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Academically minded students in their junior and senior years of high school may want to think about applying for many of the small local and national scholarships that are available to students like themselves. But, these kids are already buried under mountains of homework, extracurricular activities and part-time jobs. This How-To sheet is designed to help students get started writing a personal statement that can be saved and then tweaked for each scholarship he or she may wish to apply for.

Thanksgiving time is the right time to do a mini-lesson on how to write an effective Thank-You Note. Students can write a message to a teacher or parent and then color in the turkey or pilgrim to go with it. Wonderful activity for the day before Thanksgiving Break. Students have fun, teachers appreciate the gesture of receiving a note, and students learn how to write a proper note. This one-page document can be printed then cut in half. There are two notes to a page.

After reading Ray Bradbury's A Sound of Thunder, have students tap into their creative writing side by completing a brochure for a time travel agency, akin to the one in the story. Product includes printable student directions sheet and a rubric to share with them, or to keep for your grading ease. Ready to print and use today. Best for middle school or freshmen in high school age.

This item is specifically designed for students enrolled in the Cambridge (AICE) English Language AS Level class, part of the Cambridge International Examinations program. It may also be suited for students in AP English Language who are familiar with elements of style and rhetoric. Genres highlighted: travel & humor writing Excerpt used from: A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson This excerpt is followed by some discussion questions which can be used either in a whole-class discussion or equally

Visually pleasing one-page document that includes a section of text and 9 questions which help the student to fully analyze the passage. Can be used as a stand-alone close reading practice, or as a companion to a novel study of The Scarlet Letter. Print and use today.

Are your students about to read "When Plague Strikes" in their literature books? Many middle school students have never heard of this event, but will be immediately pulled in once they see the gory details behind it all. Use this anticipation guide to give students the chance to set their minds in motion on the story and then later, after reading, they can use the same sheet to confirm their predictions with page numbers and text-based evidence. There are two anticipation guides on one page, so

Use higher order thinking skills to assess students' knowledge of the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, at the completion of the reading by using an interactive Socratic Seminar format. This document contains everything you need--guidelines for the students on how to behave during a Socratic Seminar and a list of critical thinking/thematic questions that the students must prepare ahead of time before arriving on Socratic Seminar day. This is a much easier way for YOU the teacher to grade an asse

This product is specifically designed for students enrolled in the AICE English Language AS Level class, part of the Cambridge International Examinations program. This prompt uses a brief excerpt from Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine from which questions relating to rhetoric and style are taken. The prompt is practice for the Paper 1 portion of the end-of-year exam. However, it doesn't have to be used solely as test-prep. It can be used early on in the year as a means of familiarizing students

Reflecting on one's own progress in writing must be done consciously and deliberately. This printable, double-sided "Defense of Writing" will guide students at the end of each quarter or semester to critically think about their own progress in writing. It is an especially powerful tool for those students enrolled in AP, IB or Cambridge English Language/Rhetoric classes. It is also a powerful tool in Creative Writing and really any class where writing is central. Ask students to fill out this s

Use higher order thinking skills to assess students' knowledge of the novel, The Great Gatsby, at the completion of the reading by using an interactive Socratic Seminar format. This document contains everything you need--guidelines for the students on how to behave during a Socratic Seminar and a list of critical thinking/thematic questions that the students must prepare ahead of time before arriving on Socratic Seminar day. This is a much easier way for YOU the teacher to grade an assessment

This one-page printable document can be immediately handed out to students for an in-class or out-of-class assignment after reading Daphne DuMaurier's The Birds. Students are given 9 choices for mini extensions/writings that will ask them to think about the story in a different way, in a creative way. Students are asked to pick 5 of the 9 items on the paper. Students love choice! Appropriate for high school students. Especially suited for AP, IB, AICE level curriculum.

Here's a one-page handy printable you can give your students to keep in their interactive notebooks or binders. The document describes each step of SOAPStone and adds in hELP to remind students to never forget to consider ethos, pathos and logos when analyzing text and rhetoric. Do yourself a favor and give these to the students at the beginning of the year. You'll be glad you did. Best suited for classes in rhetoric and language analysis -- IB, AP, Cambridge, college level.

End your study of the novel (or play), Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, with this interactive interdisciplinary group project. Students will work in groups to produce a newspaper from Willy Wonka's town while also conducting mini research on cocoa production across the globe, effectively combining writing, creativity, social studies, global awareness and economics. It would be best to have access to a computer lab for the duration of this project in order to enhance the research phase of the

This one-page document is perfect for your AICE English Language AS Level class (Cambridge International Exams - CIE). This should be used after students have read at least through chapter 13 of The Scarlet Letter AND have an understanding of rhetorical analysis and elements of style. The prompt is formatted to mimic the set-up of the Paper 1 prompts for the English Language AS Level exam. It is a nice way to combine some American Literature while still keeping with the requirements of the Ca

Use this cute one page sheet to help your students build a culture of teamwork in the classroom. This resource can be used for Kagan structures that encourage team building. The idea is to ask all the students at a table team to fill out the entire list with names of candies. The first team with a completed list wins. Remind students to be quiet as they work so no one nearby steals any ideas! Maybe the winning team gets some candy...?? Have fun with it!

This one-page document mimics the Cambridge International Examinations AS Level English Language type of prompt. It is a wonderful way to help cover the travel writing genre which often appears on the test and to give the students a peek at an author they may encounter in college. This may also work for AP English Language classes, though it is specifically designed in the likeness of the AICE/Cambridge style of test prompt.

This is a one-page printable article that can be used anytime, but is especially good around Halloween time as the topic is -- why we like to be scared. Students can mark the text using whatever markers the teacher has taught, and then they are asked at the end to respond in writing. The document is a Word file, so if you prefer to edit the final writing assignment, it's completely possible to do so before using with students. Great article to begin a discussion about why people in our culture

Have a little Valentine's Day fun with your students while incorporating writing for an audience, perhaps even an authentic audience. This ready-to-use handout has three sample advice columns on one side--perfect for framing a discussion on format and diction and tone expected in an advice column. Note, the topics of the columns are most appropriate for a high school audience, but mature 8th graders would probably be able to handle them. The opposite side is an advice column template. Have stude

This is a printable one-page tip sheet for correctly formulating a 5-paragraph expository or persuasive essay. It's an excellent refresher for students who have been taught the process, but who do well with easy-to-follow guidelines. It makes an excellent "keep forever" paper that can be housed in a writing folder year-round for easy reference. Students from late elementary through high school will find this tip sheet a necessary reference as they work through the essay writing process.

This two-page document allows students to work in pairs or independently to use the TPCASTT poetry explication structure to analyze Langston Hughes' short poem, Silence. A great activity for a day when a sub is needed, or when doing conferences with individual students --allowing students to do meaningful analysis work on their own.