This pack contains 11 different forms to use in conjunction with a Personal Narrative Unit. It includes mini-lessons on personal narrative skills such as: Show Not Tell Avoiding Cliches and Common Descriptions Writing Attention-Grabbing Hooks Crafting Memorable Conclusions Writer's Voice It also includes a self-revision form and three peer revision activities. This pack will help students write personal narrative essays that leave a lasting impression in the reader's mind.

Find this mini-lesson as part of our Literary Analysis MEGA BUNDLE, sold separately! Bundle and save! This mini-lesson introduces students to blending quotations using the TCS method. This method asks students to integrate quotations into their own sentences with a transition that smoothly moves the reader into the evidence and then also includes the context/ speaker for the quotation to help the reader recall the quotation from the original text. I use this method with my students throughout the year to guide their revisions. My students bring their drafts to class, and they take turns labeling the "TCS" for each quotation. This method is very approachable and an essential tool for the Writer's Toolbox.

This listing is for Mini-lesson #1 of my Literary Analysis Essay book-- sold separately. For this activity, students read and analyze three sample student literary analysis essays using a ratiocination guide. They ratiocinate for the parts of the essay along with higher level vocabulary. They then answer reflection questions aimed at introducing students to the literary analysis essay. This is an excellent activity for introducing students to the literary analysis essay. Students need to be exposed to a variety of sample essays before they begin writing one. These essays can serve as models for students throughout the writing process. Answer keys included!

This product contains FIVE grammar editing mini-lessons for the formal, academic essays. They focus on the most common grammatical errors in student writing. These include: COMMA ERRORS SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT RUN-ONS & FRAGMENTS Each mini-lesson includes grammar rules, examples, a short application exercise, and editing task. This is a MUST HAVE for your Writer's Toolbox. Find it as part of the Literary Analysis Essay Bundle and SAVE! Bundle sold separately.

This Macbeth test contains 50 multiple choice questions that assesses interpretation of key quotes from the play, character motivation, vocabulary in context, literary elements, motifs, and rhetorical appeals. As an optional supplement, there is a written response/ essay portion that you can use along with the multiple choice questions or as a stand alone assessment. This test will measure students' understanding of the play and also assess their close reading skills and ability to construct/ support an argument.

In this mini-lesson, students learn the three parts that make up an effective conclusion paragraph for a literary analysis essay. They will draft a conclusion paragraph, adding rhetorical punch to the final concluding statement, and then peer revise the conclusion for impact. This is an essential mini-lesson for the writing process. Find it in the Literary Analysis Mega Bundle, sold separately. Bundle and SAVE!

I was feeling inspired by the winter and started researching classic poems about the season. What I came to realize is that winter is a polarizing season-- people either love it or hate it-- and writers reflect this in their work. Winter is complex. While the snow and ice bring much beauty, that beauty represents death and destruction. And so, many writers have found winter (as well as spring) to be powerful tools in symbolizing both positive and negative thematic claims. In this unit, I have included TEN poems by classic authors that involve winter in some respect. Some poems use winter to symbolize absence, others age, and still others unity. Five of these poems have a more positive representation of winter while the remaining five have a more negative representation of winter-- however, this is debatable! And that is exactly what students are going to do! Students are to: 1. Annotate the poems using the TPCASTT chart included. 2. Categorize the poems as either having a positive view of winter or a negative view of winter. 3. Debate the view of winter in one or more poems. 4. Write an explication essay on a winter poem of their choice-- sample essays, assignment, and rubric included! 5. Create a group presentation in which they compare/contrast two winter poems of their choice-- assignment and rubric included! 6. Write their own original winter poem along with an explication paragraph in which they explain how they communicate their thematic claim through selected literary devices-- assignment, student sample, and rubric included! This unit is modifiable for students of all levels and can also be shortened into a few days or extended into a few weeks. Teachers can choose which poems and activities to complete with their classes and really delve into this season that brings unity amidst destruction. I have also included my annotation notes for ALL TEN POEMS!!! Use these to guide discussions or to modify lessons for your students. Please note that my annotations do not represent the only possible interpretations of these poems and that my classification of poems is highly debatable!! Common Core Standards are included on the assignment sheets throughout this packet! This is a great unit to target nearly 100% of the Common Core!!

This product contains a self-revision and peer-revision activity for the literary analysis essay followed by FIVE mini-lessons for editing the essay for "Academese" language. These editing mini-lessons include editing for powerful verbs, varying sentence structure, and adding rhetorical devices for persuasive power, among others. Each mini-lesson includes specific editing tasks followed by reflection questions to encourage students to make conscientious revisions and edits to their writing. This is a MUST HAVE for the writer's toolbox and the writing process! Purchase the entire Literary Analysis Bundle and SAVE! Sold separately.

This mini-lesson series can be found as part of the Literary Analysis Essay Mega Bundle-- sold separately. Bundle and SAVE! In this mini-lesson series, students will brainstorm options for textual evidence to support their thesis statements for the literary analysis essay. They will also learn about selecting the evidence that best supports or shows the argument in action. Afterwards, students decide whether or not to organize their evidence in chronological order or by power. This is an excellent mini-lesson to use during the writing process before students have written a completed rough draft!

Characterization is a literary element that can be used as a lens to analyze all other literary elements and devices. This bundle contains 13 mini-lessons centered on analyzing characterization that are ready to print and use with any text. These mini-lessons include acting skits, writing poetry, creating timelines, drawing comic strips, and much, much more! They are great activities for facilitating the writing process. This bundle also has great ideas to use for emergency lesson plans in grades 6-12. Find this bundle as part of the Bespoke ELA MEGA CHARACTERIZATION BUNDLE, sold separately. Bundle and SAVE!

This product by Bespoke ELA contains 20 short poems to analyze for the four, basic rhetorical relationships: juxtaposition, contrast, shift, and repetition. All literary devices can be categorized into these four basic relationships. A simile is a type of juxtaposition; antithesis is a type of repetition and contrast. But instead of focusing on these specific terms, these mini-lessons aim to teach students how to analyze poetry using the terms juxtaposition, contrast, shift, and repetition. For each poem, students will: 1. Make observations. 2. Identify and analyze the four rhetorical relationships. 3. Connect the rhetorical relationships to THEME. 4. Write their own original poems inspired by the model poem. 5. Write an explication of their own original poems. Students will be inspired by the poetry prompts included for each of the 20 short poems. It's amazing how much depth students can get out of such short poems. They will enjoy the challenge of unlocking the thematic meaning of these poems as well as the process of creating their own original poems. Students can respond to activities in their journals or Writer's Notebooks and then select a poem to explicate for a formal essay assignment, OR opt to have students complete a portfolio in which they include a series of their own original poems along with explications of them. These mini-lessons come with several flexible options to easily integrate into your curriculum. This bundle is suitable for grades 8-12.

This product contains ten different revision activities on reproducible worksheets that are ready to print and use with any argument essay: literary analysis, explication, or even persuasive! These revision activities include self-revision as well as peer revision and target skills such as: grammar, commentary, textual evidence, organization, and much more! Find these TEN REVISION ACTIVITIES as part of our Mega Literary Analysis Essay Bundle, sold separately. Bundle and SAVE!

This lesson contains a step-by-step guide for how to write a thesis statement for the literary analysis essay. It is a part of our Mega Lit. Analysis Essay Bundle, sold separately. The most important part of the writing process is crafting the thesis statement because it is the "road map" or "blueprint" for the entire essay. Because this one, single sentence is so important, I have crafted six mini-lessons to insure that your students will have focused, argumentative thesis statements specifically for the literary analysis essay. While the literary analysis essay is a type of persuasive or argumentative essay, it is important that students craft a thesis statement that is specific to the purpose of literary analysis. In this regard, lessons on persuasive or argumentative thesis statements may not be appropriate to teaching students how to write this kind of essay that is a cornerstone of the ELA classroom. This mini-lesson pack takes students through the process of learning the parts of a literary analysis thesis statement and how to craft them by creating thematic claims. By following this guide, students will be well on their way to creating effective "road maps" to write the literary analysis essay.

Product Description In this Thanksgiving activity by Bespoke ELA, students will study Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamations in order to assess the relationship between language and persuasion while targeting the Common Core. First, students will read an editorial from The New York Times in order to understand better the relationship between Abraham Lincoln and Thanksgiving. Then, they will analyze the rhetoric of Lincoln's two Thanksgiving Proclamations-- from 1863 and 1864. Thanksgiving became a national holiday as the result of the Civil War. While other presidents had called for a day of "thanksgiving," it was not nationalized as an American holiday until Lincoln saw the need to unite the nation as our country was being ravaged by war. The article from The New York Times also reveals how Thanksgiving had nothing to do with pilgrims and Indians but later became intertwined with the "Founders Day Celebration" of New England. Originally, Thanksgiving came from our leaders' desire to recognize progress in our country. This activity is an excellent Thanksgiving activity that targets non-fiction Common Core skills while also targeting close reading skills and rhetorical analysis. As a final step in this activity, students will write their very own Thanksgiving Proclamations including rhetorical devices and appeals to entreat their audience to adopt Thanksgiving using their own reasons to be thankful. Great activity for grades 9-12, including Honors and Advanced Placement. Answer Keys Included

This packet contains the following items to use with your students when preparing for an essay on the epic poem Beowulf: Beowulf Agree/ Disagree Activity a. This student handout contains five thematic statements that are relevant to the Beowulf story. Students either agree or disagree with each statement and then briefly explain their reasoning. This handout taps into students' prior knowledge on life themes relevant to the poem in order to establish a framework for thematic ideas they will observe in the story. I typically use this activity as an Anticipation Guide at the beginning of the Beowulf unit; however, it can also be used as an essay brainstorming guide or a classroom debate guide. These statements really get students interested in the story as they begin to think about why they believe what they believe and discuss/disagree with their peers. Beowulf Debatable Statements Activity a. This essay brainstorming activity contains 16 debatable thematic statements that relate to the Beowulf story to help students generate ideas for a Beowulf essay. Students are to think about how each statement applies to the Beowulf story (apart from their own personal opinions) and then briefly explain how each statement is true or false in the story. Students can complete this activity on their own or in small groups, and it is a terrific means of organizing whole class discussion and debate prior to beginning the writing process. After discussing the themes presented, students can then select one theme as the focal point for a theme analysis essay on the epic poem. Beowulf Essay Brainstorming Activity— Topics/ Themes Chart Beowulf Essay Thesis Statements Literary Criticism: “Subversive Female Power in Beowulf” Beowulf Essay Prompts + Outline Form and Rubric ALL of these items are included in my MEGA BEOWULF BUNDLE (25 lessons and activities/ 108 pages with keys)! The entire bundle can be found in our store, sold separately. Bundle and SAVE!

This listing is for two mini-lessons found in our mega Literary Analysis Essay bundle-- sold separately! In these mini-lessons, students answer anticipatory questions about the literary analysis essay and then compare/ contrast their responses with introductory notes on this mode of writing. Students then use the rubric to grade three sample literary analysis essays to get acclimated with how their essays will be graded. I have included my scores for the three sample essays along with explanations for where I took points off-- according to the 10-point Literary Analysis Rubric included. These lessons are an excellent way to introduce your students to the purpose, function, and format of the literary analysis essay!

In this mini-lesson, students learn about the parts of the body paragraph for writing an essay. Students read about the purpose of the body paragraph and then ratiocinate three student sample paragraphs. This is an excellent mini-lesson to introduce students to the body paragraph, OR use this mini-lesson to review with your students. Pair this lesson with our follow-up lessons on topic and concluding sentences, selecting and blending evidence, and writing commentary/ analysis. You can also find this mini-lesson as part of our Literary Analysis Essay Mega Bundle, sold separately. Bundle and Save!

Jack the Ripper. One of the most notorious serial killers of all time. And he was never caught. There are over 100 theories about his identity. If you're looking for a high-interest nonfiction topic to get your students interested in analyzing nonfiction, this is it! This activity has two parts. The first parts takes students through an exercise of identifying tone in a news article written about Jack the Ripper. There are four articles in this part of this lesson that all come from The London Times, late 1800s. (please note that all texts are in the public domain) Each article is followed by a series of three multiple-choice questions written using Common Core question stems. These questions will help students understand the overall message of each article and encourage them to read critically. Students are then to record examples of tone from the articles and label the tone accordingly. Identifying tone will help with part two of this activity series in which students begin to analyze sources for bias. In part two of this activity, students will assess a series of stories about Jack the Ripper all written on the exact same day, all about the exact same grisly discovery of two more female victims. By reading multiple sources on the same event, students will be able to compare/ contrast how each source represents the "truth." After assessing sources for bias, students will evaluate which source is more reliable and present their findings to the class. I have also included FIVE extension activities to use with your students after completing this activity in order to keep your students engaged with nonfiction. ***Please note that there are a couple of paragraphs in this collection that are quite graphic and may be inappropriate for some students. Please censor the articles as you see fit.*** Jack the Ripper is a topic that will keep your students intrigued from the very get-go!

Find this mini-lesson as part of our Literary Analysis Mega Bundle, sold separately. Bundle and save! Writing commentary is without a doubt the most difficult aspect of the literary analysis essay. It is the ONE part for which there is no formula because it's the part of the essay that contains the writer's original thoughts, or commentary/ analysis, on the evidence of the essay. In this mini-lesson, I have provided students with two methods for crafting commentary that will help them not only write analysis but also take it to a deeper level. This mini-lesson also contains sample paragraphs to show the difference between PLOT SUMMARY vs. COMMENTARY, peer revision forms, notes, teacher approval forms, and much more! This is an essential mini-lesson for the writing process because the commentary is the MOST IMPORTANT part of the literary analysis essay.

Product Description One of the things I really enjoy is reading and writing screenplays. In this unit by Bespoke ELA, I have put together some of the key lessons that I've learned about script writing in a format that is user-friendly to secondary ELA students. Screenplay writing is a high-interest type of writing because all students love movies. For this project, students will create their own original screenplay concepts, write a character sketch and plot treatment, craft a ten-page screenplay sequence, create a trailer, and pitch their film ideas to the class. The entire spectrum of this project targets various skills from reading to writing to speaking to listening-- and students will HAVE A BLAST doing it! At the end of the unit, you can hold your very own "ELA ACADEMY AWARDS" ceremony and give out "Academy Awards Certificates" to the winning groups and students! The lessons included in this unit are as follows: 1. Screenplay Project Assignment 2. Famous Movie Match Game 3. What is a Screenplay?— Introduction Power Point 4. Types of Movies/ Genres—power point 5. Movie Brainstorming Activities 6. The Logline—Power Point 7. Crafting the Logline Worksheet 8. Screenplay Concept Teacher Approval Form 9. The Elements of Character—Power Point 10. Character Sketch Assignment & Example with Rubric 11. Intro. to Screenplay Format—3-Act Structure & Types of Drama—Power Point 12. Elements of a Film Treatment—Power Point 13. Film Treatment Assignment & Example with Rubric 14. Famous Script Analysis Activity 15. Intro. to Script Format—Power Point 16. Script Format Analysis—Analyzing Excerpt from Just Drive 17. A Guide to CeltX 18. Script Assignment & Rubric 19. Sequence Structure—The Anatomy of a Sequence 20. Sequence Structure Revision Activity 21. Subtext: Action & Dialogue 22. Screenplay Sequence Submission & Feedback Form 23. Assigning Roles—Movie Jobs 24. Movie Trailer Analysis 25. Film Planning Guide—Handout 26. Movie Trailer Assignment, Rubric, & Outline 27. What is a Screenplay Pitch? 28. The Art of the Pitch-- Screenplay Pitch Samples & Observations 29. Screenplay Pitch Assignment, Sample, & Rubric 30. Class Feedback Forms & Group Self-Assessment Form 31. ELA Academy Awards Certificates Scriptwriting is something I truly enjoy, and this project was a work of love. Students will read sample excerpts from screenplays (including one of MINE), and model their new ideas after them. Exposing students to screenplay writing will open their eyes to the filmmaking process and help them garner a whole new respect the moves they love.