Teaching from Scratch

This graphic organizer makes characterization a lot less abstract for your struggling students. It requires students to return to the text for evidence. This graphic organizer is totally adaptable to any short story, novel, or even some nonfiction selections you teach. Also, this is great for your sub folder!

This test is designed to be open-book to evaluate students' understanding of the novel. It's 20 questions: 19 multiple choice and one short answer. An answer key is included. Most questions also provide the chapter number to help students in their search. Literary Terms Used: author, fiction, protagonist, antagonist, alliteration, hyperbole, allusion, personification

My 6th grade Social Studies students kept confusing the three kinds of Human-Environmental Interaction so I made this practice sheet to help clarify the difference. The top of the page has notes which explain the differences among the three. Then students have ten sentence-long scenarios that they have to read and determine if each is an example of modify, adapt, or depend. A key is included on the second page of the document. This really helped to clarify this topic for my students!

This is a set of two differentiated versions of one vocabulary practice page. They contain the same content but the modified version has the content chunked into sections. Each version has its own key. This vocabulary practice will have your students using context clues to fill in the blanks of sentences with the following words from "The Sand Castle" by Alma Luz Villanueva: listlessly, hostile, cumbersome, forlorn, ultraviolet. Definitions are included at the top of the page for easy reference

The chart contains 42 examples of imagery from the novel Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan. Students have to determine which of their senses each sentence is targeting. The 42 examples are listed in the order they occur in the novel and are divided into 3 pages that could be done as your class reads the book. A page number is provided for each sentence so students can read for context, if desired. Tons of practice! Answer keys included! Notes for the Teacher too!

This is a set of two open-book tests for Homeless Bird (one of my absolute favorite novels to teach!) The first version is 20 questions: 17 multiple choice and short answer. The second version I made for my emergent ESL students as well as a student who transferred to our school over halfway through the novel and I felt it wasn't fair to give him the same test as those who'd benefitted from our earlier chapter discussions and activities. Anyway, the second version has 15 of the same question

This is a bundle of vocabulary activities which teaches 10 words pulled from "Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros. It includes: *notes (pronunciation, parts of speech, other forms of the word, definition & information, and sentences from the story using the words *context clues activities *using the words within the context of the short story, as well as in new contexts *completing sentence stems using the words *test with two versions of the front page (one is more "chunked" into sections) *a Notes f

There are several versions of this assignment included. Simple Version: five idioms from the novel are listed with page numbers (for contextual support) and students must explain what the idioms mean. Advanced Version: Students have to read the pages listed to locate and copy the idioms. Then, they explain them. An answer key is included, as well as some Notes to the Teacher.

This test has 22 questions: 14 multiple choice, 4 matching, and 4 short answer. It's designed to be open-book because it assesses students' understanding of the story, not their memory of it. It's also designed to encourage close reading; students MUST go back to the text again and again to dig for answers (but don't worry - they're not all "right there" questions/answers!) Literary Terms Used: narrator, character, author, symbolize The test is two pages and there is a two page key.

These ten questions are for T. Ernesto Bethancourt's science fiction story "User-Friendly." Five of the questions specifically require evidence from the story to support the students' responses. A detailed key is included.

This is a bundle of vocabulary activities which teaches 10 words pulled from "The Scholarship Jacket" by Sandra Cisneros. It includes: notes (pronunciation, parts of speech, other forms of the word, definition & information, and sentences from the story using the wordspractice using words while reviewing the short storygenerating examples and non-examples context clues analogiesconnotationstest with two versions of the front page (one is more "chunked" into sections)a Notes for Teacher pagea gra

I created this Reading Interest Inventory to help me get to know my students as readers at the beginning of the school year. I teach middle school but this could be used for upper elementary grades through high school. After my students have completed these, I keep them and refer to them throughout the school year. I use them to suggest books for their personal reading or project topic ideas. I also jot their Lexile ranges at the top of the page for quick reference. Any feedback you leave wil

This chart will help you guide your students through a better understanding of similes and metaphors. With these three charts, your students will: *distinguish whether the quote is a simile or a metaphor *identify key words within the quote which make it a simile *determine which two items are being compared *read around the quote for context *explain the common characteristic between the two items (inference sometimes needed) 3 charts + 3 keys + 1 page of Notes to the Teacher More Lemoncello p

This two page chart contains a list of sentences from the novel that contain onomatopoeia. Students must circle the onomatopoeia words. Then they will use context clues from that page in the novel to determine to which object's sound the onomatopoeia was referring. Key included, plus teacher tips for this activity.

This product is a one practice page of ten multiple-choice context clue questions. Each sentence or group of sentences from the book are followed by a page number so students can refer back to the text for additional context, if desired. The page numbers in my copy (the Scholastic edition) of the book are not numbered, but I numbered them with a marker so my students could more easily navigate the text for additional support. An answer key is included.

There are two versions of this product so that you're able to differentiate it for your students' needs. The simpler version provides eight examples of personification from the novel Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan. Students must identify what is being personified and also what human quality it is given. Page numbers are listed for contextual support. Then they will rewrite the sentence without using personification to explore why the author chose to use personification. The advanced version

The first page is the poem itself. I added three footnotes so that it could be read independently by my students. The second page has eight questions and space for students to answer them. The poem is rather straightforward so there aren't a lot of poetry/literary terms that are necessary for you to have taught before you use this. The only technical poetry vocabulary I used: line, stanza. The third page is a key for the second page.

This bundle of vocabulary activities has everything you need: *Notes (including parts of speech, other forms of the word, pronunciation, definition and relevant information, and the sentence from the short story that use the word. *Review of the short story with questions using the vocabulary words *Using the vocabulary words in a new context (different than the story) *Context clue practice that generates the answer to a joke *Additional context clue practice *Connotation activity *Vocabulary t

The chart contains 9 examples of imagery from the novel Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein. Students have to determine which of their senses each sentence is targeting. Answer key included!

Students always seem to struggle with theme. This one page of notes gives easily accessible examples. It explains what theme is not. It gives a list of common themes in literature. It explains how themes make literature timeless and universal. This has really helped my 6th and 7th graders grasp theme.