Whimsy and Rigor

"I am really freaking myself out!" "Me too!" "This is fun but terrifying!" That is what my secondary ELA students said as we worked through this activity! Creating tension and suspense is a skill that takes work to develop and refine. And this resource is the perfect place to start! A series of 13 questions (For example, What unusual smell did the character notice? What questions were racing through the character's mind?) guides the writer as they build suspense. This Google Slide has 2 built

Give students 21 unique ways to show what they are thinking about while they are reading ANY novel. From what a character would leave on a voicemail to what questions they want to ask the author, this download will get students thinking creatively and critically about what they are reading. The assignment is currently formatted so students choose from a list of 4-6 activities per week over a 4 week period, but could easily be modified to fit your pacing. This EDITABLE Google Doc will let you cha

Need an engaging way for your students to dig into critical reading, argumentative writing, AND public speaking? This fairy tale on trial unit is exactly what you need. Students form two teams-Prosecution and Defense. The Prosecution is charging Goldilocks with a host of crimes, including trespassing and criminal damage to property. The Defense must go over the evidence and create a reasonable defense for Goldi. The project culminates in a trial, where the teacher acts as judge and colleagues an

The "...And One" activity is a collaborative learning tool that helps students build a comprehensive understanding of a topic. This resource includes a ready-to-go handout that guides students through the process. All you have to do is pair it with ANY text or video, print, and go!Students begin by recalling facts independently, then pass their work to peers who add details, new points, or connections. After reviewing and summarizing the collective ideas, students revisit the original materi

Based on the New York Times game, Connections, this resource challenges students to create groups of 4 words that all share a common theme. Then they challenge their classmates to form the correct connections. For example, when my students finished reading Lord of the Flies, one team of students grouped the words CHIEF, CONCH, GLASSES, FIRE under the category "SYMBOLS OF CIVILIZATION." This download gives you a slide deck to introduce the activity to your students, handouts for students to brai

Walk With Me-Creative Writing-Multiple Perspectives-Point of View-Analysis Get students to think analytically, make inferences, and practice creative writing by having them metaphorically walk in the footsteps of a real or fictional character. This completely EDITABLE download can be sued for ANY text-a newspaper article, a novel, a short story, or an independent reading book. After reading an assignment for class, students carefully and thoughtfully choose a boot print to represent their chose

Yes! You can make ONE spectacular rubric and use it for ALL written assignments for the whole year! This resource contains two fully EDITABLE rubrics (one for essays and one for creative writing) that you can use all year long to assess students on their skills. The essay rubric incorporates:the intro paragraphbody paragraphscitations basic grammar (end punctuation, commas, etc) anda reflection.The creative writing rubric includes these categories:the leadparagraph breaks and organizationchar

Ready to impress your students as you bring pop music into the classroom? Well, maybe not impress, but at least engage them! This Google Slides has 4 examples of similes and metaphors in popular music, featuring Hamilton (prepare for a sing-a-long), Pink, Shawn Mendes, and Foreigner (kids always know this oldie but goodie!). Each slide has a link to a video that plays the music AND shows the lyrics so students can read along as they listen. After each video plays, you can lead the student

Get to know your students by having them design a mask! This is an incredibly unusual time, so this back to school activity fits perfectly to capture the moment. Using this blank template, students can either digitally or on paper, design a mask that represents their interests. Images, drawings, photos, and text all come together to tell the story of each student. More detailed instructions can be found on my blog whimsyandrigor.wordpress.com Tag me @whimsyandrigor so I can see all of their cre

What would a character's screen time report look like? This critical thinking and creative character analysis activity gets students thinking deeply about a character from ANY text. How many hours per day would the character spend on their phone? What are their most used apps? By getting students to answer these questions, they begin to think in a more complex way about the character in the novel or short story they are reading. Plus, each choice must be backed up with evidence directly from

Need an easy and ongoing way for students to reflect on their work? This is what you are looking for! This slide deck has space for students to reflect on both their process and their product. Plus, an area where they can give advice to future students who are starting the assignment. This download gets students thinking critically and reflectively about their work habits and their work, which leads to improved student learning and more effective teaching. Win win! Want more ideas like this?

Ever wondered what a character from a novel was listening to? This activity asks students to analyze not only a character from any novel but also lyrics from some of their favorite songs. Students create a 5-song playlist that connects a specific lyric to textual evidence from any text in order to deeply analyze a character and their journey and conflict(s). The Character Playlist includes handouts to guide students through the creation of the ultimate playlist, asking them to add and explain

If your students read Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and you have a Breakout EDU box (or something similar!), this is for you! This download includes all of the puzzles and codes so all you have to do is print, set your locks, and go! This download also includes an exclusive link to a video where I walk you through the clues and codes and puzzles I created. From character analysis through quotes, plot sequencing, and understanding allusions, these puzzles will get your students thinking criti

The novel Refugee by Alan Gratz is a phenomenal read but it also requires a good bit of background knowledge for the reader to get the full impact. This double-sided bookmark has key terms written out for readers to research so they can build a strong foundation before jumping into the journeys of each of the three characters. This is a great tool for a jigsaw activity where small groups become experts and report out their findings to the class. There is also space to make predictions and tr

Who would you SWIPE RIGHT on?? This speed dating activity works for both nonfiction and fiction units. In this activity, students become characters from the unit you are studying (social justice activists, famous suffragists, innovative scientists, etc), do a little research on their character, and then meet and greet others in a tea party role play. Students can also use this to do a character analysis for someone from the class novel. Instead of become a character from history, each student

Novel Character Casting Project Transform Literary Analysis into a Creative Adventure! Make reading come alive with this DYNAMIC novel character casting project that will have your students begging to dive deeper into their assigned text! This resource includes: Comprehensive 4-Criteria RubricDetailed Scoring LevelsPlanning Pages and Presentation TemplateFlexible Assignment GuidelinesEngaging Multimedia Learning Experience Perfect For: Middle School ELA Classrooms Novel Study Units Creative

This resource helps students make predictions WITH EVIDENCE from the text. PLUS, it provides room for students to either CONFIRM or ADJUST their predictions after they finish reading the story. This handout can be used with any text and is designed to allow for 5 predictions while students are reading. Of course, it can also be double-sided for more opportunities to make predictions. Even my most reluctant readers appreciate having guidance as to when and how to make predictions as they work tow

Need an easy and efficient way to communicate daily engagement with students AND parents? This editable engagement log is the perfect solution. At the end of each day or each class period, the student reflects on their level of engagement, the teacher reflects on the observed level of engagement, and the two meet to briefly discuss and make a plan of action for the next day. Simply "Share" the Google Sheet with guardians so everyone is in the loop and can help support that student!

This visually engaging and interactive Topic Mapping Activity is designed to promote critical thinking, creativity, and meaningful connections. This resource guides students through a structured process to explore ANY topic deeply using this simple framework: Students start by identifying the central topic.Organize their ideas into most relevant and less relevant categories.Draw meaningful connections between ideas to uncover relationships.Reflect and explain their thinking in writing, reinfor

Get students talking AND listening by using this small group rubric that highlights the specific components of an effective argument. This is a student-led activity where students craft arguments (for any topic), present their argument to a small group, so their peers can assess their rhetorical strategies on this rubric. This product includes two items:a notes page where students can define and create examples of ethos, pathos, and logos a detailed rubric for students to self-assess and ass