Simplified Instruction
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North Carolina, United States
About the store
I first started teaching as a long term sub...I was on a cart and taught classes on two different floors. Every day I went home with a pit in my stomach because I had no idea what I was going to teach each day.
The following school year I got a full time position teaching middle school social studies. My new job also came with an incredible team of teachers to share and collaborate with. With the mentorship of more seasoned teachers, my instruction slowly improved each year. I went from relying on powerpoints and notes to embracing more activity, project, and discussion based learning. My focus in planning shifted from "what am I doing tomorrow?!!!" to "let's start with the big picture, then make the plan more detailed week by week." My assessments became more intentional and varied instead of last minute tests thrown together at 10pm the day before.
Growing as a teacher takes time, collaboration, access to strong educators, and, most of all, patience with yourself. I am so appreciative of those who have played a role in my teaching career, and I'm excited to share my learning and instructional practices with all of you!
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Starter Kit for Middle School Newspaper, Part 1 (editable version included!)
Starting a middle school newspaper was a daunting task; I wasn’t quite sure where to begin! As with anything in teaching, I started by determining my goals, establishing what our writing/publishing procedure would look like, and choosing daily and weekly rhythms to move my journalism group in the right direction. This template I came up with was essential for creating structure while giving students ownership over the process. I also created a S tarter Kit for Middle School Newspaper, Part 2, w
6th - 9th
Social Studies, Writing
CCSS, VA SOL
W.7.1
, W.7.1b
, W.7.1e
+23
Nothing But The Truth Novel Study Bundle (editable)
A Brief Breakdown of the NovelNothing But The Truth is a documentary novel about a high school student, Philip, and an incident that occurs in his English class taught by Miss Narwin, a veteran English teacher. What unfolds is a story about motives, perspectives, media bias, local politics, free speech, and, most significantly, how the truth can get lost in the shuffle. As someone who taught middle school government, modern world history, and English Language Arts, I think this novel is essentia
6th - 9th
ELA Test Prep, Government
Personal Finance Monthly Budget Board Game (editable!)
About This LessonThis board game led to hours of fun as students did some #adulting in class! There were some “but that’s not FAIR!!” comments, along with, “REALLY? I have to pay for that?!”, and, my favorite, “I have to pay this bill EVERY MONTH?! That’s stupid!” This board game has 30 spaces - one for each day of the month. As students move through the game, they’ll pay bills, have opportunities to do fun things (that they have to pay for!), and face unexpected events that could help or hurt
6th - 9th
Government, Math, Social Studies
Starter Kit for Middle School Newspaper, Part 2 (editable) - Reporter Guides
About This ResourceThe Middle School Newspaper Starter Kit, Part 2 gives guidance to budding middle school reporters. The reporter guides provide an introduction for each type of reporting (culture & entertainment, sports, student life, etc.), a list of 8-15 example topics, and examples of how they could approach a story. We all know that teaching middle schoolers is a bit like…herding cats. These reporter guides provide a foundation for students, giving them a place to start and modeling the
6th - 9th
Writing
Moot Court/Mock Trial: "Take me out to the ball game..."
Project goals:Develop strong argumentative skills, both written and orallyUnderstand the differences between criminal, civil, and appellate casesJudge an argument based on evidence and reasoningAbout the project:There are three different cases students will argue. Each of the cases has a very similar fact pattern. At the, end however, students are asked to argue the cases a little differently. Case #1: criminal caseCase #2: civil caseCase #3: criminal case on appeal (the assumption here is that
8th - 11th
English Language Arts, Government, Social Studies
CCSS
CCRA.R.1
, CCRA.R.2
, CCRA.R.3
+10
World War I: Christmas Truce & Poetry Analysis (including "In Flanders Field")
About This LessonOne thing I am passionate about is infusing literacy and literary analysis into social studies. There is so much to be learned about a time period, conflict, and culture by reading their literature and primary source documents. This mini-lesson merges together themes of conflict, recognizing the humanity in someone you were made to believe is your enemy, courage, and resilience. Whether you’re a social studies teacher and adding this to your World War I unit or an ELA teacher wa
7th - 12th
English Language Arts, U.S. History, World History
CCSS, VA SOL
RL.7.1
, RL.7.2
, RL.7.3
+31
Nothing But The Truth: Activity Pack (editable)
From creating character sociograms to exploring media bias, I know your students will have as much fun as mine! These activities are jam-packed with relevant information and skills students need to navigate information rich times like ours. What’s Included:Seven interactive and rigorous activities that will get students thinking, talking, creating, writing, and engaging with the text. An editable version of each activityEach activity has detailed notes that include the goal/purpose for each act
6th - 9th
ELA Test Prep, Government
CCSS, VA SOL
RL.7.1
, RL.7.2
, RL.7.3
+34
Also included in: Nothing But The Truth Novel Study Bundle (editable)
Create a 28th Amendment Simulation (includes editable version)
About This Lesson In this lesson, students will get the opportunity to participate in a simulation where they’ll create, then try to pass a Constitutional Amendment. It works best when done after students have learned the process of how Amendments are passed. Learning objectives/Essential QuestionsExplain how Amendments are passed.Understand the complexity of the Amendment-passing process and explain why the authors of U.S. Constitution would have made this so difficult to do (i.e. it is our gov
8th - 11th
Government, Social Studies
CCSS
CCRA.SL.3
, CCRA.SL.4
, RH.9-10.6
+5
Also included in: Bill of Rights & Constitutional Amendments (GROWING!) Bundle (editable)
World War I Trench Warfare History Lab (editable)
About This LessonIn this activity, students will analyze a variety of primary sources that reveal what life was like in the trenches of World War I. When they’re done, they will create their own diagram of the trenches and label the various items in it. For each item they place in their diagram, they’ll need to support it using evidence from one of the sources. Students can view the sources digitally or you could print them up and hang them around the room. Happy Learning, Sarah Learning objecti
7th - 10th
European History, U.S. History, World History
CCSS
RH.6-8.1
, RH.6-8.3
, RH.6-8.7
+3
The Yalta Conference: Analyzing Motives and Outcomes (editable)
After teaching this lesson, students had a much firmer grasp on why the Cold War happened. This lesson requires students to analyze nine agreements made in the Yalta Conference, then synthesize how each country’s motives would make them feel about each agreement item. They have to annotate the evidence to support their responses. And, in the end, respond to a writing prompt where they predict what caused the Cold War. It definitely made them think! Some of them complained that they felt “brain
7th - 10th
Social Studies, World History
CCSS
RH.6-8.2
, RH.6-8.4
, RH.6-8.6
+1
Introduction to Modern World History: Bundled Mini-Unit!
These activities are a great way to start off the year with your social studies class! Start by getting to know your students and helping them get to know each other with this identity mind map and classmate interview activity. It will get students asking good questions, interviewing each other, and discussing personal artifacts.*Build background information by introducing 14 major world history events and 19 vocabulary terms they'll encounter all year with this world history image timeline acti
6th - 9th
Other (Social Studies), World History
Digital Interactive Notebook Template - for ELA and Social Studies
About This ResourceThank you so much for purchasing this lesson! If you’re worried about: Keeping students organized while learning digitally or from a distanceHaving to create a full digital interactive notebook up front for a unitNot having the time to build all the slides for a digital interactive notebook No worries, teacher friend, I got your back! This digital notebook includes a wide variety of templates for social studies and English teachers that would fit into any lesson or activity,
5th - 12th
English Language Arts, Social Studies
World War II Events Research Activity (editable!)
About This Lesson:In this lesson, students will get an overview of the key events of World War II, then get the opportunity to select which event they’d like to dive into and learn more about (we all know they loooove choice ;)). Students will use a list of curated resources (videos, primary sources, oral histories, maps, and articles) on their event to plan out and create their one pager. Once students have completed their one pagers, they’ll participate in a silent gallery walk and do an e
7th - 11th
Social Studies, U.S. History, World History
Nonfiction Text Structure Anchor Charts + Fiction Summarizing Anchor Chart
RESOURCE INCLUDES AN ANCHOR CHART FOR EACH TEXT STRUCTURE:DescriptionMultiple causes and one effectOne cause and multiple effectsProblem solutionSequenceCompare and contrastArgumentative Summarizing fiction Sentence stems for summarizing a fiction textAll papers will print out in an 11 x 8.5 format. I printed mine out on white card stock and on colored card stock and posted them up in two different places in my classroom. We referenced them regularly when reading both fiction and nonfiction tex
5th - 8th
English Language Arts, Social Studies
Editable Student Goal Setting Guide for Middle & High - Print and Digital
Why Use a Student Goal Setting Guide? Throughout my years in the classroom, I have noticed an alarming trend: students are not taking ownership over their education or decisions that impact their futures. With the advent of social media, YouTube, etc. students are bombarded with content from a variety of sources, but it leaves very little brain and heart space for them to think about what they want. Why get curious, ask questions, and pursue opportunities when it’s so much easier (and entertain
7th - 12th
Character Education, For All Subjects, School Counseling
Driving Directions Around the World: Geography Intro w/distance learning version
UPDATE: I have included a digital version of this lesson optimized for distance learning/instruction! -------- ABOUT THIS LESSONWhether teaching middle school or high school, I have always been surprised by how little my students know about geography! To start off the year, I find it’s good to drill in directions (north, south, east, and west), as well as the continents and oceans. This lesson is engaging, tactile, and interactive. It also gets them thinking about how information on maps is disp
5th - 8th
Social Studies, World History
Also included in: Introduction to Modern World History: Bundled Mini-Unit!
Perspectives and Point of View for any Novel Study or Unit (editable!)
How do our perspectives influence our reactions to people and events? How does the point of view a text is told from impact our understanding of the events, setting, and other characters? This versatile set of lessons guides students through an exploration of these questions and makes a great addition to any novel study or unit where you examine perspective and point-of-view. I personally used this when I introduced my Nothing But The Truth novel study, Lesson 1: Students begin with an engaging
6th - 9th
Creative Writing, ELA Test Prep
CCSS, VA SOL
RL.6.5
, RL.6.6
, RL.7.5
+11
Also included in: Nothing But The Truth Novel Study Bundle (editable)
"Star Spangled Banner" Close Read + Artistic Interpretation Activity
This activity takes students on a journey through the lyrics of “The Star Spangled Banner” and gives students space to grapple with why these lyrics eventually became our national anthem. In this lesson, students will do a close read of “The Star Spangled Banner” using annotation task cards. Based on their annotations, they will analyze three different artistic interpretations of the lyrics and determine which one most closely aligns with the author’s experiences! Learning objectives/Essentia
6th - 9th
English Language Arts, U.S. History
CCSS, VA SOL
RL.7.1
, RL.7.2
, RL.7.3
+34
Also included in: Nothing But The Truth Novel Study Bundle (editable)
Powerful Instructional Strategies: Word Webs & Vocabulary Round-Ups (Editable)
About This LessonThese flexible strategies are great ways to increase student learning by having them make connections between the different things they’re learning. I noticed such an improvement in my students’ ability to retain and build upon their learning after I started using these strategies. These are quick and easy to implement. They require minimal preparation on your part, and best of all, the students will be working harder than the teacher to make meaning of what they’ve learned. Y
4th - 12th
English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies
Bill of Rights & Constitutional Amendments (GROWING!) Bundle (editable)
Get to the root of the Bill of Rights and the Constitutional Amendments! Start by exploring the thinkers and primary source documents that had the greatest impact on the writing of the Bill of Rights. Dig into the primary source documents and do some serious annotations! Then, review the content of the first ten Amendments and have students critically think about what these rights mean to our democracy. How do they exercise these rights? And, what would happen if we lost these rights? Do this wi
8th - 11th
Government, Social Studies
Showing 1-20 of 37 results
About the store
Experience
I first started teaching as a long term sub...I was on a cart and taught classes on two different floors. Every day I went home with a pit in my stomach because I had no idea what I was going to teach each day.
The following school year I got a full time position teaching middle school social studies. My new job also came with an incredible team of teachers to share and collaborate with. With the mentorship of more seasoned teachers, my instruction slowly improved each year. I went from relying on powerpoints and notes to embracing more activity, project, and discussion based learning. My focus in planning shifted from "what am I doing tomorrow?!!!" to "let's start with the big picture, then make the plan more detailed week by week." My assessments became more intentional and varied instead of last minute tests thrown together at 10pm the day before.
Growing as a teacher takes time, collaboration, access to strong educators, and, most of all, patience with yourself. I am so appreciative of those who have played a role in my teaching career, and I'm excited to share my learning and instructional practices with all of you!
Teaching style
student-centered
Awards & shining teacher moments
Social Studies Department Chair, Team Leader, Chromebook Pilot Team, Professional Learning Community Facilitor
My own education history
Bachelor of History, Social Studies Secondary Education; Master of Education Leadership; ELA grades 6-9; Social Studies 7-12.
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