Monthly Archives: March 2016


FREE LANGUAGE ARTS LESSON – “Non-Fiction Text Feature Checklist/Scavenger Hunt”

by Audrey Kuhn

1st – 5th Grade

 

nonfiction scavenger hunt

 

This is a worksheet to be used when learning about text features.

This scavenger hunt goes along with the Non-Fiction Text Feature Poster set.

This could be used as a center activity once the text features are taught.

This helps to encourage students to pay attention to text features as they read non-fiction rather than skip over them.

-Audrey Kuhn

 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Non-Fiction-Text-Feature-ChecklistScavanger-Hunt-346538

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sentences – Grammar Circles for easy and effective grammar

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Sentences-Grammar-Circles-for-easy-and-effective-grammar-2110090sentences grammar circle

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Sentences – Grammar Circles for easy and effective grammar

Simplify your life and make grammar fun and effective.

One of the biggest challenges I had in my English classes was how to fit in grammar with everything else I had to teach. I would give students grammar pages and then we would correct them together. It was tedious and it took forever! What’s more is that students were not learning the way I wanted them to. They wouldn’t apply what they had learned from the grammar pages and activities.

I found a solution!

Grammar Circles. Grammar Circles are very similar to literature circles in the sense that students are teaching one another grammar. It is a fun and functional way to teach and learn grammar. Although, this may be done individually, it can also be completed as a group where students, through a specific process outlined in the package, teach one another grammar. They also correct the work together, so the teacher has very little to do.

The package includes:

1) A Student Packet – which contains the Literature Circle directions, the notes, directions, and activities, and a “Mark Calculation” page to keep track of their marks. (16 pages)
Activities included focus on:
-the logistics of the sentence (the basic parts)
-the prepositional phrase
-the adjective phrase
-the adverb phrase
-the verbal phrase
-the appositive phrase
-the independent and subordinate clauses
-subjects and predicates
-fragments
-run-on sentences
-types of sentences

2) A teacher Guide with easy to follow instructions on how to organize the Grammar Circles.

3) The Answer Key – devised to allow students to correct their own work and learn from one another.

For those who are from Ontario, Canada – this unit adheres to the Grade 9 English Curriculum (academic). The unit can be taught in any grade to about sentences.

(27 pages total for this unit)

Stay tuned for more Superhero themed grammar circle units: Spelling tips, Capitalization and Punctuation….
It’s teaching made easy!

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LANGUAGE ARTS – “5 Sight Word Games”

K-3

Amanda TrumpScreen Shot 2015-05-19 at 9.05.24 PM
Screen Shot 2015-05-19 at 9.05.48 PM

   Screen Shot 2015-05-19 at 9.04.35 PM

  Screen Shot 2015-05-23 at 4.30.26 PM

This packet includes 5 fun but simple games that your kiddos will love to play! The purpose of the games are to give students exposure and experience to reading the Dolch sight words.  With each game board give each team a certain level of sight words such as, preprimer, primer, or first grade, ect.  Students are to form a deck of cards out the sight words included.  All the games boards are interchangeable with each level of sight words.  Differentiate and place the games in reading centers. The games included are: SWEET SHOP HOP,  PIG, BLOCKBUSTER, SHARK, CIRCLE IN & OUT.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/5-Sight-Words-Games-Differentiation-1868284

 

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FREE SOCIAL STUDIES LESSON – “Paul Revere Jeopardy”

by Deena Wilcox

1st – 5th Grade

 

paul revere jeopardy

 

his is a Jeopardy game PowerPoint that reviews Paul Revere. It can be used to review facts about Paul Revere. Answers are included.

 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Paul-Revere-Jeopardy-334575

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Romeo and Juliet Unit

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Romeo-and-Juliet-Unit-Bundled-1133010romeo and juliet

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

ROMEO AND JULIET UNIT

This bundled unit has been designed to make life easier for the Language Arts teacher. It contains a teacher guide with detailed lessons, a student guide with all of the notes required by students, an answer key for students’ work, and 3 evaluations (answer keys and evaluation rubrics included). All you need to do is print and begin teaching.

This purchase includes:

•A comprehensive Teacher guide with 15 detailed lessons (7 pages)
•A student guide with guiding questions and activities (focus on characterization, themes, figurative language, irony, etc…) -10 pages
•A Scavenger Hunt activity to introduce students to Shakespeare and his times (includes 8 colorful cards and a PowerPoint with answers.)
•A detailed answer key for students’ work (10 pages)
•A quiz on Acts 1 and 2 – answer key included
•Oral presentation on Irony – evaluation rubric included
•Culminating activity – Students write a children’s story based on the themes in the play. Evaluation rubric as well as work process sheets included (7 pages)

There are a total of 47 pages included in this unit.

The unit will last between 17 to 20 periods. (3 – 4 week unit)

All that’s left is to teach. I hope you enjoy this unit.

It’s teaching made easy!

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Total Pages
47
Answer Key
Included with Rubric
Teaching Duration
2 Weeks

LANGUAGE ARTS – “10 r-Controlled Activities & Games”

Grades 1-4

by Reading on Strawberry Lane

 

10 r-controlled-cover

This unit is a package of 10 activities and games that are designed to make it easy for students to learn to read r-controlled syllable type words. There are 6 syllable types, and r-controlled is one of the six types. These syllables are called –r-controlled because the –r is in control and the vowel is out of control when sounding out the word. Instead, of the vowels making their normal sounds, the –r decides for them what sound the vowel is going to make. Reading and spelling r-controlled words require visual memory and experience. These games will teach students a few consistent tips to remember when reading these kinds of words. There are five -r-controlled vowels–ar, -er, -ir, -or, -ur. These five vowel spellings make 4 different sounds. The packet includes 75 -r-controlled words cards and the following 10 games:

1. Climb a Tree

2. Grow a Centipede

3. Football Frenzy

4. Dominoes

5. Uno

6. Clear the Board

7. Snail Shell

8. Wild Animal Race

9. Checkers

10. Circle Out

r-Controlled Pic 1

r-Controlled Pic 2

r-Contorlled 3

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/10-r-Controlled-Vowel-Games-Activities-1545302

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FREE MATH LESSON – “FREE! Growth Chart”

by Jessi’s Archive

Pre-Kindergarten – 2nd Grade

 

growth chart

 

Use this cool chart to compare how tall your students are. This chart could be used to discuss: Tall (-er, -est), Short (-er, -est), All About Me Theme, Spring Theme, Measurement, etc.

Includes:
Title
flower patterns (boys and girls)
idea how your chart would look like

Pls. leave a feedback. Thank you.

 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/FREE-Growth-Chart-343774

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Death of a Salesman Unit (Bundled)

death of a salesmanhttps://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Death-of-a-Salesman-Unit-Bundled-1610583

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Death of a Salesman Bundled Unit

Level : grades 11 and 12

This unit has been conceived with the teacher in mind. It contains a Student Guide, a Teacher Guide, and a comprehensive Answer Key. All you have to do is print the packages and teach them. It’s as easy as that! I’ve also included two different options for end unit evaluations, which both contain evaluation grids and answer key.

The unit is, in my opinion, visually appealing and the contents teach analysis of literature.

The bundle contains: (The documents, except for the evaluations, are in PDF format.)

The Student Guide has 16 pages:
-Notes on the American Dream
-An anticipation guide
-An in-depth look at success as it pertains to the lives of the students (which will later on be used to relate to the play’s themes.)
-Thematic comprehension questions for each act
-Activity on motifs and symbols used in the play
-Activity on characterization
-Poem association (Langston Hughes)
-Notes on tragedy (Aristotle’s definition and modern definition)
-Review notes for students

Answer Key contains 29 pages:
-Answers to ALL of the students’ work
-Introduction to Arthur Miller
-Scene guide -Teacher’s comprehensive notes on the play (to help review and to fill students in on signifant symbols….)
-List of themes and how they are developed

Final evaluation contains two different options:
1) A unit test with answer key. Contains 3 essay type questions.
2) An essay. Contains essay topics, work process (steps 1…..), an outline guide, and an evaluation grid.

BOTH EVALUATIONS ARE FORMATTED IN WORD DOCUMENTS FOR EASY CHANGES AND MODIFICATIONS.

The Teacher Guide contains 5 pages:
-Includes 8 complete lessons that leave the teacher nothing to do, but to teach.
Lesson 1: Historical context and pre-reading
Lesson 2: Setting and reading (there are specific pages assigned to each lesson)
Lesson 3: Symbols, Motifs and reading
Lesson 4: Character chart and reading
Lesson 5: Reading
Lesson 6: Reading and a look at the difference between modern and classic tragedy
Lesson 7: Theme development and review
Lesson 8: Evaluation (Option 1 – test (answer key included), Option 2 – Essay (evaluation grid, work process, outline included)

It’ teaching made easy.

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LANGUAGE ARTS – “75 Games & Activities for Teaching the Six Syllable Types of Reading”

Grades K-3
Amanda TrumpScreen Shot 2015-07-10 at 1.10.59 PM

The bundle packet includes 75 games and activities that all target teaching the 6 types of syllables in reading: Closed Syllables, V-C-e Syllables, r-Controlled Syllables, Open Syllables, Vowel Digraph & Diphthong Syllables, and Final Stable Consonant Syllables.
The basic overall purpose of learning syllable type reading is to give students 6 reading strategies to aid them in chunking longer words into short, readable parts. Learning to read by identifying the type of syllable is the most consistent method to teach reading to your students, and the easiest way for your students to learn to read.These 75 activities/games can be placed in language stations, or they can be played during small groups. So enjoy as your students learn another way to break the code to reading!At the present, I am creating my last packet of game and activities to go with the final stable syllable type, and once I complete it, I will make it available. Also, if you would like to preview what is in the packet, just click on the preview tab and you can see a sample of some (not all of them) of the games in the packet.
The Closed Syllable Packet includes the following games:
1. Bubble Bath Mats
2. Bubble Yum Mats
3. Scrambled Eggs
4. Bag the Odd Word
5. Morph the Word
6. Flower Power
7. My Closed Syllable Word Book
8. Closed Syllable Sorting Mats
9. Roll a Word
10. Spin a Word
11. Puzzle Words
12. Hangin’ Out the Laundry
13. Map Out the Treasure
14. Connect 4
15. Beat the ClockThe
V-C-e Syllable packet includes the following games/activities:
1. Move the Spider to His Web
2. Syllable Type Organizers
3. Connect 4
4. Color the Snail’s Shell
5. Graph Your Total
6. Dominoes
7. It’s Raining V-C-e Words
8. Burst a Balloon
9. Flower Power
10. V-C-e Booklets
11. Flip-Flop Match-Up
12. A Walk Around the Block
13. Skunk
14. Building Words
15. Snake & Ladders
The r-Controlled Syllable packet includes the following games/activities:
1. Climb a Tree
2. Grow a Centipede
3. Football Frenzy
4. Uno
5. Clear the Board
6, Snail Shell
7. Wild Animal Race
8. Checkers
9. Circle Out
10. Dominoes
The Open Syllable packet includes the following games/activities:
1. Bubble Yum Relay
2. Flower Power
3. Open Syllable Word Count, Sort & Write
4. Open Syllable Cut, Sort & Glue
5. Open Syllable Count & Divide
6. First or Last Syllable Open?
7. Fill Up the Jar
8. I Spy
9. ‘y’ says ‘i’ or ‘e’
10. First or Last Syllable Open Picture Sort
11. Hear, Write & Draw
12. Open Syllable Booklets
13. Dominoes
14. Try Spelling/Draw & Spell
15. Move the Cow to the Barn
The Vowel Digraph & Diphthong Syllable packet includes the following games/activities:
1. Color the Rainbow
2. Ghost OUT
3. Move the Mouse to the Cheese
4. Guess the Word
5. Shark
6. Go Fish
7. PIG
8. Old Maid, Old Man
9. Skunk
10. Thirteen Digraph/Diphthong Booklets
The Final Stable (-le) Syllable packet includes the following games/activities:
1. Syllable Match-Up
2. Which Final Stable Syllable Sound?
3. Final Stable Syllable Booklets
4. Syllable Divide
5. Riddle Riddles
6. Syllable Picture Sorts
7. Daub the Final Stable Syllable
8. WAR
9. Got It!
10. Sweet Shop Hop

FREE LANGUAGE ARTS LESSON – “Drawing Inferences Printable Bookmarks and Worksheet”

by Jen Bengel

3rd – 6th Grade

 

drawing inferences sheet

 

Enjoy this free resource for drawing inferences!

Since we can’t see or hear students’ thoughts as they are reading, it is difficult to assess their understanding of specific reading strategies. The activities in this resource offer a structured approach in teaching students how to make inferences while they are reading. They also offer teachers a glimpse into the thought process of students as they are reading and can serve as assessment tools.

There are printable bookmarks for students to write their understanding of making inferences while they are reading. There are also full page worksheets that can be used. These resources work great during independent reading time or center work. They can also be used in guided reading strategy groups.

The Common Core State Standards for grade 3 and beyond that Apply:

• RI.3.6. Distinguish their own point of view from that of the author of a text.
• RL.3.6. Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.

 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Drawing-Inferences-Printable-bookmarks-and-Worksheet-309250

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Poetry unit for senior students – Complete, no prep

poetry unithttps://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Poetry-Unit-for-senior-students-1107375

 

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Poetry Unit (Bundled) (Improved and revised)

For grades 11 and 12

Many teachers hate teaching poetry because they don’t know where to begin. This unit will make you and your students love poetry. This complete, no prep unit is a great way to start! This 2 and a half week unit includes a student guide, 12 detailed lesson plans, 2 multimedia presentations (no internet connection required), a detailed answer key with annotated poems, and an end of the unit evaluation with answer key.

Just print it and teach it.

This HUGE bundle includes:

This poetry unit has been devised to teach students the importance of :
• Figurative language (its uses and effects)
• How to read poetry
• How to understand and apply symbolism and imagery
• The importance of rhythm
• The importance of tone and attitude in a poem
• Types of poetry
• How to analyse poetry
• How to appreciate poetry (even when you don’t understand it)

This unit’s focus is the analysis of poetry and teaches students how to make inferences, which is a skill they must learn for their other subjects as well.

Poems include authors such as: Emily Dickenson, Dorothy Parker, Maya Angelou, Thomas Gray, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Alfred Noyes, T.S. Eliot, Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Frost, Pearl Jam, Langston Hughes, and Walt Whitman. The Unit includes 21 different poems.

The unit has been conceived to last 12 days – with 65 minute periods (although they are easy to modify).

The unit contains:

1 – The teacher guide (Contains 12 comprehensive lesson plans to teach the poems included in the unit. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO TEACH THIS UNIT HAS BEEN DONE FOR YOU. )

2 – The student package (Contains students’ notes , poems, and questions) (26 pages)

3 – The answer key includes annotated poems and answers to all student activities (saving you time).

4 – Included is a test with multiple choice questions as well as a development question. All answers are included. (Word format for easy changes)

5 – 2 PowerPoint presentations – one multimedia presentation to introduce the unit (17 slides) and the second to reinforce the use of imagery and symbolism (19 slides) – NO INTERNET CONNECTION REQUIRED

A total of 63 pages + 36 slides are included in this package.

This unit is complete, and does all of the thinking for you. All you need to do is to print out and photocopy the student package and you’re set.


Leprechauns Welcome! St. Patrick’s Day Freebie – Math

By Sparking Children’s Thinkibility

Grades Kindergarten- 3rd Numbers, Arithmetic

Spot hats, leprechauns and clovers.

Fun activities where the children are asked to make up their own math problems. Children often enjoy creating their own problems. This approach requires a deeper reflection upon numbers and basic arithmetic operations as compared to only providing an answer.

Link to St. Patrick’s Day Freebie – Math

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Easter – Cool Chocolate Challenge

By Sparking Children’s Thinkibility

Grades 1st -5th Easter, Biology, Critical Thinking

Every year foil and packaging are used to wrap eggs and bunnies. So this challenge has several important aspects as well as being fun. Help put an end  of Egg-cessive Easter Waste.

Explore information about cocoa tree, ways nature package things, and ways that nature deals with waste. And then think dive into a world filled with foils, chocolate, bananas . . . cardboard . . .

  • Where can you look for inspiration?
  • Can you test your ideas?
  • Did your chocolate bunnies melt?

Use Nature as inspiration! Happy Exploring!

This package contains:

1. Problem and plan

2. How does nature?

3. How does nature move from trash to treasure?

4. Where does chocolate come from?

5. What if – Idea 1, 2 and 3

5. Evalution sheet

6. Reflection on the learning

7. What is biomimcry

There is a colour and black and white copy of each page.

 

Link to: STEM – Easter – Cool Chocolate Challenge – Biomimicry

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March Teacher Talk

Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

Welcome to our March Teacher Talk.  All of us from the Teacher Talk collaborative would like wish you a Happy St. Patrick’s Day.  We have so many fab things this month from  Women’s History Month to Reading and Math activities, as well as Easter Stem Olympics, there’s even a post on Kite Flying to reward your classes for good behavior. So relax with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and take a look at what these educators have to say. You’ll be happy you did!

If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs and blogging buddies and our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, be sure to mention one of our names. 

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Lead Like a Girl

Finding positive role models for our students in Women’s History.

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Let’s Go Fly a Kite

  When I taught special needs kids, each month we would do something special for those who earned enough points. One of their favorite activities was to make and fly kites in March. Years later, I was mainstreamed to 6th grade and the children also loved this activity. After they flew their kites, they wrote two papers, one explaining how to make a kite and the other about their experience.

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Women’s History Month

It’s Women’s History Month. Here are some great books to read to your kids!

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Pi Day is March 14th

By Vicky Rauch of Scipi

What is Pi Day? Why was March 14th chosen?

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Using Core Words Every Day

By Susan Berkowitz of Susan Berkowitz

Teaching AAC users to communicate doesn’t take a lot of fancy materials or extra planning. Most of the time it’s as simple as engaging the learner with what he likes to do.

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Fast-Paced Fractions

By Kathie Yonemura of Tried & True Teaching Tools

Fraction review is filled with action & movement! Playing Scoot gets students up & moving, while practicing fraction concepts!

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March Into Eggstravagant Math

By M. Moore of Moore Resources

March into an Eggstravagant Math Activity. Enjoy a great activity I’ve completed with First Graders & Middle Schoolers! Every year around spring break I’ve enjoyed executing this wonderful fun egg math activity with my students. There’s minimal prep time and materials for this activity.

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Math Menus

By Shametria L. Routt of The Routty Math Teacher

Menus, a content-focused set of options from which students choose activities and tasks on which to work, are a great way to add some challenge and pizzazz to your everyday mathematics curriculum and can be created for a variety of purposes and designed to include a variety of activities. In this 4-part series, I share four of my favorite math menus that provide instant opportunities for differentiation because students choose which activities they would like to complete based on their own interest and ability levels. Each post describes a different menu, provides examples of how to use it, illustrates advantages and disadvantages, and includes sample work from some of my past students.

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Recharge Your Batteries!

By Megan Bodman of Adventures in Teaching 4th

Get 8 tips for recharging your batteries during the time of year when stress is high!

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Easter STEM Olympics

By Kerry Tracy of Kerry Tracy

Blog post outlines 5 egg-celent Easter-themed STEM challenges that can be modified for use with grades 2-8: Nice Nest, Carrot Carriage, Bean Bind, Basket Bounce, and

 Egg-hanced.

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Increasing Student Time On Task

By Marcy Howe of It’s a Teacher Thing

Increase student time on task with a few simple yet effective tools.

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Zones of Regulation: Using Visuals for Feedback and Self-Regulation

By Thia Triggs of Print Path

Do your children shut down or act out when they hear your voice giving then behavioral cues and feedback?  If so, visual cues can be a lifesaver!

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If This Spells D-E-A-D How Do You Spell Head?

By Susan Berkowitz of Susan Berkowitz

Manipulating sounds in words can be a very difficult task for students who just can’t figure out how the individual sounds go together to make words, and how they can come apart.

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Here’s your chance to hop on over and visit the blog posts of our creative teachers


FREE MISC. LESSON – “5 Minutes Left and What Can I Do? : 100 Fun and Challenging Puzzles”

by Mark Aaron

5th – 12th Grade

 

five minutes left puzzles

 

These are all my absolute best classroom-tested puzzle time fillers that every teacher needs to have when a planned lesson ends earlier than anticipated or the kids just need a break at the end of the period.

Some puzzles I have used over the years just do not work well; these all do. What they have in common is that they are challenging, engaging to all students, and effective problem-solving/critical thinking activities.

Some involve language skills, some involve math, and some both. All you need is your marker, a whiteboard, and a few minutes of extra time. Answers provided (of course). PLEASE RATE THIS FREE PRODUCT IF YOU FIND IT WORTHY.

Want more puzzle fun for your students? Click below:

Hink Pink Puzzles

 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/5-Minutes-Left-and-What-Can-I-Do-100-Fun-and-Challenging-Puzzles-53844

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hamlet Unit (No prep -Complete unit)

Hamlet Unithttps://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Hamlet-Unit-No-prep-Complete-Unit-2398488

One entire month of planning done for you – I dare you to enjoy Shakespeare.

I love teaching Shakespeare’s plays and I want you to love it too. I’ve been teaching and improving this unit for over 10 years. I have literally done all the thinking for you.

This unit has everything a teacher needs to teach Hamlet. I’m aware that not everyone is comfortable with Shakespeare. Because of this, I have created this unit from my years of experience teaching the play so all of the thinking has been done for you. Just photocopy and teach. Seriously it’s that easy.
There’s no longer a need for hours of research and piecing together bits of information and activities found to teach the play.
This is a whole, complete unit, from scene summaries, important notes and annotations notes to help students understand what they are reading. I have also included an introduction to the play, a student guide, a teacher guide, quizzes, a creative assignment, and tests (all with answers and evaluation grids), and a comprehensive answer key. Everything has its place and teaches a specific skill.

The unit is appropriate for students in grades 10, 11 and 12.

The unit includes :

– An attractive, interactive, multimedia PowerPoint presentation introducing the play (17 slides)

-A Student Study Guide (with activities, act and scene questions…) and various activities (14 pages)

-A Teacher Guide (with detailed, comprehensive lessons, unit plan, and additional notes to guide students.) -9 pages and 16 complete lessons. The teacher Guide also includes links to the audiobook (the exact time to cue the audio) AND it includes a list of speaking roles if reading out loud in class)to help with time management and organisation.

-18 pages of comprehensive scene summaries and important notes for each scene (annotations for each scene) ***THIS IS A TEACHER FAVORITE!

-A creative “Guess Who?” game to help students understand the characters. (What’s fun about this game is that it can be played from the beginning of the play right to the end, and students’ answers will change depending on the act they are reading.) LOTS OF FUN!

-A comprehensive answer key for all questions and activities. (24 pages)

-Comprehension quiz on Acts 1 and 2 in Word format for easy modifications (with evaluation grid) and answer key.

-Mid-play evaluation – The Parody – creative writing and analysis (in Word format for easy modifications – with evaluation grid)

-Summary guide (highlighting the significant events from each scene with important analytical information) – Throughout my years of teaching this play, I have amounted excellent notes and annotations, listing the most significant actions throughout each scene. I have retyped these annotations to help you teach the play so your students will understand it (and so will you). (18 pages)

-The culminating evaluation includes three different versions of the final unit test with evaluation grid and answer key (in Word for easy modifications)

Includes a total of 109 pages.

It’s teaching made easy!

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E-MAIL ME at [email protected] . Be sure to include your e-mail address and buyer’s name. I will send you an attachment directly to your e-mail address.


LANGUAGE ARTS – “Phoneme Subtraction”

Grades K-2

by Reading on Strawberry Lane

This fun print and play activity will help students master the skills of phonemic deletion/subtraction and reinforce phonemic awareness, which is the ability to hear the smallest unit of sound. Students will read a word and then subtract a sound thus creating a new word. 

Also, this activity targets initial consonant blends and consonant digraphs such as bl, ch, cr, sm, th, sh, and more. There are two game boards (colored/black and white versions) and 92 task cards designed to engage learners. You may use this game board or any game board you have. Or just use the task cards alone, and the student with the most cards at the end wins.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/items/edit/2271608

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Let’s Go Fly a Kite

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

 

When I taught special needs kids, each month we would do something special for those who earned enough points. One of their favorite activities was to make and fly kites in March. child-flying-a-kite smallYears later, I was mainstreamed to 6th grade and the children also loved  this activity.  After they flew their kites, they wrote two papers, one explaining how to make a kite and the other about their experience.

I am going to show you how to make simple kites that your class will love doing.

Materials for a garbage bag kite:  plastic bags, two sticks, string, a ribbon and a nice windy day.

Step 1:  Take two sticks, wooden dowels, or garden stakes and put them into the shape of a cross., one horizontally and one vertically. Place the horizontal stick about a third of the way down and tie them together with a string.

Step 2: Wrap the string securely around the horizontal and vertical sticks so that they stay together.

Step 3:  Cut the bag to fit the kite frame. Secure tightly by tying the ends of the bag to the frame at the tip of each dowel or stick.

Step 4:  Tie string from one side of the horizontal stick to the other, make it loose so that it forms a triangle, see first picture in step #4. Tie a large ball of string to thebottom part of the vertical stick. Loop under the loose portion of the horizontal string and tie a knot then tie another knot where the horizontal and vertical strings meet. You’ll know you’ve done it right if you see a triangle shape. See 2nd image in step #4.

Step 5: Tie some colorful ribbons to the end of the kite to give it balance. If it seems flimsy , you can attach washers to the ribbons to add support.

Step 6: Voila, your kites are complete. All you need is a sunny and windy March day and some space for your kids to run with their kites. Have fun. By the way, you can have a contest to see which kite flies the highest or the best.

 

Another fun thing that I’ve done with the kids is to take them camping at the end of the school year, but that’s another story.

 

Featured Items

View my Interactive Poetry Notebook at Socrates Lantern's Tpt Store

Interactive Poetry Notebook

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Deann

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March Teacher Talk.003

Before you leave, please take a look at the rest of the blog posts that are part of our March Teacher Talk blog hop.


Free lesson – Introduction to poetry

introduction to poetryUse this free lesson to introduce poetry to your English students from grades 9 to 12. This is the first lesson from my Intermediate Poetry unit, which uses art to help students how to understand and analyze poetry.

The document includes:
-a comprehensive lesson plan
-student notes
-an answer key

IF YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO OPEN THE PDF FILE, PLEASE
E-MAIL ME at [email protected] . Be sure to include your e-mail address and buyer’s name. I will send you an attachment directly to your e-mail address.


FREE LANGUAGE ARTS LESSON – “Vocabulary Improvement Strategy”

by Tammy Sivley – The Space Coast Teacher

3rd – 6th Grade

 

vocab improvement strategy

 

This page can be used as homework, classwork or for the substitute teacher. Choose vocabulary words from your weekly reading activities. The children will write the word, draw a picture, write the pronunciation from the dictionary,
# of syllables, write the meaning from the dictionary, and use the word in their own sentence.

 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Vocabulary-Improvement-Strategy-153210

 

 

 

 

 

 

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LANGUAGE ARTS – “Reading Syllable Types Bundle Packet”

by Amanda Trump
Grades K-3

This bundle contains six units that give specific word examples of each syllable word type. The six syllable types of reading are Closed, V-C-e, Open, r-Controlled, Vowel Digraph & Diphthong, and Final Stable. Each unit provides a plethora of word lists that target each syllable type. Teaching reading by syllable types provides students with a clear-cut understanding of the English language. The basic overall purpose of learning syllable type reading is to give students 6 reading strategies to aid them in chunking longer words into short, readable parts.

Reading Syllable Type Bundle Cover

Syllable Bundle DefinitionsReading Syllable Types Bundle-3


Free Frankenstein Debate


frankenstein

The Frankenstein Debate Package includes topics for students, a Procedure Sheet to help teachers take notes during the debate, as well as an evaluation sheet.

I hope you enjoy this document.

If you enjoy it, please visit my store to see what else I have to offer and leave a comment.

It’s teaching made easy!

IF YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO OPEN THE ZIP FILE, PLEASE
E-MAIL ME at [email protected] . Be sure to include your e-mail address and buyer’s name. I will send you an attachment directly to your e-mail address.


FREE MISC. LESSON – “Choosing a Major (First Year College Skills)”

by Beth Hammett the Educator Helper

6th – 12th Grade

 

choosing major

 

A seven-slide, interactive PowerPoint to assist students through the process of choosing college majors. Includes individual/small/whole group critical thinking skills activities:

Definitions of Bachelor of Arts/Science
Differences between Bachelor of Arts/Sciences
Left Brain/Right Brain examples/quizzes
Career Assessment Quiz links
Activities for assessing left/right brain
How to choose skill-based majors
Optional research activities

Can be used for fact based research writing, college prep courses, and college career days.

 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Choosing-a-Major-First-Year-College-Skills-122877

 

 

 

 

 

 

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LANGUAGE ARTS – “Scooping Words With One Closed Syllable & One Vowel-Consonant-e Syllable”

Grades 1-3

by Reading on Strawberry Lane

Scooping Closed and V-C-e

Scooping a word is the same as dividing the word into syllables.

Syllables can be divided by saying them orally or by using a pencil and paper. If we orally divide a word into syllables, we usually clap the word out. For example, if we orally divided the syllables of dislike, we would clap out ‘dis’ and ‘like,’ and that would be two claps. If we divided the syllables on paper, we would place a slash between the ‘s’ and ‘l’ in

the word ‘dis/like.’

So rather that placing a slash, there is another way to show the number of syllables in a word, and that is to scoop the syllables. This is how that would look: d i s I I k e. Not dividing the word with a slash avoids the look of an extra letter in the word, and it also avoids the idea of students thinking the word has only one syllable since there is just one slash. With the idea of scooping with the finger or with a pencil, students

can feel and see the scoops which in turn matches the number of syllables.

This packet contains 64 task cards that allow students to practice scooping words with one closed syllable and one vowel-consonant-e syllable.

One Closed and One V-C-e

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Scooping-Words-With-One-Closed-Syllable-and-One-Vowel-Consonant-e-Syllable-2411125

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English Language Arts: Poetry for Senior Students (No Prep)

 

Poetry unit preview thumb

Many teachers hate teaching poetry because they don’t know where to begin. This unit will make you and your students love poetry. This complete, no prep unit is a great way to start! This 2 and a half week unit includes a student guide, 12 detailed lesson plans, 2 multimedia presentations (no internet connection required), a detailed answer key with annotated poems, and an end of the unit evaluation with answer key.

Just print it and teach it.

This HUGE bundle includes:

This poetry unit has been devised to teach students the importance of :
• Figurative language (its uses and effects)
• How to read poetry
• How to understand and apply symbolism and imagery
• The importance of rhythm
• The importance of tone and attitude in a poem
• Types of poetry
• How to analyse poetry
• How to appreciate poetry (even when you don’t understand it)

This unit’s focus is the analysis of poetry and teaches students how to make inferences, which is a skill they must learn for their other subjects as well.

Poems include authors such as: Emily Dickenson, Dorothy Parker, Maya Angelou, Thomas Gray, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Alfred Noyes, T.S. Eliot, Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Frost, Pearl Jam, Langston Hughes, and Walt Whitman. The Unit includes 21 different poems.

The unit has been conceived to last 12 days – with 65 minute periods (although they are easy to modify).

The unit contains:

1 – The teacher guide (Contains 12 comprehensive lesson plans to teach the poems included in the unit. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO TEACH THIS UNIT HAS BEEN DONE FOR YOU. )

2 – The student package (Contains students’ notes , poems, and questions) (26 pages)

3 – The answer key includes annotated poems and answers to all student activities (saving you time).

4 – Included is a test with multiple choice questions as well as a development question. All answers are included. (Word format for easy changes)

5 – 2 PowerPoint presentations – one multimedia presentation to introduce the unit (17 slides) and the second to reinforce the use of imagery and symbolism (19 slides) – NO INTERNET CONNECTION REQUIRED

A total of 63 pages + 36 slides are included in this package.

This unit is complete, and does all of the thinking for you. All you need to do is to print out and photocopy the student package and you’re set.


FREE MATH LESSON – “Give Me Five Math Review”

by Brooke Beverly

2nd – 4th Grade

 

give me five

 

FREE DOWNLOAD: If you like this, check out all the other Give Me Five Math Review sheets I have for sale. I also have a bundle of all the Give Me Five activities, which would save you some money 🙂

This is a great quick way to start your math class. It is a math warm-up that is sure to get your students’ math brains working.

There are several different Give Me 5 worksheets. Check them all out.

If my students get 5+ correct, I have them go around giving high 5’s to everyone who also did well. (Thus the name, Give Me 5)

 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Give-Me-Five-Math-Review-70469

 

 

 

 

 

 

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St. Patrick’s Day: Motivating students to reading for meaning ~ with humor!

St P humor post

Nothing grabs my students’ attention more than something that is downright silly.

They know I tend to make the odd ‘mistake’ when we’re reading together, and that reading just HAS to make sense. Whenever I sense someone’s attention (or foot, or elbow) beginning to drift, I’ll throw in the odd error, for example:

Oh No!

Recently, we have completed the Pirate Pals Read and Write and More booklet together, and it occurred to me, again, that when kids anticipate fun and laughter, they are more willing to invest their energy and focus up front.


Pirate Pals kids joking about space monkey - CopyA 2nd grade student tries to get a  peer to choose ‘Saturn’ instead of the correct answer for the setting question… Pirate Pals Reading Comp photo…then they laugh at the thought of pirates bringing a space monkey on a treasure hunt!

St. Patrick’s Day is upon us. I read the story of St. Patrick to my grade one class years ago, and remember the pre-reading discussion well. A small group of my students believed that St. Patrick was a leprechaun, and others found the idea to be hilarious. The child who had expressed this idea was embarrassed and it had a significant impact on his confidence in sharing in groups, and taking risks in his learning, for some time.

This, of course, took us off-track into a conversation about teasing, laughing at vs. laughing with others.

I’m planning to give the students I see the advantage of knowing the true story of St. Patrick early, so they can be armed to laugh with their classmates!


The St. Patrick’s Day pages below and the Pirate Pals pages above are only two of the elements of the Read and Write and More Series.


St. P's Day Reading Comp JPEG updated

St. P's Day questions JPEG updated

Isn’t laughter the way of the Irish, after all?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone!

2015 TpT Store Prof pic circle

Related:


Th1 Th1 St P Day Freebie main product cover

More R & W & M Read Rec Sound boxes


LANGUAGE ARTS – “Scooping Words With Two Closed Syllables”

K-2

Amanda Trump

Scooping a word is the same as dividing the word into syllables.

Syllables can be divided by saying them orally or by using a pencil and paper. If we orally divide a word into syllables, we usually clap the word out. For example, if we orally divided the syllables of polish, we would clap out ‘pol’ and ‘ish,’ and that would be two claps. If we divided the syllables on paper, we would place a slash between the ‘l’ and ‘i’ in the word ‘pol/ish.’

So rather that placing a slash, there is another way to show the number of syllables in a word, and that is to scoop the syllables. This is how that would look: p o l i s h. This way not dividing the word with a slash avoids the look of a misplaced letter in the word, and it also avoids the idea of students thinking the word has only one syllable since there is just one slash. With the idea of scooping with the finger or with a pencil, students can feel and see the scoops which in turn matches the number of syllables. 

This packet contains 64 task cards that allow students to practice scooping words with two closed syllables.

Simply print and cut along the guidelines. One idea is to print on card stock or on colored paper. Laminate and use them again and again and keep them in a baggie. Another option is to hole-punch a corner of each card and put them all on a ring.

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FREE WORKSHEET: Subordinating Conjunctions Cheat Sheet for Dependent Clauses!

I teach a writing lab for the community college I work with, and right now we are working on recognizing Independent and Dependent Clauses. (Yep! College students sometimes have to go waaaaaay back to the basics in order to find sentence fragments within their Composition Essays!)

Presentation1

I like to give my students a visual when thinking about parts of sentences. So the first thing I told them is that I have a one-year-old who is about to start walking. Right now, she is holding on to our hands (or walls, or cabinets, or the dog) to help support her walking. Then I ask them, “Is she an independent walker?” Of course the answer is no. “Why?” Their responses were:

“She can’t stand on her own.”

“She relies on other people or things.”

DING! DING! DING! In order to walk, she is DEPENDENT on other people or things. An INDEPENDENT walker is someone who can stand on his or her own.

I then tell them the same goes for Independent or Dependent clauses! “An Independent Clause is a sentence that can totally stand on its own without any help from other clauses. A Dependent Clause relies on other clauses, or complete sentences, to make sense.”

After reviewing types of each, I gave them a Common Subordinating Conjunctions Cheat Sheet to use in order to find fragments (it also includes the five relative pronouns, but I didn’t go too into detail with those–only so much the brain can handle in an hour!). Then I let them know the secret that if their sentence is starting off with one of the words listed on the cheat sheet and does not express a complete thought, it’s probably a fragment.

I hope this cheat sheet helps your students make sense of Independent and Dependent clauses a little bit better!

original-2396375-1 (2)

Signoff

 

 

 

 


FREE MATH LESSON – “Number Tiles: FREE Problem Solving Activities for the Primary Grades”

by Scipi – Math and Science

Kindergarten – 3rd Grade

 

number tiles problem solving

 

This FREE Number Tiles resource is a ten page booklet containing six different math problem solving activities for the primary grades. The activities extend from simple counting, to greater than or less than to solving addition and subtraction problems. Since the students do not write on the pages, they can be copied and laminated so they can be used from year to year. Students solve the Number Tile Math Activities by arranging ten number tiles.

The number tiles can be made from construction paper, cardboard, or square colored tiles. (How to make the number tiles is included in the handout.) Each activity is on a single page, and varies in difficulty. Since the students have the freedom to move the tiles around, they are more engaged and more willing to try multiple methods to find the solution.

These activities are suitable for the visual and/or kinesthetic learner.

If your students enjoy these free activities, you might like the full 23 page version:

Number Tiles – Hands On Math Activities for the Primary Grades

 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Number-Tiles-FREE-Problem-Solving-Activities-for-the-Primary-Grades-148163

 

 

 

 

 

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