Practical Pedagogs

Creative, engaging poster project to compare and contrast the novel and movie versions of The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963! Perfect for a final project after your novel study. With this resource, your students will create a poster comparing and contrasting characters, plot events, and setting in the novel and the movie. You can incorporate technology by having your students create a poster in Google Slides, PowerPoint, or another program. Students can work independently, in partners, or in sm

Creative, engaging poster project to compare and contrast the novel and movie versions of Freak the Mighty! With this resource, your students will create a poster comparing and contrasting characters, plot events, and setting in Freak the Mighty and the movie version, The Mighty. You can incorporate technology by having your students create a poster in Google Slides, PowerPoint, or another program. Perfect for partner or group projects! This resource includes: Detailed project directionsGraph

Creative, engaging poster project to compare and contrast the novel and movie versions of Holes! Perfect for a final project after your novel study. With this resource, your students will create a poster comparing and contrasting characters, plot events, and setting in the novel and the movie. You can incorporate technology by having your students create a poster in Google Slides, PowerPoint, or another program. Students can work independently, in partners, or in small groups on this project. T

An engaging final project for your novel study of Freak the Mighty! Students choose from four different types of letters written to the book or to the main character. Through creative writing, students demonstrate understanding of story elements and explain major lessons and takeaways. Resource includes: Detailed instructions and explanation of each letter typeChecklist of requirements for each letter type2 levels of rubrics to differentiate and allow for extension and scaffoldingRubrics with a

Creative, engaging, ready-to-use poster project to compare and contrast the novel and movie versions of Wonder! Perfect for a final project after your novel study. With this resource, your students will create a poster comparing and contrasting characters, plot events, and setting in the novel and the movie. You can incorporate technology by having your students create a poster in Google Slides, PowerPoint, or another program. Students can work independently, in partners, or in small groups on

An engaging, ready-to-use creative writing companion to the book or movie versions of A Christmas Carol. Students will use creative writing skills to write a letter, addressing key plot events, character analysis, and themes. This product incorporates student choice through three different letter types and allows you and your students to have fun with a great story, while staying true to key reading and writing standards. Included in this product: Detailed student directionsDescription of requi

Ready-to-use, rigorous narrative unit centered around a dynamic duo and a current event! Engage your students in the writing process as they work on writing skills and use creative thinking skills. Students will prepare and write a complete narrative, including creating a dynamic duo and selecting a current event as the background of their story. This unit meets all narrative writing standards for grades 5-8. This unit works perfectly as a companion writing assignment to any novel that centers a

Book Commercials are an effective and fun way to hold students accountable for independent reading, work on speaking and listening skills, and create excitement among their classmates for the books they are reading! This single-point rubric was created to streamline your assessment of Book Commercials in your classroom - and gives you the flexibility and freedom to assign grades and point totals that are best for your students.

An evidence-based, creative writing response to The Giver that provides an effective and fun alternative to traditional essay writing. Students will choose from 4 types of letters, written from different perspectives, to demonstrate understanding of story elements. A great activity for extending the novel's lessons into relevant lifelong learning. Resource includes: Detailed instructions and explanation of each letter typeChecklist of requirements for each letter type2 levels of rubrics to diff

Searching for a fun AND meaningful activity to end the year? Look no further than this engaging year-in-review project. Students will dive deep into their thinking when they reflect on the school year and compare their development to that of their favorite literary character. Students will brainstorm, create story maps, and chart development for themselves and their favorite literary characters. Once they compare and reflect, students will synthesize their thinking to create a visual representat

Ready-to-use, creative writing response to Freak the Mighty! With this R.A.F.T. (Role, Audience, Format, Topic), your students will respond to Freak the Mighty through creative writing. Students will address central ideas of the novel by taking on the role of a character in the book and writing to a specific audience in a creative format. Perfect way to wrap up your novel study! Product Includes: Detailed instructions for R.A.F.T. writing and explanation of student choices for the R.A.F.T. assig

Building a relationship with each student is essential to creating a productive and safe classroom environment. This ready-to-use survey will help you get to know your students, so you can set up a student-centered classroom in which all students thrive as readers and writers.

Talking with students about the books they are reading is a great way to connect, assess, and build rapport. Using a conference assessment tool keeps those conversations targeted and aligned with standards, yet still allow for organic discussion.This is a rubric to be used early in your conferencing, as its focus is book selection, genre identification, identifying plot events and explaining how they influence future action.

A quick, efficient way to assess your students' reading skills using their independent reading books. You choose the skill, and we provide a rubric to help you accurately assess each student's proficiency. Use this to assess all reading standards at your grade level! Resource includes two versions of the assessment, so you can choose which works best for you and your students. Check out our blog post on using Reading Conferences as an accountability measure in our classroom!