TeacherResources
Here are a few things that have helped me out over the past few years. In the Lesson Supplements section, you'll find some in-class resources that worked well when incorporated into the lesson. If interested, I also have more tools below that you may find helpful for other units and books, listed under "Lesson Supplements." Feel free to use the Contact section of my site to let me know if you'd like more information about those resources.
LanguageArts
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- NaNoWriMo - The National Novel Writing Month's Young Writer's Program. Our school has done this for two years now with our 7-10th graders and it's an incredibly fun writing challenge.
- Read, Write, Think - I know many language arts educators are familiar with this site, but I always find something new and engaging each time I frequent it.
- "Claim, Quote, Comment" - Ever tempted to knock your head against your desk because you can't seem to get your students to properly integrate quotes into an essay? I've been there! Life, however, became much easier when a fellow teacher showed me the "CQC" method. This helpful guide found from a Wisconsin school district made things more straightforward. Suddenly, my eighth grade students' Animal Farm essays became so much more pleasant to read!
- Purdue Owl - The Purdue Owl Writing Lab is an extraordinary resource and probably my favorite all-in-one writing destination on the web.
- Types of Plagiarism - The links here are tools I've shown my students every year since I stumbled across this website, as it talks about different types of plagiarism from the "Potluck Paper" to "The Misinformer." The whole site is really worth checking out.
- Rubistar - In their words, "a tool to help the teacher who wants to use rubrics, but does not have the time to develop them from scratch." They have templates and you can even create your own. Very helpful.
- BibMe - No one I know really wants to memorize how to cite papers from twelve different types of sources. Though BibMe can't help with everything, it makes some citations go by much faster.
- TEP Charter - An intriguing experiment on the results of paying qualified and accountable teachers what they are worth. Be sure to check out their "3 R's" for interested teachers. Here is also a 2008 news article from the New York Times detailing a little more of the school's philosophy.
- Web 2.0: Cool Tools for Schools - I actually came across this site while looking at past portfolios from the MAED capstone class. Talk about the benefits of sharing resources!
RecommendedBooks
Language Arts
Teacher Leadership
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LessonSupplements
I wish I had more time to upload everything, but I have also created summative projects/presentations for students to complete for various units, if any could be helpful for you to use or modify. They are for the following eras/books: Medieval Era, the Renaissance, the Restoration, Understanding Rhetoric (ethos, pathos, logos), contemporary world literature selections, folk tales, Wuthering Heights, Huck Finn, The Jungle, Things Fall Apart, Animal Farm, Frankenstein, The Outsiders, The Skin I'm In, and The House on Mango Street.
In addition, i have project ideas for "The Most Dangerous Game" and Romeo and Juliet that I've scavenged off the internet.
Of course, if you have anything to share, I'd be very excited to learn what has worked in your classroom!
Finally, below are some fun things I did in my middle school classroom to spice up those language arts lessons. Hopefully you can either use these or modify them to suit the needs of your students!
In addition, i have project ideas for "The Most Dangerous Game" and Romeo and Juliet that I've scavenged off the internet.
Of course, if you have anything to share, I'd be very excited to learn what has worked in your classroom!
Finally, below are some fun things I did in my middle school classroom to spice up those language arts lessons. Hopefully you can either use these or modify them to suit the needs of your students!
Agreement Jeopardy
A Jeopardy game to practice subject-verb agreement and pronoun-antecedent agreement |
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Parts of Speech Jeopardy
A Jeopardy game that works with verbs, adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections. |
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Cause & Effect Lesson
A pre-writing instructional tool I created before jumping in to cause-and-effect essays with my 8th graders. |
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Persuasive Essay Lesson
An earlier PowerPoint I made to help middle school students before they beginning a persuasive essay. |
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Animal Farm
A pre-reading introduction to George Orwell's Animal Farm that I created for my 8th grade reading class. It covers the basic historical context in Russia, an essential part of understanding the novel. |
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