Purposeful Planning

A rubric that breaks down writing into the different parts and outlines the progression for a beginning 7th grade student to an ending 8th grade student. Shows educators next step in progressing students in their writing, and helps differentiate.

Students will learn what it was like to be in the Gold Rush in Alaska during the time of the Call of the Wild story. They embark on a project that has them research and plan their route to get to the gold, and write a journal about their experiences as they see them throughout the journey, and ultimately decide to stay or go. LAST PAGE includes Strips of Chance for the teacher to use to give out to students to add to their journal and give them a focus.

A collection of rubrics that breakdown the skill development involved with Middle Grades reading and comprehension. Can be used in multiple subjects, and allows the teachers to track and individualize their students progression through reading skill development.

A rubric to illustrate the different disciplines in writing, and a progression of levels to help teachers outline next steps for developing student writing. Includes reflections section for students self reflect on their own writing in each category and improving themselves.

A project that has students look at the wolf reintroduction program in Yellowstone through the eyes of another species and evaluate the impact. Collaborative and fun, have the students present their research in the form of a short video commercial (similar to the ASPCA videos).

Using this system students learn WHAT to write and in WHAT order. It demystifies the art of writing, and makes it applicable to all scenarios and subjects that include informational reading and writing. Based on the common core standards of Ideas and Organization in writing.

A handout to use after implementing Color Coded Handwriting to help students visualize different outlining ideas within the color recipe for a traditional 5 paragraph essay. Gives example paragraphs and difference using the color coded style.

Ever frustrated with your ELA Comprehension standards and how exactly you are supposed to teach them? If we teach it in October, how are they supposed to remember by the end of the year? This breakdown was originally designed to be paired with Core Knowledge content as the skills complement to its content, but any content can be matched with these standards as long as it is rich and interesting. This will help you establish benchmarks in learning for each student and how to move them from beginn

A research project that walks students through the aspects of career exploration. Good for middle school projects using Google. Includes directions, student note page, and short tutorial on building a Google Site.

Use any pixar shorts you want, or a combination of them to have students evaluate theme, and lesson through inference, and then write a paragraph about it. This dialectic journal can be used over and over as a template.

Progression breakdown/ Rubric of 4th grade Common Core Reading and Writing Standards for instructional planning.

A blank handout to help students organize sentences within paragraphs using color coded language on a horizontal scale.

A crosswalk that details the Core Knowledge domain work that matches 4 grade Common Core Reading and Writing Standards

A short workshop activity to use in digital format (i.e. google classroom) to have students focus on revision techniques and checklists to move from rough draft to a final draft.