Teaching empathy is important. In the simplest of terms, empathy is the ability to notice, understand, and share the emotions of others. It is a critical social skill for all people to have. In many ways, empathy is the social skill that paves the way for all other social skills. It helps us to take
This visual guide presents the basics of tone and a handy reference sheet that helps kids understand how authors use tone and how they can determine what the tone of any piece of writing is. The visual guide also has several teaching strategies that will work with a variety of texts to promote understanding, inlcuding: Building tone vocabulary using a tone wheel Strategies for identifying tone Analyzing shifts in tone Manipulating the tone in a piece of writing using mentor texts. Analyzing the use of vocabulary and punctuation in establishing tone I have also included a link to a free worksheet for two sonnets by Edna St. Vincent Millay. I use these poems to prepare students for the level of reading they can expect to see on the state test. If you like this resource, you might be interested in these: Parts of Speech: Grammar Bundle Sentence Problems (Common Writing Mistakes) Middle School Language Arts Bundle Vocabulary Cartoons: Roots and Affixes Poetry Comics Bundle Hamlet: Comic Summaries and Activities A Midsummer Night's Dream: Comic Summaries and Activities Macbeth: Comic Summaries and Activities Romeo and Juliet: Comic Summaries and Actvities Romeo and Juliet: Comic Summaries and Actvities Intro to Shakespeare Activity Bundle Connect with Me! Visit my Teachers Pay Teachers Store Visit my Blog Follow me on Facebook follow me on Twitter Thanks, David Rickert © 2019 David Rickert All rights reserved by author. Duplication limited to single classroom use only. Electronic distribution limited to single classroom use only.
In this dystopian literature unit plan students are engaged in reading and the task of evaluating how they best learn, two lessons they will use in life
This 6-page "lesson guide" is a great resource for teaching your students the art of persuasion! You could also use this in a Rhetoric Unit. This document is an easy supplement to your Pathos, Ethos, and Logos lesson. Present this to your students or print for them to use as notes. It includes writ...
One of my favorite lessons to teach in my short story unit is the Hero’s Journey. I enjoy teaching the hero's journey because I love seeing my students’ aha! moments - the moment when they get it, and they start making the connections between the content I am teaching and their favorite books and movies. Their faces light up, and faint chatter about Harry Potter, various Disney movies, and other stories slowly fills the room.
I've written about Teaching Channel before, and I'll be writing from time to time about a particular great idea I've found there. If you haven't already joined, remember that it's FREE, and signing up takes less than a minute! One of the many great Tch video clips shows middle school teacher Meagan Berkowitz teaching a poetry lesson using the SIFT Method - Symbol, Imagery, Figurative Language, and Tone or Theme. It's less than 5 minutes long, and well worth watching to see her interaction with her students, and the focus they have on the poems they are reading while using bookmark cue cards. Close analytic reading is an important feature of the Common Core; here's a tool for you to try out to see if it fits your needs! Besides the bookmark, you are given the lesson plan, a copy of the two poems used, and a transcript of the lesson. If you're a language arts teacher, you're all set to try this lesson yourself, or to adapt it to your grade level! And don't forget to "pin" the lesson by clicking "Save this in my Lesson Planner." (A note: there is a typo on the SIFT bookmark that you'll want to change before printing - "attitude and author" should be "attitude an author." I changed it in the image above. Since it's an open Word document, it's no problem!)
Hello and welcome back to this series of “How to Actually Teach Reading Comprehension.” For more topics such as this one, I’d love for you to sign up for my monthly “How to Actually Teach” newsletters found HERE. Today’s topic is all about teaching Main Idea. This tends to be a very difficult topic for students, …
Continuing our epic journey towards Shakespeare's 400th death anniversary on Saturday, here is a handy-dandy board game that allows you to relive all the exciting ups and downs of this master playwright's eventful life!
HAVE YOU EVER....needed something and wished you had it right on hand?! This resource is for you! I'm telling you- I looked at the CCSS exemplar texts for poetry and knew I needed to kick my butt into gear to get my kids ready for some rigorous poetry but still have a meaningful experience! I set out research public domain poems that would be great and challenging for my students. This resource saved my poetry teaching. The ones with our reading series (if any!) are small and not given much attention!!! This was a huge wake up call. I chose to study this in December not April (National Poetry Month) because we need to get in the vocabulary surrounding poems and practicing the skills used to analyze much longer before state testing. I LOVE fun rhyming poetry but obviously that was not going to get my students to where they needed to be - much to my dismay :( This labor of love is packed with so many truly great poems by classic authors - just ready for students! Check out the many uses below. Comparing 2 William Blake poems (hello CCSS.RL.9 - SO TRICKY!!) There are more comparisons included as well! For the few poems I couldn't include the text there are QR codes (and just web links!) to reach these poems! This made CENTERS a breeze for poetry month!! The questions are tricky but I let them work with pairs at centers for plenty of practice as a class, in pairs, and independently as well. Here we are comparing "The Eagle" by Tennyson and "How Doth the Little Crocodile" by Lewis Carroll. This was one we worked on as a class so they understand the vocabulary in the question and what it was asking. We brainstormed ideas together and they wrote the paragraph answer in their notebooks which I went around and checked as their exit slip while they moved onto reading rotations (spelling choices, grammar, literacy skill) Click any of the pictures to get more info! This is truly something that saved my poetry unit and really vamped up the rigor! Check it out if yours could use some updating too! The sheets work great for CENTERS, homework, independent class work, assessments, and I included answer keys for all sheets along with small copies for interactive notebooks! Below is another sample page of the type of questions and poem selection. We spent about 3 weeks in December on poetry studying and analyzing while creating some of our own.
20 weeks later and "A Stick Figure Macbeth" has finally come to an end. In case you're just joining me, here's what happened during the past 20 weeks:
January is rolling along and my kids (both my school and actual kids) are finally readjusted to our routine after winter break. While in real life, I find January-March the three most difficult months to
Best places to find ESL worksheets for adults on the web. We also have over 40 free resources for teachers to choose from for beginner to advanced learners.
The Best Anchor Charts for your ELA classroom all together in one place! You will find outlines to utilize in Reading Literature, Reading Informational, Writing and Language. Explained in this blog post is about the purpose of utilizing anchor charts in your daily instruction. Along with tips to organize your charts. Below is a collection […]
Every English language arts teacher needs a variety of successful, student led discussion strategies that will provide opportunities for student learning.
Doug Savage's Savage Chickens "comics" are a single-frame comic drawn on a sticky note that illustrates the life of chickens whose experiences reveal the "savage" truths of the human existence. Teaching satire in secondary ELA is a high-interest and humorous way to engage studen
OK, in case you haven't been paying attention for the past however many months, here's basically what happens in Romeo and Juliet :
What is an antecedent? Are you searching for the definition of this term? In this article, we are going to take a look at the meaning of antecedent and some
Literary devices are the tools that writers use to enhance their writing and convey their messages effectively. These devices are the building blocks of
I'm so excited about incorporating more options for SMALL GROUP work for my students with my new series of ENGAGEMENT STATIONS! I decided to...
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A multiple choice quiz after reading is a quick and easy way to check student comprehension, but it doesn't allow you to assess deeper understanding and it certainly isn't fun or creative. If you are looking for more meaningful and engaging activities to use with students during literature circles or a novel unit, here's twelve ideas that are favorites in my classroom and the Common Core standards they align with.
Sometimes during English speech or in written language, you will come across something called Euphemism, but what exactly is this? In this article, we are
Check out these fun teaching materials for teaching comma rules to upper elementary including an anchor chart, videos, and graphic organizer.
Keep this study aid handy during homework time, or keep a copy in the back of your binder for classroom reference.
How do you teach literary analysis? By using strategies that scaffold the process. Try these engaging classroom-tested strategies from Room 213.
Teaching symbolism for literary analysis: symbolism is throughout literature and once students understand the concept, they appreciate reading more.
Conflict in Literature
When studying the English language, you may have come across the concept of non sequitur, you may also have wondered what this is. In this article, we are
Metacognition: a big word and a powerful idea. People of all ages, from primary students to corporate CEOs, benefit from learning how to THINK about their own THINKING. Way back in the 1960s, Edward de Bono introduced lateral thinking and created strategies that enable people of all ages to intentionally think in organized ways in ... Read more
This study guide and infographic for George Orwell's Animal Farm offer summary and analysis on themes, symbols, and other literary devices found in the text. Explore Course Hero's library of literature materials, including documents and Q&A pairs.
Take a look inside my completely updated and redesigned interactive escape room for teaching The Odyssey. New art, new hints, and more!
Diphthong in English! When we speak, the way in which we pronounce words is determined by the letters of each word. These letters are symbols that represent
I recently just finished my first set of Middle School Mentor Sentences to teach grammar. As I’ve started talking about and posting about Mentor Sentences, I’ve realized that most teachers fall into the following categories when it comes to implementing mentor sentences: I have no idea what mentor sentences are, but I am intrigued now. I ... Read more
