We create engaging English language arts resources that help teachers save time! We are full-time teachers and have taught in a middle school for over 20 years. Our goal is to create high-quality resources focused on grades 5-9.
We create engaging English language arts resources that help teachers save time! We are full-time teachers and have taught in a middle school for over 20 years. Our goal is to create high-quality resources focused on grades 5-9.
This Novel Study for The Many Assassinations of Samir, The Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri will help you support your students as they read Nayeri’s engaging and important novel.
This 114-page, low-prep “The Many Assassinations of Samir…” novel study unit contains:
Chapter Summaries formatted for teacher use & distribution to students.
Discussion Questions
Comprehension Activities
Vocabulary Quizzes
Character List
Vocabulary Lists and 4 Quizzes
Student Discussion Question Worksheets
End-of-the-Novel, Multiple-Choice Assessment (Print and Google Form Version)
Supplemental Information Google Slides Presentation
Answer Keys
Other resources you might like:
The Last Cuentista Novel Study
Understanding Theme, Motif and Symbolism
This fully editable packet of parent email and letter templates will help you reduce stress, save time, and effectively communicate with parents throughout the year.
This 23-template packet contains letters and emails about the following:
Welcome to The Class
Grading Philosophy
You Can Count on Me
Parent Teacher Conference Letters (for Traditional, Arena Style, and Virtual)
Halloween Party Overview
List of Nut-Free Halloween Treats
Birthday Celebration Overview
List of Nut-Free Birthday Treats
2nd Quarter Expectations
3rd Quarter Expectations
4th Quarter Expectations
Response to Parent Request for Work for Family Vacation During School
Response to Parent Request for Extra Credit
Explaining a Low Grade and Offering Tips to Improve
Notifying Parents of Behavior Concerns
Notifying Parents of Attendance Issues
Notifying Parents of Excessive Tardies
Notifying Parents of Failure to Complete Assigned Work
Addressing Concern That a Student is Not Being Challenged
In addition, we’ve included a short tip page (developed over 25 years of responding to parent emails) to help you stay calm, focused, and positive as you support your students.
This middle school study skills curriculum is perfect for grades 6 through 8. It is designed specifically for a middle school class and will help all middle schoolers improve their study skills.
This resource was developed as a 9-week elective course but you can use these study skills lessons with your homeroom/advisory class, academic support class, study hall students, or embedded within any content area class.
This 305-page/slide resource is easy to follow and low prep!
What you get:
Comprehensive pacing guide
Teacher lesson plan pages
Student activity sheets
Work completion calendar sheet
Planner template sheets
Answer keys
Student Information Pages
Colorful and engaging lesson presentations (118 slides)
Bell Ringer Slides (63 slides)
Bell Ringer response/notebook sheets
TOPICS
Preparing to learn
Learning styles
Getting organized
Time management
Listening skills
Study skills/Note-taking
Test-taking skills
Nonfiction reading
Reflection and goal-setting
Research/reliable website
Presentation skills
Bonus: Chromebook tips
Other resources you might be interested in:
Middle School Creative Writing Activities
Middle School Academic Vocabulary Activities
Your feedback matters to us. Our goal is to create 5-star products. We love learning about how our products are used in classrooms, and your insight helps us continually improve.
Please reach out to us if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Julie and Mark
In The Middle Curriculum
Make Halloween week fun for your middle school students with this standards-based, activity filled, ELA resource. Start each class with an engaging bell ringer then follow that up with a group writing activity around a Halloween-themed prompt. You can have your students create a monster and tell that monster’s story from its point of view. Work in some reading comprehension with an original, light-hearted, Halloween story and corresponding multiple-choice assessment. Then finish things up with a quick trick-or-treat themed grammar review.
These activities are designed to give teachers choices and include activities that last anywhere from 10 minutes to multiple classes. Each activity stands on its own or works as part of the mini-unit. If you teach one grade level or multiple grade levels across many sections, we’ve got you covered!
Included:
Story Starter activity
Write-Around activity
The Secret Life of a Monster Writing Activity
Reading Comprehension activity (with multiple choice test)
Grammar activity
A week of Halloween Bell Ringers
Story Writing rubric
Prompt response sheets
Links to Digital Files
Answer Keys
Most of the materials are presented in print as well as in a digital format for maximum flexibility. (Created using Google Slides)
Other resources you might be interested in:
December Holidays Activities
Make the start of the year and the end of the year fun and stress-free for you and your students with this no-prep discounted bundle!
Start the new school smoothly with the “Getting to Know You” activities. These activities help you get to know your students while your students are getting to know each other. Then, when it’s time to wrap things up at the end of the year, you’ll be able to use the “End of the Year Activities’’ unit to help the students reflect on a great year of learning.
This 80+ page bundle includes 15 activities, four surveys, a digital planner, an editable syllabus, and a start-of-the-year presentation making it easier to adapt to meet the challenges of the beginning and the end of the year schedule.
Included in our Back to School Resource:
3 different versions of a Getting to Know You sheet
Reading Interest Inventory Sheet
Writing interest Inventory Sheet
Letter to Myself Activity
Wanted Poster Activity
Heart Map Activity
2 Truths and a Lie Activity
Digital Student Planner
Parent/Guardian Survey (created using Google Forms)
Student Interests Survey (created using Google Forms)
Class Syllabus Template
“Welcome to my class” Presentation
Included in “End of the Year Activities” Resource
Snapshot of Favorite Memory
Letter to My Future Self
Summer Bucket List
A Year in Review-Books
In The News
Meme of the Year
My Favorite Things
My Year in Review
Letter of Advice
Reflection and Feedback survey (Google form)
Top 10 Memorable Moments Memory Book Activity
Student Examples
This Middle School Creative Writing Activity collection is a fun way to get your middle school students writing! This resource guides students through 9 creative writing activities (in both print and digital formats.)
Students are prompted to independently compose an exciting and interesting short story. Each creative writing activity contains a writing prompt that provides the important characters, the setting, and the problem. The students then take the story in whatever direction their imagination leads them!
In this 100-page/slide resource, you get 9 creative writing activities that each contain a graphic organizer focusing on one of the following aspects of narrative writing:
Story Elements
Character Traits
Revealing Characters
Using Dialog
Using Sensory Words
Using Transitions
Elements of a Mystery
Peer Review Opportunities! (Digital Version)
In addition to guiding students through writing a narrative, each activity provides the opportunity to SHARE stories with classmates. This encourages the student writers to communicate with each other and improve their writing.
Other resources you may be interested in:
Graphic Novel Reading and Writing Project
Narrative Writing Unit for Middle School
Argumentative Writing Unit for Middle School
This novel study unit for Two Degrees by Alan Gratz has everything you need, including chapter summaries, to support your students as they read Gratz’s thrilling novel.
In this Two Degrees novel study, you will find:
Chapter summaries formatted for teacher use & distribution to students.
Supplemental Information SLIDES presentation
Student discussion question pages
Comprehension activities
Vocabulary lists
Vocabulary quizzes
End of Novel, Multiple Choice Assessment (in Google form version too)
Answer Keys
This 120 page/slide unit is offered in both PRINT and DIGITAL formats.
The structure of the unit allows for easy differentiation to help you support your students in class or in a distance learning environment.
Another resource you might be interested in:
Refugee by Alan Gratz Novel Study Unit
This complete novel study unit for Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac has everything you need to support your students as they read Bruchac’s World War 2 novel.
In this Code Talker novel study, you will find:
Print and digital versions of all assessments and activity sheets
Chapter summaries in two formats to make it easy to distribute to students who may need extra help.
Discussion questions
Student Discussion Question handouts
4 Multiple-choice End-of-Section quizzes
Comprehension Activity sheets
Vocabulary quizzes
Whole book assessment in Google form version and print version.
Answer Keys
These fun end of the year activities for middle school students are great for the last week, the last day or anything in between. This no-prep unit contains everything you need to wrap up the year in a fun way!
What’s included:
Snapshot of Favorite Memory
Letter to My Future Self
Summer Bucket List
A Year in Review-Books
In The News
Meme of the Year
My Favorite Things
My Year in Review
Letter of Advice
Reflection and Feedback survey (Google form)
Top 10 Memorable Moments Memory Book Activity
Student Examples
This Middle School Narrative Writing Unit will make guiding your students through the narrative writing process easy. It is a complete, 125-page unit that contains all of the resources necessary for you to teach your students how to write in the narrative genre. It is aligned with learning standards and can be used for first-person and third-person narratives. It also includes digital files of all student handouts!
INCLUDED IN THIS MONTH-LONG UNIT:
7 easily editable digital mini-lessons (created in Google Slides)
* Introduction to narrative characteristics (including 4 mentor texts)
* Brainstorming a topic
* Revealing Characters
* Expanding a small moment using sensory details
* Using and punctuating dialog
* Using transitions to show the passage of time
* Conducting peer reviews
LINKS to the mini-lessons and student practice sheets
Printable Student Practice Sheets
Multiple Graphic Organizers
Student Information Sheets
Creative writing story starter card activity
Rubric
Learning Targets/ Target Table
Pacing Guide
Peer Review sheets
Student reflection and goal-setting sheet
Other resources you might be interested in:
Graphic Novel Writing Unit
Argumentative Writing Unit for Middle School
Creative Writing Activities
This novel study unit for Unwind by Neal Shusterman has everything you need (including chapter summaries) to support your students as they read Shusterman’s timely novel.
in this Unwind novel study, you will find:
A total of 110 pages of print and digital materials
Chapter summaries in two different formats
Discussion questions
Vocabulary lists and activity pages
Comprehension activity pages
Student discussion pages
End-of-book multiple-choice assessment (in self-correcting Google form version too!)
Answer keys
Other resources you might be interested in:
Science Fiction Genre Study Unit
The Last Cuentista Novel Study Unit
Students love science fiction and this Science Fiction Genre Study unit makes it easy to immerse them in this interesting genre. This month long unit is always a great hit in our classrooms!
This 130 page/ slide Science Fiction genre study unit is presented in both print and digital formats and includes the following:
2 colorful lesson presentations
An Introduction to the characteristics of science fiction
Two original science fiction short stories to help teach the characteristics of science fiction.
Identifying science fiction characteristics in a text
Differentiated note-taking sheets
Assessments
A quiz of the science fiction terms
2 multiple choice assessments (also in self-correcting Google form versions)
Answer Keys
Other resources you might like:
Unwind by Neal Shusterman Novel Study Unit
The Last Cuentista Novel Study Unit
This 4 week long mystery genre study unit provides students with an understanding of the mystery genre through engaging slide presentations, original mystery short stories, creative writing story starters and comprehension sheets.
This 97 page/slide unit also includes:
A list of the mystery terms suitable for posting.
Differentiated note-taking sheets to help students record mystery terms and definitions.
Formative and summative assessments with answer keys.
Mystery story graphic organizers.
Mystery “story starter” peer feedback forms (in the digital format only.)
Rubric
Other resources you might be interested in:
Trash by Andy Mulligan Novel Study
Clean Getaway by Nic Stone Novel Study Unit
Science Fiction Genre Study
This argumentative writing unit contains colorful lesson presentations that guide students through an understanding of each aspect of writing an argumentative/persuasive essay. It is also presented in both print and digital formats to provide maximum teaching flexibility.
This 145 page,argumentative essay unit contains;
7 easily editable digital mini-lessons (created in Google SLIDES)
Parts of an Argument
Writing an Engaging Introduction
Writing a Thesis Statement
Writing the Middle of the Essay (reasons and evidence)
Writing a Conclusion
Citing Your Sources
Conducting Peer Reviews
A link to digital versions of student sheets
Multiple, printable graphic organizers
Student/Parent Information sheets
3-5 days of fun, pre-writing lesson activities (for in-class lessons)
Argumentative Writing Rubric
Learning Targets/Target Table
Pacing Guide
Peer Review sheet
Student Reflection and Goal Setting sheet
Other resources you might be interested in:
Graphic Novel Reading and Writing Project
Narrative Writing Unit for Middle School
This FREE resource includes:
Punctuation rules reference sheet
Dialog tag reference sheet
Three activity sheets (print and digital format)
This is great for substitute plans and can also be used as part of a narrative writing unit.
This bundle of middle school grammar resources has everything you need to help your students meet the middle school grammar objectives. All three products are aligned with national standards and contain detailed, engaging lesson presentations to make teaching grammar easier and more enjoyable!
Included in this 250 page/slide bundled resource:
Lesson Presentations That Teach Each Grammar Concept (60+ Slides)
5 Review Lesson Presentations
Nouns
Verbs
Prepositional Phrases
Conjunctions
Subject/Predicate
48 Student Practice Pages
12 Printable Quizzes
3 End-of-The-Unit Assessments in Print and Google Form Versions
Answer Keys
Teacher Information Pages and More!
Character traits and character analysis can be fun to teach in middle school with this low prep easy to use unit!
This unit will help you engage your students as they examine character traits and perform character analysis using examples from interesting YA novels.
Lesson Presentations Focus
How Authors Reveal Characters
Identifying Character Traits (Using Evidence to Support Inferences)
Character Types
Character Changes
Included in the Resource
**What’s inside this 110 page/slide resource: **
Teacher pacing guide and explanation
Learning targets
Links to 4 editable Google SLIDES lesson presentations
15 Student activity sheets (with links to digital versions)
A word list of over 100 character traits
Character Archetype Information Page (used for enrichment)
Assessments
Identifying and supporting character traits
End of Unit multiple-choice assessment in print and self-correcting Google form version.
Answer Keys
Other resources you might be interested in:
Tone and Mood Literary Device Resource
Symbolism, Motif, Theme Literary Device Resource
Point of View and Perspective Literary Device Resource
Literary Devices Bundle
This novel study unit for Clean Getaway by Nic Stone has everything you need (including chapter summaries) to support your students as they read Stone’s acclaimed novel.
In this Clean Getaway novel study, you will find:
Chapter Summaries formatted for teacher use and for distribution to students.
Discussion Questions
Comprehension Activities
Vocabulary Quizzes
Whole book Multiple Choice Assessment (in Google form version too!)
Student Discussion Question Worksheets
End of the novel extension questions
Answer Keys
Historical Topic SLIDES presentation
Links to Digital Files
Each chapter contains multiple leveled questions allowing the teacher to differentiate.
Other resources you might be interested in:
Ghost by Jason Reynolds Novel Study Unit
Look Both Ways by Jason Reynold Novel Study Unit
This novel study unit for Trash by Andy Mulligan has everything you need, including chapter summaries, to support your students as they read Mulligan’s exciting novel.
In this Trash novel study, you will find:
Chapter summaries in two formats, one for teacher use and the other to hand out to students if needed.
Discussion questions that are organized by the reading strategies that make it easy for teachers to conduct book club meetings.
Student Discussion Question Pages
Comprehension Activity Sheets
Vocabulary Quizzes
Multiple Choice Quizzes for Each Section of the Book
End of Unit Assessment
Print and Digital versions of all quizzes, student discussion sheets, and comprehension activity pages!
Answer Keys
This novel study unit for Ghost by Jason Reynolds has everything you need, including chapter summaries, to support your readers as they read Reynolds’ award winning novel.
In the Ghost novel study, you will find:
*** Chapter Summaries** formatted for teacher use & distribution to students.
Discussion Questions
Comprehension Activities
Vocabulary Quizzes
5 Multiple Choice Assessments presented in both print and self-correcting Google form versions
Student Discussion Question Worksheets
End of the novel questions/activities
Answer Keys
Teacher Information pages
Another resource you might be interested in:
Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds Novel Study Unit
