Category Archives : FREE LESSONS


October 2021 Teacher Talk

 Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

It’s October Teacher Talk Time…..Well, the first month of school is over and it’s BOO-tober, time for Halloween fun, Columbus Day, Stop Bullying Month and beautiful fall weather.  We have so many great tips and ideas for you from awesome educators. Be sure to take a look at what everyone has to say.
If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs, blogging buddies and/or our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, “Feel free to email me at deann.marin@gmail.com for any questions you might have and mention me when you sign up.”
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It’s October…Time to Call on Your Halloween Spirit

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

October is the perfect time to get your students’ creative juices flowing.

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Seven Fun Candy Activities for Your Class

By Retta London of Rainbow City Learning

Fun ways to use Halloween candy while keeping the rigor in your lessons. A three page freebie is included!

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Simple Steps to Create a Story Plan

By Charlene Tess of Charlene Tess

Forming a story plan is the first step in writing fiction.

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Rachel’s Monster

By Gini Musmanno of Reading Spotlight

The first time I saw Rachel she was standing in the hall near her first-grade classroom door. Her eyes met mine, but she then turned her face to the wall. I did not know at that time she would become one of my first primary grade remedial reading students, nor did I know that she was repeating first grade–this is a story about Rachel’s monster.


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“BOO” to Fractions? Recognizing Equivalent Fractions

By Vicky Rauch of Scipi

Math requires constant practice – something most of my students dread doing. I can find many “drill and kill” activities, but they tend to do just that, drill those who don’t need it and kill those who already know how to do it. So to drill and “thrill”, I created fractional word puzzles. The one for October is Halloween Fraction Riddles.


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Cursive vs. Keyboard – an interesting debate

By Renee Heiss of All-American Teacher Tools

There have been many debates over the centuries regarding the education of our children. From integrated schools to No Child Left Behind and Common Core curricula, teachers have had to deal with a plethora of revisions to their daily lessons. However, hidden beneath the mandated revisions is a new discussion that centers around cursive writing vs. keyboard entry for student assignments. How can you teach your little learners to master a keyboard?


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Fall in ELA: 20 Ideas for Reading & Writing in Autumn

By Katie Auer of Loving Language Arts

20 ideas for reading and writing in ELA during Autumn.

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October Teaching Ideas

By Marcie Howe of It’s a Teacher Thing

Learn great ideas to help build relationships with your students and thrive as a teacher during the month of October.


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Studying Plot Structure

By Lisa Robles of Lisa TeachRs Classroom

Every story has some sort of a structure. Today we will talk about teaching two types: circular and cumulative story structures and how to use teach them to your students.


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Teaching in the New Normal 5 Tips and Tricks

By Michelle Webb of Teaching Ideas for Those Who Love Teaching

This school year we want things to be back to normal. We are not there yet. Here are 5 tips to keep you sane while teaching in the new normal.


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Free Inference Cheat Sheet

Description

Do your students insert examples and quotes into their texts without properly analyzing them? Without proper analysis, an essay can sound like a long, drawn-out list written in complete sentences. We teach students to infer and to analyze, but they sometimes forget to incorporate this into their texts and essays.

I have created an “Inference Cheat Sheet” with key inferencing words and phrases to remind students that after inserting a piece of evidence, they need to explain its relevance.

Included are:

❒ Two different styles of the at-a-glance “Cheat Sheet.”

❒ An inference poster (8.5×11) – as seen on the cover.

❒ Two different styles of letters for an inference bulletin board.

❒ A copy of ALL the phrases used on the Cheat Sheet to create a bulletin board in class.

I hope that this resource will be helpful to students in your classes.

You may also be interested in the following products:

Analyze This!

English Grammar Cheat Sheet

Essay Writing Flip Book

Parts of Speech Grammar Circles

Poster: Developing Themes in Literature

Teaching the Essay Package

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
24 pages
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
N/A


Free Thesis Writing Poster

Description

As any English teacher can tell you, the thesis statement is the most important part of the essay. It defines the arguments and orients the reader. Unfortunately, many students have difficulty with the thesis statement. This is why I have created the “7 Steps to Writing an Effective Thesis Statement” poster.

The poster is a step by step guide on how to write the thesis starting with selecting a topic the student understands and walks them through the process until the end.

I am making the poster available in different formats for the facility of use in the classroom:

❒ The first format measures 70 cm (27.6 inches) (easy printing) PDF

❒ The second format measure 97 cm (38.2) – information can be more easily read from further away (easy printing) PDF

❒ One smaller poster PDF

❒ An image format JPEG

You may also be interested in the following products:

Creative Writing Bundle

Essay Writing Flip Book

Free Thesis Writing Activity

Inference Cheat Sheet

Teaching the Essay Package

Thesis Writing Activity

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
4 different formats of posters
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
N/A


Free Poetry Lesson: Analyzing Poetry (NO PREP)

Description

FREE LESSON – This mini-unit on Walt Whitman’s “I Heard the Learned Astronomer” and “A Noiseless, Patient Spider,” teaches students how to analyze poetry. Students must learn to observe, connect, make inferences, and draw conclusions on themes.

This mini-guide includes:

❒ a detailed lesson plan for the teacher

❒ poems for students

❒ answer key and poetry annotation

This mini-guide includes six pages. I hope you enjoy it.

You may also be interested in the following products:

Thematic Poetry Unit: Editable
Analyze This!

ELA Literature Study Unit

Figurative Language & Poetic Devices Jeopardy Game

I Have, Who Has? Game for Teaching Figurative Language & Poetry

Poetry Unit for Senior Students

Poster: Developing Themes in Literature

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
6 pages
Answer Key
Included
Teaching Duration
90 minutes


Free Exploring the Elements of Fiction in Creative Writing

Description

As an introduction to story writing and the creative writing process, these visual notes are a great way for students to understand what that process is and what it is not.

Note sheet includes the following topics:

❒ What makes a story good?

❒ What about the plot?

❒ Narrative unity

❒ Building suspense

❒ Includes practical examples as explanations

The resource also includes a chart to help students think about the important elements in their own stories.

Please see the preview for more details.

You may also be interested in the following products:

Building Suspense in Creative Writing

Creating Characters in Creative Writing

Creative Writing Activity

Creative Writing Bundle

Introduction to Creative Writing

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
2 pages
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
N/A


September 2021 Teacher Talk

  Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

It’s September Teacher Talk Time…..Hopefully everyone is off to a great school year with the best classes ever, in these strange times. We have so many great tips and ideas for you from awesome educators. Be sure to take a look at what everyone has to say.

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Behavior Problems Got You Down?

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern


Behavior Problems Got You Down? Have you been struggling
 with Johnny or Sally since the first day of school? Do you rack your brain trying to come up with some creative ways to turn their unacceptable behavior around?  Let’s face it, some kids will always get under your skin, but you’re the teacher, you’re tough and you can deal with it. 

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Back to Basics: 3 Tried & True Place Value Games

By Kathie Yonemura of Tried and True Teaching Tools

And we’re back! We just finished our fifth week of school(!) and it looks different. It feels different. But it is SO good to be back in person, masks and all. It’s a tricky balance of remembering “how I used to teach in person” and “what worked during distance learning” and “how do I keep the curriculum rigorous, while planning for some students to inevitably be quarantined at some point and not miss instruction”. Luckily, here are some tried & true math lessons and activities that work well for the beginning of the year.


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Open the Magic

By Retta London of Rainbow City Learning

Celebrate reading and make it a lifelong love! Open the magic with your students this week!


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How to Teach the Times Tables So ALL Students Can Succeed

By Vicky Leone of TBOTEMC

Teach the times tables with pictures so that your students will understand the concept of multiplication. Step-by-step directions on how to teach the multiplication facts are included.


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Prevent Crime

By Gini Musmanno of Reading Spotlight

Read this short essay, and learn one way to prevent crime.


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Let’s Go Fly A Kite – Using the Correct Geometry Term for Diamond!

By Vicky Rauch of Scipi

This was a comment I received from a fourth grade teacher, “Would you believe on the state 4th grade math test this year, they would not accept “diamond” as an acceptable answer for a rhombus, but they did accept “kite”!!!!! Can you believe this? Since when is kite a shape name? Crazy.”


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Underdog Stories – Books and Movies

By Renee Heiss of All-American Teacher Tools

Teacher your students about underdog stories where the kid who is less than perfect ends up succeeding at something by the end of the story. Good triumphs over evil and the weak become strong. Great lessons for today’s children.

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Simple Steps to Organize Your Workday

By Charlene Tess of CharleneTess

Push the Reset Button


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How to Teach Paragraph Writing Step By Step

By Marcy Howe of It’s a Teacher Thing

Learn easy tips to help your students learn to write quality paragraphs.


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Latino Heritage Month is here!

By Lisa Robles of LisaTeachR’s Classroom

The dates for Latino Heritage month are September 15th until October 15th. September 16th is on Mexico’s independence day. Here are some ideas to celebrate in your classroom.


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Click here to enter


Free Group and Skit Evaluation Rubric

Description

Group work is always tricky to evaluate because there is so much going on. In addition, as educators, we are required to give detailed feedback on students’ performances.

I created this FREE document to make the teacher’s job easier, and to allow students to be responsible for their success as well.

Self-evaluation grids are a great way to guide students in their evaluations. Students will know exactly what is expected of them and will be made responsible for their success. This package can also easily be changed to be used as peer evaluations.

This self-evaluation grid will help students as well as teachers to assess students’ group work. When students use this grid to assess their work, there are no surprises when they receive their final mark. This grid, in particular, allows the students to become organized and responsible for their individual parts.

These self-evaluation grids are also very helpful to teachers:

❒ Helps the teacher justify the final mark;

❒ Helps to identify students’ weaknesses and strengths;

❒ Helps parents and students better understand the task required;

❒ Helps teachers create rubrics for the final evaluation.

Because of formatting issues, this package was created in a PDF document, but I can easily email you a Word file to be easily modified and changed according to the individual teacher’s needs.

You may also be interested in the following products:

Creating a Board Game Assessment Tool

ELA Report Card Comments

I Have, Who Has? Game for Teaching Figurative Language & Poetry

Opinion Piece Bundle

Rubrics: Self-Evaluation Bundle

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
2 pages
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
N/A


Free Super Hero Themed Parts of Speech Posters

Description

FREE Super Hero themed Parts of Speech Posters are a great visual way to teach students to remember the nature of words. This is a great addition to any language arts class.

You may also be interested in the following products:

English Grammar Cheat Sheet

How to Write a Paragraph

Parts of Speech Grammar Circles

Sentences Grammar Circles For Easy & Effective Grammar

Spelling Flip Book

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
10 pages
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
N/A


August 2021 Teacher Talk

 Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

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It’s August Teacher Talk Time…..Hopefully you have a wonderful year whether you are physically in your classroom, using a hybrid model, or distance learning.  We have so many great tips and ideas for you from awesome educators. Be sure to take a look at what everyone has to say.

If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs, blogging buddies and/or our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, If you decide to join, “Feel free to email me at deann.marin@gmail.com for any questions you might have and mention me when you sign up.”
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Is Summer Vacation Over Already?

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

Someone posted on Facebook that August is like Sunday for teachers! We’re elated when the weekend comes around, and love Saturday, it’s one of our fun days, but then the dreaded Sunday comes, you have to correct papers, do lesson plans, and go to bed at a reasonable hour, you know the routine. Here are some great tips for connecting with your students on the first day.

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Take the Stress Out of This year’s Teacher Evaluations

By Retta London of Rainbowcity Learning

How to get a head start on prepping for stress-free teacher evaluations this year.

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Starfish Up!

By Gini Musanno of Reading Spotlight

Hopefully, normal and safe school operations will be returning this fall, but will your students be wilting at their desks before long? This a simple reminder that a constant requirement for kids to sit in desks quietly hour after hour will be a difficult challenge for all, and actual torment for some.

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How Many Classroom Rules Do You Need?

By Vicky Rauch of Scipi

Now that most of us are getting geared up for a new school year, it’s time to think about what classroom rules need to be established. I would suggest making a few general rules that are clear and understandable since being too specific often leads to complicated, wordy rules that might cover every possible situation.   ✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿

Bingo Lingo

By Renee Heiss of  All-American Teacher Tools

Bingo Lingo gives teachers many options for creating and playing bingo with their students.

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Comparing and Contrasting Two Short Stories

by Charlene Tess of Charlene Tess

Learning to compare and contrast two short stories is a great lesson for the beginning of the fall semester.
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Back-to-School Writing Activities In-Person & Digital

By Katie Auer of Loving Language arts

10 engaging back-to-school writing activities for grades 4-8
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6 Helpful Tips for the First Day of School

By Marcy Howe of It’s a Teacher Thing

Learn 6 great tips for a successful first day of school

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First Day of School Picture Books

By Lisa Robles of LisaTeachR’s Classroom

Are you looking for diverse reads that are inclusive? A great class library has books that provide those mirrors, windows and sliding doors that are for all students!
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How to Teach Word Problems? Teach 5 Steps in Solving Word Problems on the First Day of School…

By Victoria Leone of The Best of Teacherpreneurs

If teaching word problems continues to be your math nemesis, try something different this year and start teaching the Word Problem of the Day.


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Be sure to click the images below to see what our teacherpreneur members have to say.

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Teacher Talk March 2021

 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 and prosperous spring.  We have so many fab tips this month from Math, ELA and reading ideas, to High interest learning and our featured author for the month, you don’t want to miss reading these blog posts from some awesome educators.

If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs, blogging buddies and/or our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, “Feel free to email me at deann.marin@gmail.com for any questions you might have.”
 
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Coffea for Mental Health (Restlessness)
 
 

Can you imagine coffee to be an alternative medicine that supports and improves mental health? 

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Greet Students with the Arts
 
 
Suggestions for a kinder, more gentle way to welcome students back to class this Spring.
 
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Let’s Hear it for the Women!
 
Although March is designated as Women’s History Month, we obviously learn about women who have made a difference throughout the year. This was a quick and easy group assignment: Women’s History posters.
 
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5 Renewable Energy Sources: The Pros and Cons Simplified
 
Do you want to learn more about renewable energy sources? Read about the pros and cons in a simplified way!
 
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The Gift: Cancelled By Culture
 
 

I learned that cultures are complicated, but they do have profound effects.. My small touch cannot alter very much, but, hopefully, being able to read will open doors for them when they do knock.

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How to Make Earth Day Relevant in the Classroom
 


Learn 6 easy ideas to increase the relevance of Earth Day.

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3 Tips on Using Blog Posts Correctly
 


Learn to use apostrophes correctly. Never use an apostrophe to make a noun plural.

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Attitude Really IS Everything: Encouraging Students to Own Their Attitudes
 
 
Attitude really is everything – instill this in students!
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Picture Books for Growth Mindset
 
Growth mindset is HUGE in my class and here are some of my favorites with a few tips on how to use them in your classroom.
 
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Photos into Cartoons
 
My current post is about turning photos into cartoons and using it in my blog and my Jamboard lessons when I return to work from spring break vacation.
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Click here to enter


May 2021 Teacher Talk

Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern


It’s May already, time sure flies.   Time to stop by and see what our teaching friends are doing during the school closures. This is the last link-up for this school year. We’ll see you again in August.


If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs, blogging buddies and/or our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, “Feel free to email me at deann.marin@gmail.com for any questions you might have.”

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Rejoice! It’s the End of the School Year
 
We’re so eager for summer, we sometimes forget about all the things we have to do for the last few weeks of school, one of which is celebrating a successful year with our students.  For those of you who didn’t have a great year, it’s time for you to rejoice, you never have to see this group of kids again, at least not in your classroom. So sit back, have a Margarita, or something else you love and breathe a sigh of relief.
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Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Month
 
Did you know there are 23 million Asian Americans and 1.6 million Pacific Islanders living in the United States? Did you ever learn about the contributions of Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders (AAPI) while you were in school? With Asian hate crimes on the rise and anti-Asian sentiment in the news, this was the perfect time to learn all about the many contributions of AAPI.
 
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Narrative Nonfiction Brings History to Life
 

Ideas for using archaeology as a doorway to reading and writing narrative nonfiction.

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Advance Preparation for a Substitute Is a Must
 

Emergency lesson plans are a must and give you peace of mind.
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A Summer Nightmare

 

A more devastating movie plot for education could not be imagined—student educational loss compounded exponentially in years of COVID. Plus, of course, the emotional losses. For some children, few, if any, reading skills were learned or practiced…in more than an entire year. So the setback will grow and grow and grow GIGANTC as…

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It Depends on the Angle – How to Distinguish Between Complimentary and Supplementary Angles
 

My students always have difficulty distinguishing complimentary from supplementary angles. Since most of my students are visual learners, I had to come up with something that would help them to distinguish between the two.

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Summer Fun for Everyone – 5 Ways to Make this Summer Special
 

This year, summer takes on a whole new meaning – fewer COVID restrictions and plenty of opportunity to join others for some good old fashioned fun! Check out these ways to increase family summer fun.

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Uplifting Native Literature: Picture Books by Indigenous Voices
 
Tuesday Uplifting native literature: picture books by Indigenous voices Uplifting native literature: picture books by Indigenous voices Indigenous literature matters! We need to hear the native voices and let kids see themselves represented in literature.
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Renee Heiss – Teacher Talk’s Featured Author
 
 Renee Heiss of “All-American Teacher Tools” is Teacher Talk’s Featured Author. Renee enjoys giving half of her TpT earnings to teachers who have requested much-needed materials at Donor’s Choose. Your students will have fun with her free lessons, “STEM Daily Discussion Starters, Journal Prompts, and Fillers – September.”
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How to Survive and Thrive During the Last Month of School
Learn three easy tips to help you survive and thrive during the last few weeks of school
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How Will You Remember this School Year?
Tips to remember and celebrate the 2020-21 School year with your students.
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You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


FREE Frankenstein Debate

Description

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.

This free activity is part of a larger unit:

Frankenstein No Prep Unit

I hope you enjoy this resource.

You may also be interested in the following products:


Frankenstein Activity

Frankenstein Bundle

Frankenstein Workbook

Paragraph Writing Activity (Frankenstein)

The Yellow Wallpaper No Prep Mini-Unit

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
4 pages
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
N/A


Free Frankenstein Activity

Description

Who is the real monster in Frankenstein?

This activity has been designed to help students to understand the creature’s character. Is he a friend, or is he an enemy? Is he solely responsible for his misery?

This activity helps to develop students’ argumentation skills in a fun and meaningful way.

This free activity is part of a larger unit:

Frankenstein No Prep Unit

I hope you enjoy it.

You may also be interested in the following products:


Frankenstein Bundle

Frankenstein Activity

Frankenstein Workbook

Paragraph Writing Activity (Frankenstein)

The Yellow Wallpaper No Prep Mini-Unit

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
2 pages
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
1 hour


Free: Exploring the Elements of Fiction in Creative Writing

Description

As an introduction to story writing and the creative writing process, these visual notes are a great way for students to understand what that process is and what it is not.

Note sheet includes the following topics:

❒ What makes a story good?

❒ What about the plot?

❒ Narrative unity

❒ Building suspense

❒ Includes practical examples as explanations

The resource also includes a chart to help students think about the important elements in their own stories.

Please see the preview for more details.

You may also be interested in the following products:

Building Suspense in Creative Writing

Creating Characters in Creative Writing

Creative Writing Activity

Creative Writing Bundle

Introduction to Creative Writing

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
2 pages
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
N/A


Free Poetry Lesson: Analyzing Poetry (NO PREP)

Description

FREE LESSON – This mini-unit on Walt Whitman’s “I Heard the Learned Astronomer” and “A Noiseless, Patient Spider,” teaches students how to analyze poetry. Students must learn to observe, connect, make inferences, and draw conclusions on themes.

This mini-guide includes:

❒ a detailed lesson plan for the teacher

❒ poems for students

❒ answer key and poetry annotation

This mini-guide includes six pages. I hope you enjoy it.

You may also be interested in the following products:

Thematic Poetry Unit: Editable
Analyze This!

ELA Literature Study Unit

Figurative Language & Poetic Devices Jeopardy Game

I Have, Who Has? Game for Teaching Figurative Language & Poetry

Poetry Unit for Senior Students

Poster: Developing Themes in Literature

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
6 pages
Answer Key
Included
Teaching Duration
90 minutes


Free: Exploring the Elements of Fiction in Creative Writing

Description

As an introduction to story writing and the creative writing process, these visual notes are a great way for students to understand what that process is and what it is not.

Note sheet includes the following topics:

❒ What makes a story good?

❒ What about the plot?

❒ Narrative unity

❒ Building suspense

❒ Includes practical examples as explanations

The resource also includes a chart to help students think about the important elements in their own stories.

Please see the preview for more details.

You may also be interested in the following products:

Building Suspense in Creative Writing

Creating Characters in Creative Writing

Creative Writing Activity

Creative Writing Bundle

Introduction to Creative Writing

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
2 pages
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
N/A


Free Frankenstein Activity

Description

Who is the real monster in Frankenstein?

This activity has been designed to help students to understand the creature’s character. Is he a friend, or is he an enemy? Is he solely responsible for his misery?

This activity helps to develop students’ argumentation skills in a fun and meaningful way.

This free activity is part of a larger unit:

Frankenstein No Prep Unit

I hope you enjoy it.

You may also be interested in the following products:


Frankenstein Bundle

Frankenstein Activity

Frankenstein Workbook

Paragraph Writing Activity (Frankenstein)

The Yellow Wallpaper No Prep Mini-Unit

It’s teaching made easy!


Free Exploring the Elements of Fiction in Creative Writing

Description

As an introduction to story writing and the creative writing process, these visual notes are a great way for students to understand what that process is and what it is not.

Note sheet includes the following topics:

❒ What makes a story good?

❒ What about the plot?

❒ Narrative unity

❒ Building suspense

❒ Includes practical examples as explanations

The resource also includes a chart to help students think about the important elements in their own stories.

Please see the preview for more details.

You may also be interested in the following products:

Building Suspense in Creative Writing

Creating Characters in Creative Writing

Creative Writing Activity

Creative Writing Bundle

Introduction to Creative Writing

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
2 pages
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
N/A


FREE Thesis Writing Activity

Description

Thesis writing is often an abstract concept for students and it is one of the most important things to know when writing an essay.

This FREE activity will help students to correct problematic thesis statements, while learning how to compose their own.

There are lessons for two periods prepared for you :

1) Attempting to write a thesis statement based on the following topic: Do we have the right to play God when it comes to human life?

2) Group activity where students must identify the weaknesses in 5 thesis statements and rewrite them to make them better.

Included:

❒ A comprehensive lesson plan (two days)

❒ The Student Activity Sheet

❒ Comprehensive Answer Sheet

5 pages total

You may also be interested in the following resources:

Essay Writing Flip Book

Teaching the Essay Package

Thesis Writing Activity

Thesis Writing Poster

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
5 pages
Answer Key
Included
Teaching Duration
2 days


Free Poetry Lesson on Metaphors

Description

This FREE lesson is a sample from one of my complete units on poetry. See the links below for more information.

❒ Lesson 4 (from the Thematic Poetry Unit) : Fun with metaphors – This lesson includes a journal prompt, a “Fun with Metaphors” worksheet to help students further understand metaphors, students will analyze William Blake’s “A Poison Tree,” and will complete the worksheet on the poem.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

An editable version the Thematic Poetry Unit can also be purchased using this link: ***EDITABLE Thematic Poetry Unit

Click here for a non-editable version of the unit Thematic Poetry Unit

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Description of the Thematic Poetry Unit – Summary of lessons included:

❒ Lesson 1: Introduction to poetry – Includes a journal prompt, notes on how to approach poetry, an activity to familiarize students with poetry further, and a review on figurative language (with notes.)

❒ Lesson 2: Figurative Language Review – The lesson includes a journal prompt (a creative poetry activity), students will play Figurative Language Jeopardy (PPT) to review figurative language.

❒ Lesson 3: Introduction to analysis – The lesson includes a journal prompt, students will learn to analyze poetry using Walt Whitman’s “When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer” and “The Quiet Patient Spider.”

❒ Lesson 4: Fun with metaphors – This lesson includes a journal prompt, a “Fun with Metaphors” worksheet to help students further understand metaphors, students will analyze William Blake’s “A Poison Tree,” and will complete the worksheet on the poem.

❒ Lesson 5: Fun with allusions – This lesson begins with a journal prompt, a “Fun with Allusions” worksheet, students analyze Simon and Garfunkel’s song “The Sound of Silence.” (poem not included) However, a blank (editable) page is included in the document to paste the lyrics from the internet. This will help you create a more cohesive looking unit.

❒ Lesson 6: Tone and Attitude – Students will do a video (or song version) comparison analysis by completing the “Video Comparison” worksheet.

❒ Lesson 7: Symbolism – Students will complete the “Fun with Idioms” worksheet, will analyze Robert Frost’s poems “The Road not Taken” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” they will complete the worksheets for both poems, and learn how to write a PEEL paragraph using the notes provided.

❒ Lesson 8: Writing about poetry – This is a writing clinic of sorts where students will learn to identify strong topic sentences and well-developed paragraphs. An example of a well-developed paragraph is included.

❒ Lesson 9: Historical allusions: This lesson begins with a journal prompt, students will analyze Cara Dillon’s song “There were Roses” and complete the accompanying worksheet. (Please note that this poem is not included.)

❒ Lesson 10: Thematic connections – Students will work in collaborative groups on the “Thematic Connections” worksheet, which compares two of the poems studied in the unit. *An optional activity is included: Students will write a comparative paragraph comparing one similar theme in both poems. An example of a paragraph is included.

❒ Lesson 11: Allusions and analysis – this lesson begins with a journal prompt, The study of Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” by watching a Ted Talk, analyzing Mumford and Son’s song “The Cave,” and completing the worksheet. (Please note that the song lyrics are not included.)

❒ Lesson 12: Connections – students will learn to make important connections in poetry by completing the worksheets of the “Battle of the Pronouns” and “Cave vs. Cave” to further develop the themes in Mumford and Son’s song “The Cave.”

❒ Lesson 13: Theme review – Students will refine and review how to develop a theme in a poem (which applies to any work of literature) by completing the worksheet “The Cave – Themes and Meanings,” students will then write a theme in paragraph form.

❒ Lesson 14: Evaluation (test) – editable with answer key and comment sheet to facilitate marking

You may also be interested in the following products:

Free Thesis Writing Activity

Poetry Lesson: Analyzing Poetry

Poetry Unit for Senior Students

Teaching the Essay Package

The Yellow Wallpaper No Prep Mini-Unit

Much Ado About Nothing No Prep Unit

❒Brave New World Student Notebook

Essay Writing Flip Book

Frankenstein Bundle

Hamlet Bundle

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
7 pages
Answer Key
Included
Teaching Duration
55 minutes


Free Inference Cheat Sheet

Description

Do your students insert examples and quotes into their texts without properly analyzing them? Without proper analysis, an essay can sound like a long, drawn-out list written in complete sentences. We teach students to infer and to analyze, but they sometimes forget to incorporate this into their texts and essays.

I have created an “Inference Cheat Sheet” with key inferencing words and phrases to remind students that after inserting a piece of evidence, they need to explain its relevance.

Included are:

❒ Two different styles of the at-a-glance “Cheat Sheet.”

❒ An inference poster (8.5×11) – as seen on the cover.

❒ Two different styles of letters for an inference bulletin board.

❒ A copy of ALL the phrases used on the Cheat Sheet to create a bulletin board in class.

I hope that this resource will be helpful to students in your classes.

You may also be interested in the following products:

Analyze This!

English Grammar Cheat Sheet

Essay Writing Flip Book

Parts of Speech Grammar Circles

Poster: Developing Themes in Literature

Teaching the Essay Package

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
24 pages
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
N/A


Free Poster: Developing Themes in Literature

Description

This is a nice visual to help students remember the process of developing themes.

Free Poster to help students remember the steps to take when developing themes in literature.

You may also be interested in the following products:

Analyze This!

English Grammar Cheat Sheet

Inference Cheat Sheet

Superhero Themed Parts of Speech Posters

Thesis Writing Poster

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
1 page
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
N/A


Free Group and Skit Evaluation Rubric

Description

Group work is always tricky to evaluate because there is so much going on. In addition, as educators, we are required to give detailed feedback on students’ performances.

I created this FREE document to make the teacher’s job easier, and to allow students to be responsible for their success as well.

Self-evaluation grids are a great way to guide students in their evaluations. Students will know exactly what is expected of them and will be made responsible for their success. This package can also easily be changed to be used as peer evaluations.

This self-evaluation grid will help students as well as teachers to assess students’ group work. When students use this grid to assess their work, there are no surprises when they receive their final mark. This grid, in particular, allows the students to become organized and responsible for their individual parts.

These self-evaluation grids are also very helpful to teachers:

❒ Helps the teacher justify the final mark;

❒ Helps to identify students’ weaknesses and strengths;

❒ Helps parents and students better understand the task required;

❒ Helps teachers create rubrics for the final evaluation.

Because of formatting issues, this package was created in a PDF document, but I can easily email you a Word file to be easily modified and changed according to the individual teacher’s needs.

You may also be interested in the following products:

Creating a Board Game Assessment Tool

ELA Report Card Comments

I Have, Who Has? Game for Teaching Figurative Language & Poetry

Opinion Piece Bundle

Rubrics: Self-Evaluation Bundle

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
2 pages
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
N/A


Free Super Hero Themed Parts of Speech Posters

Description

FREE Super Hero themed Parts of Speech Posters are a great visual way to teach students to remember the nature of words. This is a great addition to any language arts class.

You may also be interested in the following products:

English Grammar Cheat Sheet

How to Write a Paragraph

Parts of Speech Grammar Circles

Sentences Grammar Circles For Easy & Effective Grammar

Spelling Flip Book

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
10 pages
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
N/A


Free Poetry Lesson: Analyzing Poetry (NO PREP)

Description

FREE LESSON – This mini-unit on Walt Whitman’s “I Heard the Learned Astronomer” and “A Noiseless, Patient Spider,” teaches students how to analyze poetry. Students must learn to observe, connect, make inferences, and draw conclusions on themes.

This mini-guide includes:

❒ a detailed lesson plan for the teacher

❒ poems for students

❒ answer key and poetry annotation

This mini-guide includes six pages. I hope you enjoy it.

You may also be interested in the following products:

Thematic Poetry Unit: Editable
Analyze This!

ELA Literature Study Unit

Figurative Language & Poetic Devices Jeopardy Game

I Have, Who Has? Game for Teaching Figurative Language & Poetry

Poetry Unit for Senior Students

Poster: Developing Themes in Literature

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
6 pages
Answer Key
Included
Teaching Duration
90 minutes


Free Exploring the Elements of Fiction in Creative Writing

Description

As an introduction to story writing and the creative writing process, these visual notes are a great way for students to understand what that process is and what it is not.

Note sheet includes the following topics:

❒ What makes a story good?

❒ What about the plot?

❒ Narrative unity

❒ Building suspense

❒ Includes practical examples as explanations

The resource also includes a chart to help students think about the important elements in their own stories.

Please see the preview for more details.

You may also be interested in the following products:

Building Suspense in Creative Writing

Creating Characters in Creative Writing

Creative Writing Activity

Creative Writing Bundle

Introduction to Creative Writing

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
2 pages
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
N/A


Free Group and Skit Evaluation Rubric

Description

Group work is always tricky to evaluate because there is so much going on. In addition, as educators, we are required to give detailed feedback on students’ performances.

I created this FREE document to make the teacher’s job easier, and to allow students to be responsible for their success as well.

Self-evaluation grids are a great way to guide students in their evaluations. Students will know exactly what is expected of them and will be made responsible for their success. This package can also easily be changed to be used as peer evaluations.

This self-evaluation grid will help students as well as teachers to assess students’ group work. When students use this grid to assess their work, there are no surprises when they receive their final mark. This grid, in particular, allows the students to become organized and responsible for their individual parts.

These self-evaluation grids are also very helpful to teachers:

❒ Helps the teacher justify the final mark;

❒ Helps to identify students’ weaknesses and strengths;

❒ Helps parents and students better understand the task required;

❒ Helps teachers create rubrics for the final evaluation.

Because of formatting issues, this package was created in a PDF document, but I can easily email you a Word file to be easily modified and changed according to the individual teacher’s needs.

You may also be interested in the following products:

Creating a Board Game Assessment Tool

ELA Report Card Comments

I Have, Who Has? Game for Teaching Figurative Language & Poetry

Opinion Piece Bundle

Rubrics: Self-Evaluation Bundle

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
2 pages
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
N/A


Thesis Writing Poster

Description

As any English teacher can tell you, the thesis statement is the most important part of the essay. It defines the arguments and orients the reader. Unfortunately, many students have difficulty with the thesis statement. This is why I have created the “7 Steps to Writing an Effective Thesis Statement” poster.

The poster is a step by step guide on how to write the thesis starting with selecting a topic the student understands and walks them through the process until the end.

I am making the poster available in different formats for the facility of use in the classroom:

❒ The first format measures 70 cm (27.6 inches) (easy printing) PDF

❒ The second format measure 97 cm (38.2) – information can be more easily read from further away (easy printing) PDF

❒ One smaller poster PDF

❒ An image format JPEG

You may also be interested in the following products:

Creative Writing Bundle

Essay Writing Flip Book

Free Thesis Writing Activity

Inference Cheat Sheet

Teaching the Essay Package

Thesis Writing Activity

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
4 different formats of posters
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
N/A


Free Frankenstein Activity

Description

Who is the real monster in Frankenstein?

This activity has been designed to help students to understand the creature’s character. Is he a friend, or is he an enemy? Is he solely responsible for his misery?

This activity helps to develop students’ argumentation skills in a fun and meaningful way.

This free activity is part of a larger unit:

Frankenstein No Prep Unit

I hope you enjoy it.

You may also be interested in the following products:


Frankenstein Bundle

Frankenstein Activity

Frankenstein Workbook

Paragraph Writing Activity (Frankenstein)

The Yellow Wallpaper No Prep Mini-Unit

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
2 pages
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
1 hour


FREE Frankenstein Debate

Description

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.

This free activity is part of a larger unit:

Frankenstein No Prep Unit

I hope you enjoy this resource.

You may also be interested in the following products:


Frankenstein Activity

Frankenstein Bundle

Frankenstein Workbook

Paragraph Writing Activity (Frankenstein)

The Yellow Wallpaper No Prep Mini-Unit

It’s teaching made easy!

Total Pages
4 pages
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
N/A