Evaluate general reading comprehension, facilitate vocabulary development, and sharpen critical thinking skills with this bundle of materials for teaching the coming-of-age short story “Raymond’s Run” by Toni Cade Bambara. A plot-based quiz, a close reading analysis worksheet, a vocabulary application activity, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. This resource may facilitate small-group discussions in which students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development. Using this resource for structured guidance, students will improve their ability to present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly and convincingly. By engaging with these materials, students will: Identify what the text states explicitly and implicitly Define words and phrases as they are used in the text Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings Choose the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences Discern the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop Apply knowledge of literary devices including hyperbole, metaphor, simile, epiphany, situational irony, and more Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence Write about fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision Come to class better prepared to discuss literature

For many middle and high school readers, realistic and young adult fiction are genres that maximize engagement with literature. This bundle focuses on three representative short stories by Toni Cade Bambara: “Raymond’s Run,” “Blues Ain’t No Mockin Bird,” and “Geraldine Moore the Poet.” English Language Arts teachers may use this bundle as a tool for evaluating general reading comprehension, supporting the development of close reading analysis skills, and promoting homework accountability. Included are the following: editable, plot-based quizzes for each narrative; close reading analysis activities for each narrative; and answer keys. Materials are delivered in printable Word Document and PDF formats.

Evaluate general reading comprehension, facilitate vocabulary development, and sharpen critical thinking skills with this bundle of materials for teaching “The Challenge” by Gary Soto, a coming-of-age short story highlighting the importance of authenticity and unconditional acceptance of others for who they are. A plot-based quiz, a close reading analysis worksheet, a vocabulary application activity, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. This resource may facilitate small-group discussions in which students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development. Using this resource for structured guidance, students will improve their ability to present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly and convincingly. By engaging with these materials, students will: Identify what the text states explicitly and implicitly Define words and phrases as they are used in the text Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings Choose the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques Determine the tone of a given passage Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop Apply knowledge of literary devices including simile, metaphor, slang, situational irony, and more Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence Write about fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision Come to class better prepared to discuss literature

Frontload assigned readings with these vocabulary games and activities to facilitate comprehension of John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath. Alternatively, stash these materials in an emergency sub folder to keep students meaningfully engaged in the book during unexpected teacher absences. Included are 10 vocabulary application activities, 10 crossword puzzles, 10 word search games, and answer keys. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. A total of 122 challenging words are addressed: apprehensively, aristocrat, babbitt, barren, beckon, bemused, bleak, blight, blunder, bluster, bravado, brood, cascade, casually, chitter, clamber, clamor, coarse, contemptuous, corrugated, crossly, cunningly, cynically, deftly, descend, destitute, disconsolate, dissipated, doleful, drably, effluvium, eminent, envy, exclaim, exultantly, feeble, flare, flitter, frayed, fretful, gaunt, giddy, goad, grubby, hasten, hoarse horde, humble, idle, incredulously, indistinct, intently, judiciously, jut, languid, lanky, liable, listlessly, malice, meek, morosely, mutter, nebulous, nimble, oblong, ominously, ornery, parched, perspire, pique, plead, plod, precede, principle, putrescence, quarrel, querulously, ravenously, recede, refuge, relentlessly, relish, reproachfully, restive, retort, reverent, saunter, scornfully, scowl, scurry, shrewd, shrill, shudder, sidle, slup, smugly, sneer, sparse, spindly, squint, stationery, stealthy, stern, stiflingly, stride, subside, sullenly, supplication, swiftly, toil, treacherously, trifle, trot, trudge, unanimous, vague, vehemence, wane, weary, withered, wretched, and wriggle. By engaging with these activities, students will: Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences