND an Empress! Both of them care more about clothes than they do about being good leaders of their country. And both get swindled by two very fashion-forward thieves! Enjoy! This play

Aesop's Fables are a must for early elementary English Language Arts. Perhaps one of the best known fables is the Lion and the Mouse. What a perfect message for young children (and the rest of us): that the size of a person makes no difference to their worth and inherent value. In this delightful Readers Theatre version, the Lion and the Mouse learn this lesson together. There are just 4 roles in this play which makes it PERFECT for reading centers. Enjoy it!

As we near the end-of-year state exams, let's face it: Social Studies tends to get nudged to the side. These worksheets allow you to embed math word problems within Social Studies content. These challenging problems encourage critical thinking and creative problem-solving while also imparting important history and geography knowledge to third and fourth graders. Fun to teach, these word problems are truly refreshing for teachers and students during the Math test prep period!