MsGabalis

For this activity, students will be watching a Disney Pixar short film in order to apply their knowledge of topic vs. theme. This is such a fun way to get students engaged and apply their knowledge to a visual text. Great way to assess introductory theme vs. topic skills. Students will need to take notes and track topics during the mini-movie, and then eventually turn it into a thematic statement. They will also need to support their theme with specific evidence from the mini-movie. The link to

This handout will help students better understand how to correctly cite and introduce direct evidence in MLA style. This is meant to be a refresher or introduction to introducing direct quotes into a larger piece of work (like an essay). This is a great reference for middle schoolers or underclassmen in high school who may need a quick refresher on how to properly give credit where credit is due!

In this lesson, students will read the flash fiction story “Sleeping” by Katharine Weber. In this strange and somewhat disturbing short story about babysitting, students are engaged in the mystery of Charles, the baby. Who is he? Why hasn’t the babysitter met him yet? Is he still breathing? Through annotation and close reading, students will ultimately try to answer how the author’s use of characterization affects the piece as a whole. Students largely focus on claim, evidence, and warrant.

brief "cheat sheet" with how to create claims, evidence, and warrants in essay writing. This also covers transition sentences and how to do in-text citations!

Writing an introduction paragraph to an essay... tips and tricks featuring Drake! This free handout looks at attention getters (hooks), necessary information to begin writing a thesis statement, as well as sample introductions for a To Kill a Mockingbird essay.

Did you like the first bundle of Sticky Vocab? I'm glad to see you're back for more! This time around, here is simply a second list of 9 weeks worth of vocabulary words. Students will, once again, get a root word and two vocabulary words to go with the root. See my store for the first Sticky Vocab bundle, which includes a handout to use for vocabulary!