Ms Kelly's Collection

Grammar. Punctuation. Vocab. Reading. Writing. Improve all of these skills in just five minutes per day. Teachers STRUGGLE to hit all of those learning objectives. These are not always fun to teach, so we AVOID them. Avoid no longer, my friends. Print out the weekly warm-up sheet. Students start fresh every Monday. The first five minutes of each class is dedicated to the warm-up. It sets the tone while building skills. Collect these on Fridays. Graded? Ungraded? You decide. It is a

Use the mega test- 35 questions total. 5 questions are based on a paired passage -- a nonfiction article about SE Hinton and her debut novel. OR, if you are chunking the novel, need to test at the halfway point, or need to test over two days, there is the two-test version.Students who may have missed part of the novel can still be successful on this test as it has many imbedded passages. All questions are modeled after state tests. As with state tests, this is designed to allow students to

My students love Tupac and I bet yours do too! While not all students 'know' Tupac, most have heard of him...after all, look at how many kids are wearing Tupac or Poetic Justice T-Shirts. This project was inspired by my rowdiest class-- 18 boys and 6 girls. They wondered why I had a picture of Tupac gracing the wall with all of my authors. When I showed them the book The Rose That Grew From Concrete, they were stunned. I earned cool points that day. As we read The Outsiders, they continued

Annotations can be tricky for a student who really does not know what to underline or why you need to make notes. This resource provides your students with What, When, Where, and Why. All you need to do is review and model. Then give your students an opportunity to practice. Three passages are included: poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. UPDATED! Now includes a chart of 10 common annotation symbols geared toward literature. Chart includes the symbol, what it means, and what to write for

Original, one of a kind quizzes, test, and learning extension with Tupac! The quizzes and tests compliment each other perfectly. I know you don't have time to make a test review, so I did that for you. What to do after the test? Tupac's poetry pairs really well! I curated 7 AMAZING poems that tie into The Outsiders. (No. I did not fall back on "The Rose that Grew from Concrete". That has already been done!)

Explore the Holocaust with these two pieces: "First They Came", Martin Niemoller's famous poem, and "The Grand Mosque of Paris", an original informational piece. Materials included: Texts scaffolded poetry analysis using TPCASTT literary analysis pages scaffolded compare and contrast writing Answer Keys 10 pages total Academic Focus: setting, speaker, mood, tone, conflict, theme, central idea, vocabulary, inferencing, opinion, informational text analysis, poetry, author's purpose, autho

This resource has three powerpoint slides: setting, symbolism, and characterization. There are assignments that go with all three. You decide if students do them independently or in groups or teams! *I provided a teacher example of well-written responses on the symbolism assignment* Assignments are editable on Word.

A one pager focused soley on CHARACTER, but requires students to show their understanding of CONFLICT and THEME. After completing a short story or novel, have your students show what they know about characters. The activity allows them to mix art and writing to capture the essence of a character. While there are a few questions geared toward basic reading comprehension, it works its way into analytical questions. I included a second template. This template (instructions are included!) is p

Susan Cooper's short story "Muffin" is the perfect example of historical fiction with strong themes geared toward loyalty, human bonds, ethics, and bullying. This package includes: 4 vocabulary learning opportunities 4 Characterizations activities 3 Writing activities, focused on both writer's craft and imitation 1 rigorous assessment; test or quiz...you decide (editable) 1 supporting document with links designed to help support you with literary concepts. I included two freebies: Semicol

After reading The Adoration of Jenna Fox, here is an exam that will truly check for comprehension of literary elements and author's craft. Additionally, there is a paired passage on the background of Henry David Thoreau's Walden. All questions are modeled after state testing questions. Product is fully editable. Included: Test Review (27 questions)Test (20 questions) Answer Key

Original quizzes that truly assess learning objectives, not memorization of a plot. Quizzes are unbranded. Why? I am learning that students will look for branding so they can find quizzes and tests and buy them to get the answer key. I am one step ahead of them and fully in your court, teacher friends!

Simplified and focused characterization and character analysis at the ready! You will getAcademic vocabularyAnalysis methodologyOpen ended, text evidence based questionsCharacter traits word lists Vocabulary development Creative, end-of-story/novel/poem assessments40 Task CardsThis product is to the point! Start with teaching the academic vocabulary. Move on to teaching and applying analysis techniques. Throw in vocabulary enrichment (we cannot rely on the same 5 words to describe every chara

Groundhog Day...but for big kids! Tons of resources in this bundle. Use one, or use them all. You will get your money's worth! This bundle covers so many pieces of the English curriculum! There are six reading passages: history, myths/folklore/superstition, how Groundhog Day became an idiom, cultural traditions across the globe, understanding an ode, and understanding myths more deeply through the hero's journey. All of the passages are tied to an application. Students will write sho

A bundle of 40 questions you can use with any novel, short story, or poem! Questions range from basic comprehension to higher order thinking, including synthesis! For example- 'What is important to the protagonist' to 'Create a haiku about the antagonist'. Most questions rely on using text evidence. Not only do you get the task cards, I converted each question to its own (editable) slide. You can project one question at a time for a whole-class writing prompt or discussion.

A bundle of activities! Pre-reading focuses on vocabulary and parts of speech which lends itself to character analysis and inferencing activities. I rounded it out with theme and whole-class discussion questions. This short story will never again be the quick read that your students forget too soon. NEWLY ADDED: Discussion questions have been adapted for a gallery walk, whole class discussion, or peer learning cards. I added art for visual and historical purposes.

CAFESQuID = 8 ways to add depth to essays/compositions without repeats! Students can use both creative wording (comparisons which uses figurative language) or text evidence from concrete research. Use these as posters in the classroom, a class copy booklet at students' desks, or print off and put in interactive journals. Each element of CAFESQuID has an explanation of and example. Worksheet included where students can draft CAFESQuID elements for their own essays. When ANALYZING mentor t

No stock questions, thank you very much! I created thoughtful, relevant questions for all learners. GT students will love the depth and complexity questions. Pre-AP students will grateful that the High Order Thinking Questions have variety (not one concept reworded over and over!). On-Level students will challenged to re-evalute passages and think beyond the literal level. You, as a teacher, have many choices as to how you want to have students handle the questions. No matter what you,

Whether your students are looking for figurative language examples in a text or are practicing writing figurative language, this is that easy "go to your notes" resource that provides the definition for 12 of the major figurative language types and gives an example for each. Print off for interactive journals. Print off for notes. Print off for classroom copy resources. Print off for posters on the wall. I kept a stack of "classroom copies" of my "figurative language bible" for my student

"Miss! How do I start my story?" "Miss...I don't know how to end it!" We all know that getting started is crippling for some students. We all know students will quit when their creative battery is out of juice. Here are two great anchor charts/handouts/interactive notebook notes to help your students along. Additionally, there are ready-made brainstorming pages. Have your students make a quick-list for each type to find which one has the most promise. There are ready-made drafting pag

DISCLAIMER: The thumbnails look weird here. In reality, these pre-reading slides are really nice! This product contains pre-reading slides (have your students go to this wall if they agree or that wall if they disagree). I included a sit down version of the questions if movement is a bad idea for your class. Finally, there is a two page post-reading response. Students will be asked to infer, connect, and explain. Plenty of room to add text evidence to their responses! Francisco Jimenez's