5 slides describing frontier life in the state of Texas. With video links. This lesson is student-centered, meaning: –it allows you to become a facilitator! –happier teachers! –happier students! –happier administrators!

A simple, open-ended response form for students who misbehave. It requires them to reflect on their actions and come up with an alternative response for the next time. It’s great for classroom management and easy to keep in students’ file! –happier teachers! –happier students! –happier administrators!

A sample letter of advice to Dr. Frankenstein from his friend Henry Clerval and another to Nemo from Finding Nemo. These letters model how the student should write the letter to any literature character of their choice or the one assigned. Can be made into a transparency or blown up for better viewing. Includes helpful internet links. Editable Word document. This lesson is student-centered, meaning: –it allows you to become a facilitator! –happier teachers! –happier students! –happier administrators!

A teacher-made thesaurus for common, overused words (like “good”, “bad”, “sad”, etc.) to keep in their notes and to use when writing to extend their vocabulary. Perfect for language arts teachers! Includes sections for words belonging to each of the five senses (with a picture of each sense) to help students create sensory writing. 2 pages total. Editable Word document. This lesson is student-centered, meaning: –it allows you to become a facilitator! –happier teachers! –happier students! –happier administrators!

A collection of 5 proverbs that are to be cut out (each set has 5 proverbs separates by double spaced spaces). I print them, make copies, cut each proverb in half and then place them in a plastic bag for students to work in partners to put them together. I then display the correct order on a transparency, ELMO projector, or write them on the board. This lesson is student-centered, meaning: –it allows you to become a facilitator! –happier teachers! –happier students! –happier administrators!

A 1-page reading writing assessment with lined area for students’ response to literature while including details about the plot, setting, and characterization of the story. This lesson is student-centered, meaning: –it allows you to become a facilitator! –happier teachers! –happier students! –happier administrators!

An answer-match 20-question quiz with key. Words included are: word wall ______ plot ______ theme______ setting ______ characterization______ conflict ______ reader’s notebook ______ rubric ______ narrative ______ topic ______ prewriting ______ draft ______ revising ______ editing ______ publishing ______ portfolio ______ organization ______ conventions ______ mentor text ______ anchor story______ in an editable Word document! This lesson is student-centered, meaning: –it allows you to become a facilitator! –happier teachers! –happier students! –happier administrators!

A 6-slide slideshow describing the causes and effects of the Battle of Gonzales, including the Grass Fight, Battle of the Alamo, and Texas temporarily becoming its own country. Includes pictures for emphasis on key points. This lesson is student-centered, meaning: –it allows you to become a facilitator! –happier teachers! –happier students! –happier administrators!

A 6-slide PowerPoint slideshow with pictures describing the concept of Manifest Destiny with specific emphasis on annexing Texas into the United States. Includes topics such as the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, The Mexican-American War, along with questions for discussion or essays. Also includes John Gast’s painting, “American Progress”. This lesson is student-centered, meaning: –it allows you to become a facilitator! –happier teachers! –happier students! –happier administrators!

A powerpoint presentation that explains the US, specifically TX, after the Civil War. Includes slavery, Lincoln, Amendments, KKK, Jim Crow, and sharecroppers cycle of poverty. This lesson is student-centered, meaning: –it allows you to become a facilitator! –happier teachers! –happier students! –happier administrators!

A works cited page to help students learn how to cite and give credit to research sources for projects and research. This lesson is student-centered, meaning: –it allows you to become a facilitator! –happier teachers! –happier students! –happier administrators!

A 17 multiple-choice-question test about the discovery and manufacturing of oil in TX. Social studies test aimed for 7th grade but versatile for other grades. Includes KEY. This lesson is student-centered, meaning: –it allows you to become a facilitator! –happier teachers! –happier students! –happier administrators!

This 19-question multiple-choice reading test/quiz on the short story “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry has questions from different levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (revised). It will test students’ literal and interpretive understanding of the story, summarization, making inferences, vocabulary, and literary devices. Questions are modeled after standardized tests (SAT, ACT, and state tests). Answer key included. Linked to free PDF version of text. Editable Word Doc. Feedback is always welcomed and appreciated! This lesson is student-centered, meaning: –it allows you to become a facilitator! –happier teachers! –happier students! –happier administrators!

A graphic organizer to help students brainstorm, pre-write, outline, organize, and create their ideas prior to writing. Suitable for any grade, ideal for 4-12 grade. Editable MS Word document. This lesson is student-centered, meaning: –it allows you to become a facilitator! –happier teachers! –happier students! –happier administrators!

This 22-question multiple-choice reading test/quiz on “Jackie Robinson: Justice at Last” by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns has questions from different levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (revised). It will test students’ literal and interpretive understanding of the selection, characterization, making inferences, vocabulary, summarization, and chronological ordering of events. Questions are modeled after standardized tests (SAT, ACT, and state tests) and are spaced 1.5 lines apart for comfortable reading. The questions also encourage students to go back and re-read key parts of the selection, a crucial skill for comprehension and improving reading stamina. Includes link to free file of the text so each student can get their own copy to annotate. Answer key included. Feedback is always welcomed and appreciated! Editable MS Word Doc. This lesson is student-centered, meaning: –it allows you to become a facilitator! –happier teachers! –happier students! –happier administrators!

This 19-question multiple-choice reading comprehension and analysis test on the nonfiction selection “The Lost Boys” by Sara Corbett (from the textbook HOLT McDOUGAL LITERATURE, GRADE 9 ISBN-10: 0547115784) has questions from different levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (revised). It will test students’ literal and interpretive understanding of the selection including: point of view, making inferences, vocabulary (including words from SAT/ACT exams), cause and effect, figurative language, literary devices, author’s purpose, main idea, summarization, fact and opinion, analogies, and other elements of literature. Questions are modeled after standardized tests (SAT, ACT, and state tests) to familiarize students with the structure and vocabulary of standardized test questions. Questions are spaced 1.5 lines apart for comfortable reading. The questions also encourage students to go back and re-read key parts of the selection, a crucial skill for comprehension and improving reading stamina. Teachers are encouraged to remove/add questions as they see fit for their students. Answer key included. Editable MS Word Doc. You can use this product for years and years! Feedback is always welcomed and appreciated! **PLEASE NOTE: Due to copyright restrictions, this product does not contain the reading selection(s). **PLEASE NOTE: It is recommended that paragraphs be numbered as some questions refer to specific paragraphs in the selection. The lines following each section title, such as “Refugee Blues” for example, are considered new paragraphs. This selection is counted to have 25 paragraphs total. Objectives/US Standards (SUGGESTED): Students are expected to: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone). This product is student-centered, meaning: –it allows you to become a facilitator! –happier teachers! –happier students! –happier administrators!

This bundle of 8 tests on 10 reading selections from the textbook HOLT McDOUGAL LITERATURE, GRADE 9 ISBN-10: 0547115784 Unit 4: Getting the Message (Theme & Symbol) includes multiple-choice questions (number varies depending on length of reading selection) from different levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (revised). Some tests cover several reading selections. It will test students’ literal and interpretive understanding of the selection including: summarization, main idea, characterization, author’s purpose, point of view, making inferences, vocabulary, literary devices, figurative language, fact & opinion, analogies, and other elements of literature. Questions are modeled after standardized tests (SAT, ACT, and state tests) and are spaced 1.5 lines apart for comfortable reading. The questions also encourage students to go back and re-read key parts of the selection, a crucial skill for comprehension and improving reading stamina. Answer key included. Comes in editable MS Word Doc format. These 8 tests total over 60 pages of test material. Feedback is always welcomed and appreciated! *PLEASE NOTE: Due to copyright restrictions, this product does not contain the reading selection(s). Included tests listed below: “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier “The Future in My Arms” by Edwidge Danticat “Math and After Math” by Lensey Namioka Reading test on the poems “Poem on Returning to Dwell in the Country” by T’ao Ch’ien , “My Heart Leaps Up” by William Wordsworth, & “The Sun” by Mary Oliver “Rice and Rose Bowl Blues” Poem by Diane Mei Lin Mark “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan “Woman with Flower” Poem by Naomi Long Madgett This product is student-centered, meaning: –it allows you to become a facilitator! –happier teachers! –happier students! –happier administrators!

This 19-question multiple-choice reading comprehension and analysis test on the nonfiction selection essay “Georgia O’Keeffe” by Joan Didion (from the textbook HOLT McDOUGAL LITERATURE, GRADE 9 ISBN-10: 0547115784) has questions from different levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (revised). The essay begins with the sentence “’Where I was born and where and how I have lived is unimportant …’” and concludes with the paragraph beginning with the line, “At twenty-four she left all of those opinions behind and went for the first time to live in Texas, where there were no trees to paint and no one to tell her how to paint them”. The essay length totals 6 paragraphs (4 pages). It will test students’ literal and interpretive understanding of the selection including: point of view, making inferences, vocabulary (including words from SAT/ACT exams), cause and effect, figurative language, literary devices, author’s purpose, main idea, summarization, fact and opinion, analogies, and other elements of literature. Questions are modeled after standardized tests (SAT, ACT, and state tests) to familiarize students with the structure and vocabulary of standardized test questions. Questions are spaced 1.5 lines apart for comfortable reading. The questions also encourage students to go back and re-read key parts of the selection, a crucial skill for comprehension and improving reading stamina. Teachers are encouraged to remove/add questions as they see fit for their students. Answer key included. Editable MS Word Doc. You can use this product for years and years! Feedback is always welcomed and appreciated! **PLEASE NOTE: Due to copyright restrictions, this product does not contain the reading selection(s). **PLEASE NOTE: It is recommended that paragraphs be numbered as some questions refer to specific paragraphs in the selection. Objectives/US Standards (SUGGESTED): Students are expected to: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. This product is student-centered, meaning: –it allows you to become a facilitator! –happier teachers! –happier students! –happier administrators!

This 21-question multiple-choice reading comprehension and analysis test on the nonfiction selections “Who Killed the Iceman” from National Geographic (14 questions) & “Skeletal Sculptures” (7 questions) by an unknown author (from the textbook HOLT McDOUGAL LITERATURE, GRADE 9 ISBN-10: 0547115784) has questions from different levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (revised). “Who Killed the Iceman” is 10 paragraphs (4 pages) in length and begins with the line: “He spent some 5,000 years frozen in a mountain glacier on the Austro-Italian border …” and concludes with the paragraph beginning with the line: ‘“I know it’s controversial,” he admits.’ “Skeletal Sculptures” is 10 paragraphs (4 pages), not counting the numbered steps in creating the facial sculpture and begins with the line: “Dr. Michael Charney is an expert in forensic anthropology” and concludes with the paragraph beginning with the line: “The model is now ready to be photographed and publicized in the media so that millions of amateur detectives …”. It will test students’ literal and interpretive understanding of the selection including: point of view, making inferences, vocabulary (including words from SAT/ACT exams), cause and effect, figurative language, literary devices, author’s purpose, main idea, summarization, fact and opinion, analogies, and other elements of literature. Questions are modeled after standardized tests (SAT, ACT, and state tests) to familiarize students with the structure and vocabulary of standardized test questions. Questions are spaced 1.5 lines apart for comfortable reading. The questions also encourage students to go back and re-read key parts of the selection, a crucial skill for comprehension and improving reading stamina. Teachers are encouraged to remove/add questions as they see fit for their students. Answer key included. Editable MS Word Doc. You can use this product for years and years! Feedback is always welcomed and appreciated! **PLEASE NOTE: Due to copyright restrictions, this product does not contain the reading selection(s). **PLEASE NOTE: It is recommended that paragraphs be numbered as some questions refer to specific paragraphs in the selection.

This 20-question multiple-choice reading comprehension and analysis test on the nonfiction selection “Island Morning” by Jamaica Kincaid (from the textbook HOLT McDOUGAL LITERATURE, GRADE 9 ISBN-10: 0547115784) has questions from different levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (revised). It will test students’ literal and interpretive understanding of the selection including: point of view, making inferences, vocabulary (including words from SAT/ACT exams), cause and effect, figurative language, literary devices, author’s purpose, main idea, summarization, fact and opinion, analogies, and other elements of literature. Questions are modeled after standardized tests (SAT, ACT, and state tests) to familiarize students with the structure and vocabulary of standardized test questions. Questions are spaced 1.5 lines apart for comfortable reading. The questions also encourage students to go back and re-read key parts of the selection, a crucial skill for comprehension and improving reading stamina. Teachers are encouraged to remove/add questions as they see fit for their students. Answer key included. Editable MS Word Doc. You can use this product for years and years! Feedback is always welcomed and appreciated! **PLEASE NOTE: Due to copyright restrictions, this product does not contain the reading selection(s). **PLEASE NOTE: It is recommended that paragraphs be numbered as some questions refer to specific paragraphs in the selection.