Over twenty years teaching, developing lessons and conducting professional development - coupled with fiction and film writing - is who I am. Family, education and writing define what I love.
Over twenty years teaching, developing lessons and conducting professional development - coupled with fiction and film writing - is who I am. Family, education and writing define what I love.
This No Prep Book Unit is based on CinderHazel and contains 29-pages of interactive, cross curricular and engaging activities -- all standards-aligned. This print-and-go unit contains interactive journal pages, a review of Cinderella Elements, essays, social studies assignments, quizzes and a whole lot more. Differentiated for use with the whole class.
Table of Contents
Cinderella Elements
#1 CinderHazel Draw A Title Page
#2 Questions Along the Way
#3 CinderHazel Constructed Response Questions
#4 Story Connections for CinderHazel
#5 CinderHazel Characters
#6 CinderHazel Math Connections
#7 CinderHazel My Own Word Problems
#8 CinderHazel Comprehension
#9 CinderHazel Character Conflicts
#10 Sentence Sorting: CinderHazel
#11 Quick Write Compare and Contrast
#12 About the Author
#13 Story Summary
#14 Character Changes
#15 Text to Text – Connecting Texts
#16 My Thoughts While Reading CinderHazel
#17 Inferring Character Feelings
#18 Cause and Effect
#19 Compare and Contrast CinderHazel and Cinderella
#20 Cinderella Sentence Sorting
#21 CinderHazel Report Card
#22 CinderHazel Book Review
Rubric For Constructed Response
This No Prep Book Unit is based on Cendrillon by Robert D. San Souci and contains 37-pages of interactive, cross curricular and engaging activities -- all standards-aligned. This print-and-go unit contains interactive journal pages, a review of Cinderella Elements, essays, social studies assignments, quizzes and a whole lot more. Differentiated for use with the whole class.
Table of Contents
Cinderella Elements
#1: Cendrillon Problem Solution Interactive Notebook Page
#2: Cendrillon Character Traits RL.3
#3: Godmother Character Traits RL.3
#4: Critical Thinking Literature Questions Interactive Notebook Page
#5: Ask and Answer Questions from the Story RL.1
#6: Inferring RL.6
#7: Cendrillon – What do you think? RL.1 and 3
#8: Problem/Solution Interactive Notebook Page RL.5
#9: Critical Thinking Questions
#10: About Cendrillon RL 1 and 2
#11: Recounting Cendrillon
#12: Character Motivation and Evidence RL.5
#13: Non-Fiction Quick Write: French Creole
#14 Cendrillon: Character Conflicts RL.1 and 3
#15 Sentence Sorting RL.2 Answers: 3, 2, 4, 1, 5, 7, 6
#16 From Sentence Sorting to Essay Writing RL1 and 2
#17: Quick Write: Compare and Contrast RL.9
#18: Text-to-Text RL.9
#19: I Can Answer Questions About the Text RL.1
#20: Theme
#21: Moral RL.2
#22: Inferring RL.6
#23 Retell the Story through your Favorite Drawings RL.7
#24: Cause and Effect
#25: Cendrillon Report Card
#26; Cendrillon Book Review
Rubric for Constructed Response
This unit contains three teaching PowerPoints, assessments, primary and secondary source document analysis, workbook pages and more --- over 100 pages of learning. Daily Reading and Writing Warm-ups are included!
The PowerPoints are also in PDF - because sometimes versions are not compatible.
All things RISE AND FALL of the Roman Empire
This is a template for students to outline, storyboard and write their own Novella or Novel. This is a differentiated unit that is engaging and LOVED by all students.
Included is a CCSS matrix for grades 4 through 12 – as it is fully adaptable.
Also included is a completed template so you can walk you students through the process!
41-pages in all.
This is great for whole class Common Core writing work, for early finishers or broken down into centers.
This is a template-based lesson designed for students to either work through independently or be guided through, depending upon the grade level you teach and the particular levels of your students. The end product will be an outline for a novel, novella or long short story.
The project can result in actual written novels or may be used as the end product. Over the years, my students have enjoyed publishing their work in real book form. This is easily done by students and is Common Core Standards based!!
Students create a pdf of their work and we use the pdf to publish them. The resulting books are professional looking, there are no set up costs and students can purchase their work for only a few dollars.
My students love this! I have even compiled shorter work into one document and published anthologies. If you are working with a group of students at varying levels, it is helpful to begin the lesson in guided fashion and then let students fade off to write when they are individually comfortable doing so. After the templates are completed, have student write their masterpieces!!
The Elements and Before You Begin sections should be discussed/taught using active participation techniques. I find it helpful to walk through the entire template with struggling learners and create a group novel together.
Another way to use the template: This is a wonderful, standards-based project for individuals, Gifted or advanced, who finish their work quickly and like to be challenged.
Sight Word “Go Fish” and Concentration
These are engaging versions of Go Fish! and Concentration that use Dolch Sight Words rather than numbers for these fun and engaging games. The decks of cards are Dolch lists.
This packet includes:
Pre-K -40 words – 160 card deck
K – 52 words -204 card deck
1st Grade – 41 words 204 card deck
Go Fish First! This is an engaging version of Go Fish! that uses Sight Words rather than numbers rather than numbers. The decks of cards are Dolch lists.
Copy cards on cardstock. (Avery 5271 Business Card template also works and makes cutting easier!)
Laminate for durability.
Each player gets five cards.
If you are dealt four of a kind, or get four of a kind during game play, those cards are removed from your hand, and you get a point.
Moving clockwise, players take turns asking a specific player for a given word card: “Do you have any “the”s?
The person with the most packs of four at the end of the game wins.
*Option: If you want to put backs on the cards – the last page can be used to copy the backside of each set.
*Note: Mix and match the cards any way you wish. Some of the sets are large – break them up but be mindful of needing to keep “packs” of four together.
The font is KG Behind These Hazel Eyes. I have paid for a license; however, since you are using this resource for your class and are printing the Word version – you may download the font for free. I chose this particular font because the “a”s are: a and easier for students to read.
Concentration Rules
Use the same cards as for Go Fish!
Game Set Up:
1. Shuffle, or mix up, the cards well
2. Place each card face down in rows and columns
Game Play
1. Each player takes a turn by turning two cards over.
2. If the cards match, then the player picks up the cards and keeps them
3. If they don't match, the player turns the cards back over
Included:
Pre-K Dolch Word Card Deck: 40 words – 160 cards
K Dolch Word Card Deck: 52 words – 204 cards
1st Dolch Word Card Deck: 41 Words - 164 cards
Five Minutes to Fluency and Comprehension is a research-based program that easily fits into any busy school day. Five minutes, from start to finish, as students peer read, one and two minute strategically worded passages and stories, partner review and then provide instant feedback.
Five Minutes to Fluency and Comprehension offers a quick, simple and inexpensive way to increase fluency and comprehension. The program is for classroom use, but can easily be incorporated into take home or parent involvement activities.
The instructions are easy to follow, best of all, Five Minutes to Fluency and Comprehension is easy to differentiate, adapt as close readings and effortlessly incorporate Response to Intervention into a whole class or individual setting.
Imperative for understanding, critical thinking and 21st Century learning is the ability for students to analyze primary source documents.
Included in this lesson are copies of the original, handwritten versions of the Emancipation Proclamation, a typewritten "Interactive Reader" version for analysis, student instructions on analyzing primary sources and a Source Document Graphic Organizer.
Primary sources provide a window into the past—unfiltered access to the record of artistic, social, scientific and political thought and achievement during the specific period under study, produced by people who lived during that period.
Bringing young people into close contact with these unique, often profoundly personal, documents and objects can give them a very real sense of what it was like to be alive during a long-past era.
This is a well-rounded poetry lesson including a PPT on Types of Poems and one on Literary Devices and other important aspects of poetry.
This is standards-aligned and comes with 15 poem templates for students to write poetry and create their own chapbooks.
Includes:
Literary Device Quiz
Synonym Poem template
List Poems template
Three Word Forms template
I Don't Understand template
Autobiographical
Autobiographical 2
Diamonte
Formula Poem
Sense Poem
Bull Durham Credo
Limericks
Simile Poem
Free Verse
This No Prep Book Unit is a companion to “Naya: The Inuit Cinderella” by Brittany Marceau-Chenkle and contains over thirty pages of interactive, cross-curricular and engaging activities -- all standards-aligned. This print-and-go unit contains interactive journal pages, a review of Cinderella Elements, essays, social studies assignments, quizzes and a whole lot more. Differentiated for use with the whole class.
Table of Contents
Cinderella Elements
#1: Naya The Inuit Cinderella Problem Solution Interactive Notebook Page
#2: Naya The Inuit Cinderella Character Traits RL.3
#3: Character Traits RL.3
#4: Critical Thinking Literature Questions Interactive Notebook Page
#5: Ask and Answer Questions on Illustrations RL.7
#6: Inferring RL.6
#7: Naya The Inuit Cinderella – What do you think? RL.1 and 3
#8: Problem/Solution Interactive Notebook Page RL.5
#9: Critical Thinking Questions
#10: About Naya The Inuit Cinderella RL 1 and 2
#11: Recounting Naya The Inuit Cinderella
#12: Character Motivation and Evidence RL.5
#13: Visualize the Future
#14 Naya The Inuit Cinderella: Character Conflicts RL.1 and 3
#15 Sentence Sorting RL.2 1, 7, 4, 5, 3, 6, 2
#16 From Sentence Sorting to Essay Writing RL1 and 2
#17: Quick Write: Compare and Contrast RL.9
#18: Text-to-Text RL.9
#19: I Can Answer Questions About the Text RL.1
#20: Notes to Author: Critical Thinking Activity
#21: Moral RL.2
#22: Inferring RL.6
#23 Retell the Story through your Favorite Drawings RL.7
#24: Cause and Effect
#25: The Naya The Inuit Cinderella Report Card
#26: The Naya The Inuit Cinderella Book Review
#27: Non-Fiction Quick Write – The Inuit
#28: Non-Fiction Quick Write – Abut the Author
#29: Thinking Along the Way
#30: Think, Question and Analyze
#31: Book Review
Rubric for Constructed Response
Card game with rhyming word problems (24 cards with answers).
Plus…
76 MORE Task Cards – CCSS Aligned to 4.NBT.1; 4.NBT.2; 4.AO.1-4
Page 4: Game 1 – The Greatest Products Game Rules
Page 5‐14: Game 1: The Greatest Products Game Number Cards
Page 15: Game 2: Do the Division Shuffle Rules
Page 16: Division Shuffle Template
Page 17‐36: Division Shuffle Game Cards (72 number cards)
Page 37: Game 3: Bizz Buzz Rules
Page 38: Game 4: Equation Race
Page 39‐50: Equation Race Equation Cards (46 cards)
Page 51‐52: Equation Race Blank Cards for your own equations
Page 53: Game 5: Let it Roll
Page 54: Let it Roll Game Sheet
This thematic unit contains science, math and literacy across the curriculum activities – as students classify, analyze, inquire about and research snowflakes: including what snow is, snowflake categories, read along research, paragraph writing, 32-math and science task cards and more.
Also included is a PowerPoint presentation to help teach 1st and 2nd graders the process of paragraph writing.
Table of Contents
Page 2 Looking for Winter Instructions and Standards Tie-‐in
Page 3: Looking for Winter – What are the Clues? ELA
Page 4: Looking for Winter: Snowflake Adjective Printable ELA
Page 5: Five Senses ELA/Science Printable
Pages 6-‐7: Adding Snowflakes. Wintery Word Problems. Math
Page 8: Snowflake Science printable. Students read about snowflakes and their shapes. Teacher should read this aloud, as students follow along, and then pair up students to re-‐read and then complete the associated activities. Science, research, ELA
Page 9 -‐ 10: More printables for Snowflake Science. Classification. Two separate activities. Science
Page 11: Mittens Read-‐along Research. Read this page aloud as your students read it silently. Pair students, have them re-‐read the passage and begin their Helping Hand essay. Social Studies, literacy across the curriculum, ELA
Page 12: Instructions for Helping Hand Paragraph on Mittens. ELA, literacy across the curriculum
Page 13: Helping Hand Paragraph Template. ELA, literacy across the curriculum
Page 14-‐15: Mitten Writing Template for students to recopy their Mitten essays and decorate for display.
Page 17-‐18: Snowman Math: Addition number sentences.
Pages 19-‐21: Differentiated Passages. The passages, Mittens (page 11) and Snowflake Science (page 8) are re-‐written to be easier for struggling readers and English Learners to read and comprehend.
Page 22-‐23: A Flurry of Math – Math Game. Math
Bring in March with 20 original nonfiction March-themed Reading and Writing
Warm-ups for Fifth Graders. Each passage is written at three levels: above
grade level, at grade level and below grade level. Sixty passages in all.
Why Reading and Writing Warm‐Ups? Adding just one daily Reading and Writing
Warm‐Up to your schedule takes less than ten minutes a day, promotes the higher
order thinking skills necessary of today’s student and helps build reading fluency
and comprehension skills.
Aligned with the Common Core State Standards, these passages help promote
literacy in all subjects, while providing opportunities for higher order thinking and
reasoning. A reading, Common Core and Bloom’s Taxonomy boost all in one ten
minute a day assignment.
Passages are written to promote vocabulary acquisition. Content vocabulary
repeats allowing readers to familiarize themselves with the same word in different
sentences.
Students learn to write by writing, every day…sentences, paragraphs, essays and
stories. Students also learn to read fluently and across the curriculum by reading
every day…take an extra ten minutes a day to promote that proficiency.
This workbook is designed to cover one-quarter of the Common Core State Standards in English for the 9 and 10th grades. The writing requirements should be used to teach and emphasize all of the Common Core State Standards for Language - as proper grammar usage must be relevant and applicable to real world settings.
This unit is perfect to teach the short fairy tales of the Brothers’ Grimm – Hans in Luck and The Golden Bird. This unit contains a 37-page Interactive Reader – with lessons, quizzes, project-based learning opportunities and more plus 2 PowerPoints – one for the Golden Bird and one for Hans in Luck.
Table of Contents
The Golden Bird page 5
Theme CCSS 9-10 RL.2 page 11
Character Analysis CCSS 9-10 RL.3 page 12
Author’s Choice n Text Structuring CCSS 9-10 RL.4/5 page 13
Digging Deeper: Critical Thinking for 21st Century page 14
Summary Writing CCSS 9-10 W.4/5 page 15
PBL: Multimedia Project page 16
Who Were the Grimm Brothers? Information Text (RI.2) page 17
Hans in Luck page 18
Literary Devices CCSS 9-10 RL.6 page 23
Multi-Media Comparison CCSS 9-10 RL.7 page 25
Writing Arguments CCSS 9-10 W.1 page 26
Non-Fiction: Around the World 1812ish CCSS 9-10 RI.2/7 page 27
PBL CCSS.W1 and W.7 and RH.2 and RH.3
Appendix page 29
Writing Rubric page 30
Critical Response Rubric page 31
References page 32
PowerPoint and Lesson Manual.
Experiments, activities, student templates, observation sheets, snowmen and matter, compare and contrast template, guided reading activity and more! Everything an elementary student needs to know about matter.
Common Core State Standards aligned for 2nd and 3rd English Language Arts
Next Generation Science Standards
2-PS1-1 Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties.
2-PS1-2 Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.
2-PS1-3 Make observations to construct an evidence-based account of how an object made of a small set of pieces can be disassembled and made into a new object.
2-PS1-4 Construct an argument with evidence that some changes caused by heating or cooling can be reversed and some cannot.
This is an engaging No Prep Unit for Groundhog’s Day that includes: Readers’ Theater scripts, Science Literacy and Comprehension activity, vocabulary, labeling, story writing, graphic organizers and more.
19-pages of fun!