Patsy Hamby

For several years, I taught The Tragedy of Julius Caesar to students who were disengaged as we assigned roles and read the text aloud in class. I observed that events in the play seem to occur in threes, so I designed this lesson plan that promotes engagement as students read for information. The "Threes in Julius Caesar" handouts may be completed individually, in collabrative groups, or together in class as a teacher-directed activity. Contents: Introductory activity, student hand-outs with an

This literacy strategy can be used as an at-home amusement activity for rainy days, or it can be a classroom assignment that can be completed either during class at a literacy center or as a take-home activity to promote family literacy. Using the pages provided, children will either draw themselves or paste pictures of themselves (taken with a digital camera and printed) posing as if they are engaged in an action that begins with the designated letter of the alphabet. Pages may be hole-punched

Overview: Appropriate for any curriculum area that requires definition of terms Included: Template for logographics (word drawings) assignment Vocab relay activity instructions These vocabulary activities promote student engagement as the logographics assignment appeals to the visual learner and the relay activity affects all learning domains.

This characterization activity combines character analysis with today's social networking capabilities as students create a profile page for a literary character. They first fill in the 16 domains of the profile template based on descriptions and events in the text. The second page of the standards-based assignment requres them to cite textual evidence to support two of the domains of their profile. I recently used this activity with the poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," and students

This vocabulary enrichment activity gives students four ways of examining a new term. Included: Matrix template/2 per page Directions: Print the number of handouts needed, cut in half, and after assigning students one vocabulary term for each matrix, distribute to each student the number of matrices he or she needs.

This inquiry-based assignment is prepared for an area of the United States with a rich Civil War history connection. It combines the traditional MLA research format with a modified I-Search report as students locate, research, and describe their findings of a product that reflects a regional connection with the Civil War. Resources provided include: A description of the assignment to be printed and distributed to students An assessment rubric