Grammar Practice

This website has MANY grammar practice activities divided by skills.

http://classroom.jc-schools.net/basic/la-grammar.html

Common Core Standards: Are we going to lower the fences or teach kids to climb.

Interesting reading if you have the time:)

http://www.reading.org/General/Publications/blog/BlogSinglePost/11-10-13/Common_Core_Standards_Are_We_Going_to_Lower_the_Fences_or_Teach_Kids_to_Climb.aspx#.UMYnE4Ox-rk

Six Pick Reading Challenge

What a great way to encourage independent reading in students!  Could always have book talks afterwards!

http://www.conversationpieceslearning.org/six-picks-reading-menus.html

Word Map

A Raisin in the Sun-Resource Guide

A Raisin in the Sun-Chicago Public Library

Student engagement in grammar

-Try having students look for a particular grammatical items such as quotation marks in books.  See if they can figure out the rules based on what they see in the books.  In small groups then brainstorm what they think the rules are.  Then review the rules together.

Teaching grammar through student writing

Sentence Structure

1.      Highlight the simple sentences in your memoir.  If you have too many simple sentences, revise for compound or complex.

2.      Identify at least 3 simple, 3 compound, and 3 complex sentences from your memoir in the chart below.

3.      You must label the simple and compound sentences with the S(subject), V(verb), and (,conj) conjunction.

4.      You must label the complex sentences with SUB (subordinate clause), put a box around the word that begins the subordinate clause, and circle the comma (,) that comes after the subordinate clause.

SIMPLE	COMPOUND	COMPLEX

Students choose their own novels for instruction

Another way to differentiate!  So often teachers tell students what books to read so that we can instruct them on how to read.  However, so much of common core calls for students to be independent thinkers so why not read independent novels for instruction.  This is especially useful when doing genre studies.  Have everyone pick a novel in their reading level from a certain genre.  Students still could still either fill our roll sheets or do the roles in their books using post it notes.  They could still work on specific skills through the novels.  The difference is students have to think on their own about what they read.  You don't have all the answers!  Students could still have discussions about their books.  The discussions will center more around the similarities of the genre then the book itself.  This will also help give students suggestions on other books to read.

A Raisin in the Sun-Enrichment Activity

Good activity for enrichment with A Raisin in the Sun

http://www.d131.org/database/teacherdownloads/%7Be82f6306-2bf2-46e1-bd05-6731c5c31de0%7Da%20raisin%20in%20the%20sun%20preliminary%20activities%202011.pdf

A Raisin in the Sun

http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/raisin-sun-quest-american-dream

Might be good for Challenge

Good quiz for teaching inferring

Inferring Quiz

Symbolism using colors

This website is good for teaching symbolism as associated with colors.

Color Symbolism

Teaching symbolism with political cartoons

These are some great  NIE activities on teaching symbolism using political cartoons.
Party Animal Symbolism
Seasonal Symbols
Bush Symbolism
Symbols of Peace
Uncle Sam Symbols

Cast of Characters from The Golden Compass

Cast of Characters

Symbols in your Worlds-The Golden Compass

Another symbol worksheet from The Golden Compass

http://www.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/pdf/g/GC_repro1.pdf

The Golden Compass-Symbolism

http://www.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/pdf/g/GC_repro1.pdf

This link will take you to a great worksheet on symbolism for The Golden Compass.

Literary Terms

Creative ways to practice literary terms:


Literary Terms-Extension Activities

 

Create a poem of metaphors – Have students write a poem to describe their favorite vacation. First, ask students to describe what the trip was like, what sights they saw, etc. For example, “The airplane ride was fun but a little bumpy.” ”The Grand Canyon is a hole in the ground.”

Plan a menu using similes – Students will get a kick out of practicing similes with this activity. The students plan a meal but must use similes to describe what’s on the menu. The meal can consist of anything they like. How about cotton candy as fluffy as clouds, or a hot dog as long as a baseball bat? Not only does this activity foster creativity, it’s a great way to add some fun into learning about similes.

Personification – If you remember the classic movie “The Wizard of Oz,” everything and everyone had a voice. The lion, the scarecrow, the tin man and even the trees could talk. Have students personify objects in the classroom. If a chair were a person, what would it think about people sitting on top of it all day long?

Advertising – Create a new advertisement for a product using a metaphors or similes. ”Try Gembright for a smile that sparkles like diamonds.”

When is stealing ok?

This article in the New York Times brings up the question is it ok to steal?  Students are encouraged to think about these questions:
How you feel about this moral gray area?
Would you agree with the academics who separate these actions into the three levels described above?
Would you say that taking food to feed your starving family is okay, while looting a plasma-screen TV is not? Why or why not?
 How do you think you would behave in such a situation?



http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/weekinreview/07mcneil.html?_r=1

Theme lesson with Dr. Seuss

This is a lesson on theme using Dr. Seuss.

http://www.pbs.org/teachers/connect/resources/2019/preview/

Video of Walter Dean Myers

Video of Walter Dean Myers author of Monster and many other books.

http://www.pbs.org/teachers/connect/resources/3955/preview/

All About Poe

A lot of good activites to go along with Tell-Tale Heart and Poe

http://www.pbs.org/teachers/connect/resources/4857/preview/

Compare and Contrast of Lincoln

http://www.pbs.org/teachers/connect/resources/7097/preview/

I thought this could go along with your Chasing Lincoln's Killer.  This compares and contrast different author's view of Lincoln.

Newspapers in the Digital Age

This PBS site has a video along a lesson plan on how newspapers have gone digital. 

http://www.pbs.org/teachers/connect/resources/7873/preview/

Auschwitz and What did the Allies know?

More on Auschwitz and the question of how much the Allies knew.

http://www.awesomestories.com/history/auschwitz/when-did-the-allies-know

8th-Holocaust story and primary documents

This site has the story of how the holocaust began and primary documents about the holocaust.

http://www.awesomestories.com/history/holocaust-evidence/story-preface

7th-Elijah Buxton Extension Activities

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/elijah-buxton-extension-activity

Author's Craft-Writing resource but could also be used to teach author's craft

Author’s Craft “technique”	Description	Advantage	Strategy for Teaching	Resource(s)
Finding my Focus	Narrowing a topic	Eliminates rambling and helps writer to make a point	Pizza Pie slice graphic organizer and teacher modeling	Ralph Fletcher CRAFT LESSONS
Shrinking a Century	No need to tell a story minute to minute; gloss over the insignificant	Eliminates “Bed to Bed” stories; gets to the points of interest	Reading many literary examples and teacher modeling	Barry Lane REVISER’S TOOLBOX p.114-118 and AFTER THE END p.75-77; 78-79
Snapshots	Sharpen the image of a character or the setting; zoom in	Adds description; gets rid of fuzzy writing	Binoculars lesson; teacher modeling; writing opportunities	Barry Lane AFTER THE END p. 32-60 REVISER’S TOOLBOX p.74-79; 245-246
Thoughtshots	Give the reader insight into what the character is feeling	Develops characterization and adds content	Literary examples, teacher modeling, writing opportunities	Barry Lane REVISER’S TOOLBOX p.90-95 AFTER THE END p.44-51
Exploding a Moment	Build up the suspense or excitement by slowing down the action	Adds tension	Graphic Organizer; literary examples	Barry Lane REVISER’S TOOLBOX p. 96-107; 292 and AFTER THE END p. 67-70; 69-70; 71-75; 78-79 Using Mentor Texts
Using your Senses	Teach students to observe the world through the eyes of a writer; live a “writerly life”	Creates vivid pictures/images	HAILSTONES and HALIBUT BONES organizer; literary examples	IF YOU WANT  TO  FIND  GOLDEN (Spinelli) and HAILSTONES AND HALIBUT BONES(O’Neill) Using Mentor Texts
Author’s Craft “technique”	Description	Advantage	Strategy for Teaching	Resource(s)
Close-Echo	Repetition that creates a mood or special effect	Adds a new dimension	Literary examples	Katie Wood Ray WONDROUS WORDS p. 164-165 Close Echo
Use of Proper Nouns	Instead of shoes, say HushPuppies	Lends a sense of authority to the piece	Literary Examples	Katie Wood Ray WONDROUS WORDS p.169-170 Use of Proper Nouns
Striking Verbs	Using a strong verb often eliminates the need for adverbs	Eliminates lifeless writing and enables the reader to create vivid pictures and imagery	Literary examples; “reading like a writer” during reading workshop	Katie Wood Ray WONDROUS WORDS p.167-168
Whispering Parentheses	An aside from a character	Develops character; adds humor or sarcasm	Literary examples	Katie Wood Ray WONDROUS WORDS Whispering Parentheses
Crafting a Strong Lead	Different pathways to enter a story/topic	Allows students to experiment with more than one lead to discover which is best	Mini-lessons; teacher modeling; noticing good leads in textbooks and articles; practicing multiple leads	Ralph Fletcher CRAFT LESSONS and www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/leading-great-places-middle-16.html?tab=3#tabs
Writing Effective Conclusions	Summary and Insight/New Learning/New Questions	Wraps and demonstrates a new understanding	Mini-lessons; noticing good conclusions in textbooks; teacher modeling, experimenting with multiple conclusions for a single piece of writing	Ralph Fletcher CRAFT LESSONS and www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/once-they-hooked-reel-995.html
Finding a Focus 2	Finding the best part of the story to tell.	Helping children recognize the special parts of their stories – the part that needs to be told & to help identify the unnecessary details.	Mini-lesson using a “bed to bed” story or a very busy photograph	CRAFT LESSONS Fletcher & Portalupi p.79
Author’s Craft “technique”	Description	Advantage	Strategy for Teaching	Resource(s)
Pruning the Bushes	Teaching children how and why to take out sentences from their paragraphs.	Revision is often avoided and this lesson helps children see how ineffectively placed sentences makes their good paragraphs sound worse.  Hopefully it will encourage them to revise.	Mini-lesson with practice on story excerpts provided in the Appendix of the book.	CRAFT LESSONS p.82
Selecting the Right Lead	Teaches that each writing piece must have its own, individual lead.	Once students begin to have fun with first paragraphs, they get away from the predictable ones.	Mini-lesson with examples provided in the Appendix of the book.  Once you see it in your students’ writing, reinforce the skill by copying student work (with student permission) and exploring it as a class as a mini-lesson in the future.	CRAFT LESSONS p.83
Varying Sentence Length	This lesson gives examples of complex and simple sentences mixed together with a clear purpose.	This lesson helps explain that part in the writing rubric that talks about varying sentence length.  It gives children concrete examples.	Mini-lesson with examples in the Appendix along with a literary reference.	CRAFT LESSONS p.85
Naming a Place or Character	How to more effectively introduce a place or a character into a story.	Bringing to our students’ attention how writers effectively and cleverly choose characters and locations can quickly add style to their writing.	Mini-lesson with examples in the Appendix as well as literary references.	CRAFT LESSONS p. 88
Adding Setting to a Scene	Ways to bring student writers closer to the subjects they choose.	A variation on “show, don’t tell”, this lesson continues to have children add the small details about the topics that are important to them.	Mini-lesson with suggested literary resources.	CRAFT LESSONS p.94
Author’s Craft “technique”	Description	Advantage	Strategy for Teaching	Resource(s)
Slowing Down the Hot Spots	Teaching writers to give importance to big events, and little importance to little events.	Helping children to recognize the parts of stories that need more description, while other parts should have details eliminated.	Mini-lesson with suggested literary resources.	CRAFT LESSONS p. 97
Exploratory-Making it Lively	Informational writing can be entertaining – but it’s not a narrative.	Children need to see that informational writing has style, yet it sticks to informational guidelines.	Mini-lesson with an excerpt provided in the Appendix.	NONFICTION CRAFT LESSONS p. 83
Writing a Flash Draft	How to use an anecdote in informational writing. Goes along with a “Using Anecdotes To Teach” – pg. 98	Works well for introductions and conclusions in research papers and information prompts.	Mini-lesson using former students’ research papers and the example in the lesson.	NONFICTION CRAFT LESSONS p. 84
Describing Your Subject	Descriptive writing for all 3 writing modes.	Examples to show students how information can be conveyed in a narrative format.	Mini-lesson using the example from the Appendix.	NONFICTION CRAFT LESSONS p. 89
Including Quotations	Using a quote effectively in an informational piece.	Gives an example of how a quote can pull in the reader emotionally in an informational piece.	Mini-lesson with an example in the lesson.	NONFICTION CRAFT LESSONS p. 91
Transitions-Paragraphs	Connecting paragraphs smoothly but going beyond that “transitional word.”	Shows children how to purposefully connect each paragraph to improve their style.	Mini-lesson using the example from the Appendix.   Once you see it in your students’ writing, reinforce the skill by copying student work (with student permission) and exploring it as a class as a mini-lesson in the future.	NONFICTION CRAFT LESSONS p. 93
Author’s Craft “technique”	Description	Advantage	Strategy for Teaching	Resource(s)
Using Anecdotes to Teach	Using an anecdote leaves an image in the mind of your reader.	Often informational writing leads to lists of facts, which leads to low scores in style and possibly content.  This offers a solution to both.	Mini-lesson with an example in the lesson and a literary resource.	NONFICTION CRAFT LESSONS p. 98
Airing Opposing Points of View	Teaching persuasive techniques.	Introduces some ways to approach a persuasive argument.	Mini-lesson with an example in the Appendix.	NONFICTION CRAFT LESSONS p. 103
Using Humor	No mode of writing requires complete seriousness, and humor may be the only way for some kids to break the ice and get writing.	Many children read humorous books and humor comes naturally to many children.  If used appropriately, it can help style develop quickly.	Mini-lesson with an example in the Appendix and a literary example.	NONFICTION CRAFT LESSONS p.104
End With a Bang	Ways for students to leave the reader with something special, rather than just another ending.	Students are often anxious to “be done.”  This lesson leads children to leave the reader with an image or emotion at the end.	Mini-lesson with an example in the Appendix.	NONFICTION CRAFT LESSONS p.106