Say hello to a platform dedicated to industrious, yet overtasked teachers like you. Say goodbye to countless hours spent developing relevant and engaging ELA lessons. Whether you are teaching the fundamentals of grammar, creative writing skills, classic literature, or contemporary fiction, you will find thousands of activities and assessments to help you achieve a healthier work-life balance without sacrificing academic rigor.
Say hello to a platform dedicated to industrious, yet overtasked teachers like you. Say goodbye to countless hours spent developing relevant and engaging ELA lessons. Whether you are teaching the fundamentals of grammar, creative writing skills, classic literature, or contemporary fiction, you will find thousands of activities and assessments to help you achieve a healthier work-life balance without sacrificing academic rigor.
This media project complements broadcast journalism courses or feature writing units.
The primary objective of this project is for students to produce a feature segment on an extracurricular club of their choice, which may then be used by the school for promotional purposes.
This project reinforces the principles of quality interviewing skills, as well as organization and prioritization of details using the inverted pyramid technique. Further, it promotes the conventions of broadcast writing.
This .zip file contains all the materials I use for this project. The items are .docx files for easy editing.
Included are:
1. A project description.
2. Brainstorming materials designed to maximize student learning about their chosen club (functionally speaking, a KWL).
3. A document on which students jot down open-ended questions to ask an interviewee, plus a reflective piece to ensure students have written quality questions.
4. A prewriting document designed to help students discern vital information from lesser information, aligned to the inverted pyramid concept.
5. An exemplar script modeling the conventions of writing for broadcast, plus instructions for how to write for broadcast.
6. An evaluation rubric.
Reduce teacher workload, measure general reading comprehension, and promote homework accountability with this printable quiz on “The Wife’s Story” by Ursula K. Le Guin. An answer key is included. Questions pertain to the following key details:
The narrator’s emotional state
The narrator’s characterization of her husband
The relationship between the narrator and her sister
A quality about the narrator’s husband that “brings the shivers on” her
The moon’s role in the husband’s transformation
The “curse in his blood”
The husband’s tendency to leave home abruptly
The husband’s strange smell upon returning
The children’s fear of their own father
A physical transformation
The story’s resolution
This bundle of 20 assessments (10 objective versions and 10 alternate short answer versions) measures general reading comprehension and holds students accountable for understanding general plot details about George Orwell’s 1984. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats.
Questions pertain to the following key details:
“Big Brother is watching you”
Setting
Winston’s job
The telescreen and its purpose
The ironic role of the Ministry of Peace
Characteristics of proles
Writing as an act of rebellion
The Party’s efforts to stir up hate
Winston’s feelings toward the Party
Winston as a thought-criminal
Winston’s fear of the Thought Police
The Junior Spies and their job
Public executions of the Party’s dissidents
Winston’s dream involving O’Brien’s voice
Winston’s dream involving his mother
A government purge
Physical jerks
Why it is so difficult to recall one’s childhood
Oceania’s enemy country
Communication via the telescreen
Comrade Withers
The concept of “unpersoning” an individual
The purpose of Newspeak
Understanding Doublespeak
Syme’s intelligence and Winston’s concerns about it
Ironic messaging from the Ministry of Plenty
Winston’s diary entry
The government’s goal concerning sexual behavior
Winston’s ex-wife
Winston’s internal strife
Winston’s assessment on who would best stage a revolt against the government
Winston’s reasoning behind the aforementioned assessment
The logic as to why the proles would not likely stage a revolt
Living conditions
A photograph and Winston’s concerns about it
Winston’s belief on how reality should be determined
Winston’s curiosity about actual history (not the Party-sanctioned accounts of it)
Winston’s fear over being followed
An alternative to the Thought Police’s torture
The irony of Julia’s message to Winston
Analysis of Julia’s comment, " We’re not dead yet."
Hate Week
The prisoner transport
Winston’s reaction to Julia’s very personal admission
Primary influences on Julia’s behaviors
How the government manipulates people into frenzy
Winston’s alarming admission about his ex-wife
The room Winston rents
Julia’s encounter with a rat
The significance of the paperweight
Winston’s imagination as he stares into the paperweight
The expected vanishing of a character
Winston’s reaction to the singing of a prole woman
The hate song and other preparations for Hate Week
Julia’s accusations against the Party
An encounter with O’Brien
O’Brien’s offer to Winston
Winston’s nightmare
Winston’s previous belief that he was responsible for his mom’s death
A flood of memories returning
The Party’s influence on its members
How Winston and Julia are jeopardizing their own safety
Winston and Julia’s desire to join the Brotherhood
An encounter with O’Brien
Winston’s feelings after his meeting with O’Brien
Winston’s 90-hour work week
Oceania’s new enemy
Goldstein’s book
A singing prole woman
“We are the dead”
The picture on the wall and what it conceals
The sudden appearance of troops
A realization about Mr. Charrington
Winston’s imprisonment
A prole woman with the last name of Smith
An imprisoned poet and his crime
Parson’s imprisonment and his crime
Who turned Parsons in for his crime
Winston’s suicidal thoughts
O’Brien’s torture techniques/methods of persuasion
The Party’s efforts to control the mind
Winston’s growing appreciation for O’Brien
The Party’s efforts to eliminate their opposition
O’Brien’s comments about Julia
Room 101
Winston’s efforts to see the Party’s way
Winston’s nightmare
Winston’s confession that he still hates the Party
Winston’s worst nightmare and O’Brien’s most effective torture technique
Winston’s means of getting out of his torturous situation (betrayal)
A reunion at the Chestnut Tree Cafe
Winston’s ultimate feelings about Big Brother
Evaluate general reading comprehension and eliminate assessment planning responsibilities with this set of two quizzes covering Book 3, chapters 4 through 6, of George Orwell’s 1984. A multiple choice quiz and short answer option are included. Use one for post-reading comprehension checks, and use the other as a guided reading worksheet or re-assessment opportunity. Answer keys are also provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the following:
Winston’s nightmare
Winston’s confession that he still hates the Party
Room 101
Winston’s worst nightmare and O’Brien’s most effective torture technique
Winston’s means of getting out of his torturous situation (betrayal)
A reunion at the Chestnut Tree Café
Winston’s ultimate feelings about Big Brother
News about the war
Evaluate general reading comprehension and eliminate assessment planning responsibilities with this set of two quizzes covering Book 3, chapters 1 through 3, of George Orwell’s 1984. A multiple choice quiz and short answer option are included. Use one for post-reading comprehension checks, and use the other as a guided reading worksheet or re-assessment opportunity. Answer keys are also provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the following:
Winston’s imprisonment
A prole woman with the last name of Smith
An imprisoned poet and his crime
Parson’s imprisonment and his crime
Who turned Parsons in for his crime
Winston’s suicidal thoughts
O’Brien’s torture techniques/methods of persuasion
The Party’s efforts to control the mind
Winston’s growing appreciation for O’Brien
The Party’s efforts to eliminate their opposition
O’Brien’s comments about Julia
Room 101
Evaluate general reading comprehension and eliminate assessment planning responsibilities with this set of two quizzes covering Book 2, chapters 9 and 10, of George Orwell’s 1984. A multiple choice quiz and short answer option are included. Use one for post-reading comprehension checks, and use the other as a guided reading worksheet or re-assessment opportunity. Answer keys are also provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the following:
Winston’s 90-hour work week
Oceania’s new enemy
Goldstein’s book
Crimestop
A singing prole woman
“We are the dead”
The picture on the wall and what it conceals
The sudden appearance of troops
A realization about Mr. Charrington
Evaluate general reading comprehension and eliminate assessment planning responsibilities with this set of two quizzes covering Book 2, chapters 7 and 8, of George Orwell’s 1984. A multiple choice quiz and short answer option are included. Use one for post-reading comprehension checks, and use the other as a guided reading worksheet or re-assessment opportunity. Answer keys are also provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the following:
Winston’s nightmare
Winston’s previous belief that he was responsible for his mom’s death
A flood of memories returning
The Party’s influence on its members
How Winston and Julia are jeopardizing their own safety
Winston and Julia’s desire to join the Brotherhood
An encounter with O’Brien
Winston’s feelings after his meeting with O’Brien
Evaluate general reading comprehension and eliminate assessment planning responsibilities with this set of two quizzes covering Book 2, chapters 4 through 6, of George Orwell’s 1984. A multiple choice quiz and short answer option are included. Use one for post-reading comprehension checks, and use the other as a guided reading worksheet or re-assessment opportunity. Answer keys are also provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the following:
The room Winston rents
Julia’s encounter with a rat
The significance of the paperweight
Winston’s imagination as he stares into the paperweight
The expected vanishing of a character
Winston’s reaction to the singing of a prole woman
The hate song and other preparations for Hate Week
Julia’s accusations against the Party
An encounter with O’Brien
O’Brien’s offer to Winston
Evaluate general reading comprehension and eliminate assessment planning responsibilities with this set of two quizzes covering Book 2, chapters 1 through 3, of George Orwell’s 1984. A multiple choice quiz and short answer option are included. Use one for post-reading comprehension checks, and use the other as a guided reading worksheet or re-assessment opportunity. Answer keys are also provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the following:
The irony of Julia’s message to Winston
Analysis of Julia’s comment: “We’re not dead yet.”
Hate Week
The prisoner transport
Winston’s reaction to Julia’s very personal admission
Primary influences on Julia’s behaviors
How the government manipulates people into frenzy
Winston’s alarming admission about his ex-wife
Evaluate general reading comprehension and eliminate assessment planning responsibilities with this set of two quizzes covering Book 1, chapters 7 and 8, of George Orwell’s 1984. A multiple choice quiz and short answer option are included. Use one for post-reading comprehension checks, and use the other as a guided reading worksheet or re-assessment opportunity. Answer keys are also provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the following:
Winston’s assessment on who would best stage a revolt against the government
Winston’s reasoning behind the aforementioned assessment
The logic as to why the proles would not likely stage a revolt
Living conditions
A photograph and Winston’s concerns about it
Winston’s belief on how reality should be determined
Winston’s curiosity about actual history (not the Party-sanctioned accounts of it)
Winston’s fear over being followed
An alternative to the Thought Police’s torture
Evaluate general reading comprehension and eliminate assessment planning responsibilities with this set of two quizzes covering Book 1, chapters 4 through 6, of George Orwell’s 1984. A multiple choice quiz and short answer option are included. Use one for post-reading comprehension checks, and use the other as a guided reading worksheet or re-assessment opportunity. Answer keys are also provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the following:
Comrade Withers
The concept of “unpersoning” someone
The purpose of Newspeak
Examples of Doublespeak
An explanation of Facecrime
Syme’s intelligence and Winston’s concerns about it
Syme’s work
Ironic messaging from the Ministry of Plenty
Winston’s diary entry
The government’s goal concerning sexual behavior
Winston’s ex-wife
Winston’s internal strife
Evaluate general reading comprehension and eliminate assessment planning responsibilities with this set of two quizzes covering Book 1, chapters 2 and 3, of George Orwell’s 1984. A multiple choice quiz and short answer option are included. Use one for post-reading comprehension checks, and use the other as a guided reading worksheet or re-assessment opportunity. Answer keys are also provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the following:
Winston’s fear of the Thought Police
The Junior Spies and their job
Public executions of the Party’s dissidents
Winston’s dream involving O’Brien’s voice
Winston’s dream involving his mother
A government purge
Physical jerks
Why it is so difficult to recall one’s childhood
Oceania’s enemy country
Communication via the telescreen
Evaluate general reading comprehension and eliminate assessment planning responsibilities with this set of two quizzes covering Book 1, chapter 1, of George Orwell’s 1984. A multiple choice quiz and short answer option are included. Use one for post-reading comprehension checks, and use the other as a guided reading worksheet or re-assessment opportunity. Answer keys are also provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the following:
The setting
The nature of the propaganda disseminated by way of the telescreen
Winston’s professional responsibilities
The ironic role of the Ministry of Peace
The significance of Emmanuel Goldstein
The general characterization of proles
How Winston rebels against the government
The Party’s treatment of enemies of the state
And more
Engage middle and high school students with a classic example of horror and supernatural fiction, “The Monkey’s Paw” by W. W. Jacobs, and use this multiple choice assessment to promote homework accountability and evaluate general reading comprehension. An answer key is included, as well as a copy of the public domain short story. Materials are delivered in printable Word Document and PDF formats. By taking this quiz, students will demonstrate knowledge of the following:
Weather conditions
Interactions among family members
The visitor’s background
Herbert’s initial reaction to the object
Strange observations in a dying fire
The effects of a strange object
The reason Mr. White is reluctant to make subsequent wishes
Ominous sounds
Conflicting motivations of characters
The resolution
This summative test covers William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and includes an answer key, as well as a standards-based rubric for scoring essays. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. By administering this assessment, teachers will evaluate students’ abilities to do the following:
Demonstrate knowledge of aspects of drama including relevant vocabulary and historical context
Demonstrate knowledge significant characters and the key aspects of their lives
Demonstrate knowledge of significant events that transpire
Identify the context of meaningful quotations in the play
Apply knowledge of a variety of literary devices applied in the novel including hyperbole, metaphor, situational irony, dramatic irony, verbal irony, and more
Respond to an essay prompt requiring students to evaluate tragic mistakes characters make
Cite relevant textual evidence in support of claims made in an academic essay
Measure general comprehension and hold students accountable for reading The Adventures of Ulysses by Bernard Evslin with this multiple choice, plot-based quiz covering chapters twelve and thirteen (“Cattle of the Sun” and “Calypso”). An answer key is provided, as is a bonus short answer assessment. Materials are delivered in printable Word Document and PDF formats. Questions pertain to the following important details:
A warning not to harm the golden cattle
30 days and nights of wind
Efforts to scrounge for food
Eurylochus and his lie to Ulysses
Ulysses means of survival
Calypso’s magic
Calypso’s comments about Penelope
Penelope’s weaving and her attempts to delay a major decision
Hermes’ arrival and its foreshadowing
Calypso’s sadness
Help high school Creative Writing students better understand the conventions of adventure fiction and prepare for the drafting of original short stories with this comprehensive, low-prep, standards-aligned unit plan. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. Included are the following:
A detailed, standards-based unit plan articulating the unit’s transfer goal(s), essential question(s), enduring understanding(s), learning target(s), academic vocabulary, formative assessment(s), summative performance task(s), and learning plan(s).
Representative adventure fiction narratives by Jack London (“To Build a Fire”), Richard Connell (“The Most Dangerous Game”), and H.P. Lovecraft (“The Beast in the Cave”).
Worksheets to facilitate analysis of representative literature.
Detailed directions.
Suggested prompts for students who struggle to generate their own ideas
A comprehensive outline for student planning.
A document to facilitate the editing process.
A comprehensive rubric for evaluating student writing.
This summative assessment measures reading comprehension of The Dead and The Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer. It also assesses a student’s ability to write claims in an analysis of the text and its characters using valid reasoning and sufficient evidence. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. A breakdown of content follows.
Part 1. Character Identification.
This matching section features 20 total questions, all of which pertain to the characters of Alex, Briana, Julie, Carlos, Mami, Papi, Uncle Jimmy, Aunt Lorraine, Kevin, Chris, Father Franco, Father Mulrooney, Sister Rita, and Harvey.
Part 2. Plot Recall.
This multiple choice section features 12 total questions. Students must demonstrate that they recall key incidents that occurred throughout the novel.
Part 3. Literary Term Application.
In this multiple choice section featuring 8 total questions, students will be presented with a textual detail that relates to a common literary device, such as foreshadowing, symbolism, metaphor, simile, antagonist, static character, dynamic character, dramatic irony, irony of result, theme, personification, complication, and more. Students must match the appropriate literary device to the given detail.
Part 4. Essay Writing.
Students must choose one of two prompts and write a thoughtful analysis of a character who demonstrates either the character trait of adaptability or perseverance. The student must use sufficient and compelling textual evidence to support their claims and may choose to relay personal anecdotes within their response.
Dystopian fiction and adolescent literature are genres that appeal to the imaginations of many middle and high school students and maximize their ability to relate to literary works. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer is a representative narrative, told from the perspective of a seemingly ordinary teenage girl facing extraordinary conflicts. With this summative test covering the entire novel, English teachers will be able to evaluate students’ comprehensive text comprehension and ability to analyze key characters, plot developments, and themes. Additionally, the self-grading nature of all multiple choice questions helps teachers minimize take-home grading responsibilities. An answer key and standards-based rubric for scoring essays are provided. Materials are delivered in both Word Document and PDF formats.
By taking this assessment, students will:
Demonstrate knowledge of primary and secondary characters and the key aspects of their lives
Demonstrate knowledge of significant events that take place throughout the novel
Apply knowledge of a variety of literary devices applied in the novel including hyperbole, personification, metaphor, simile, allusion, onomatopoeia, situational irony, dramatic irony, and verbal irony
Respond to an essay prompt requiring students to examine the protagonist’s emotional growth and transformation into a genuine hero
Cite relevant textual evidence in support of claims made in an academic essay
Evaluate general reading comprehension and eliminate take-home assessment planning with this bundle of plot-based quizzes covering Susan Beth Pfeffer’s dystopian science fiction novel The Dead and the Gone, the sequel to Life As We Knew It. Although labeled quizzes, these resources may double as guided reading handouts to support purposeful, more active engagement with literature. Answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
