Plans by Mrs B

Halloween is one of those days when students’ minds are everywhere but your classroom. This engaging HyperDocs-inspired activity will keep them busy the entire period exploring the intriguing past of Halloween. Students will discover the history of Halloween through various sources- a short video clip, an infographic, various short text passages, and images. There are 7 short and fun activities for them to respond to including filling in a Halloween timeline and analyzing costumes from the past.

When I first started teaching the RACE strategy for constructed response, I was blown away by how much my students’ writing improved. Often times they had the correct answer, but the way in which they were constructing the answer cost them precious points on tests and benchmarks. RACE is an acronym for Restate, Answer, Cite, and Explain. It is easy to remember and students pick up on it very quickly. I used a variation of this lesson for an observation my very first year of teaching and got rave

STEAL Characterization Lesson and Activities STEAL is an acronym to help students remember the tools used by author to bring characters to life: speech, thoughts, effect on others, actions, and looks. This resource has everything you need to teach students about indirect characterization…. ★ An engaging (and editable!) presentation uses real-life examples and provides frequent checks-for-understanding. ★ Students follow along using the Cloze notes. ★ Then students practice applying the S

VETERANS WEBQUESTIn this engaging mini-research project, students will explore the lives and sacrifices of 7 veterans through different scavenger-hunt type prompts. For example, students will find and read about a veteran who was captured as a Prisoner of War. Throughout the exercise, students will be challenged to consider the many sacrifices veterans make for our country. !!! 11/11/2020 Note: This webquest utilizes the Library of Congress Veterans History Project for research. Today the mai

What better story to teach suspense than Edgar Allan Poe’s masterpiece, 'The Tell-Tale Heart'? This story is one of my all-time favorites and students agree. I love to teach this story in October since it fits right in with the Halloween festivities! This is a week-long unit plan designed to thoroughly teach 'The Tell-Tale Heart' while keeping students engaged and interested in the content. Throughout the week students closely read and analyze the story with a focus on suspense. In addition, st

AboutI developed this lesson plan when I discovered that my students (not yet born when 9/11 happened) knew about the events of that horrible day, but had no understanding of the enormous impact those events have had on our everyday lives. They viewed it as a tragic event that was far removed from their own lives. Yet for many adults, we can point to September 11 as a clear before-and-after marker for our generation. Through this 3-day lesson, students collaborate with a small group to become an

Text Structure Graphic Organizers with Paired Mentor TextsWe all hope that students come into our middle and high school ELA classrooms with the ability to identify text structure. However, this is not always the reality! Even if students do come into class with some knowledge of text structure, they lack the ability to make connections between elementary level cause and effect understanding and the high expectations demanded by Common Core writing. This print and go resource bridges the gap so

Topic versus Theme - Lesson, Notes, and Interactive Activity Determining the difference between a topic and theme is a crucial skill students will need throughout their years in English class. Yet students still like to respond with, “The theme is love” or “The theme is happiness.” I created this resource to teach students not only the difference between a topic and a theme, but also how to identify a theme (which can be tricky). Features ★ 2-day, zero-prep needed lesson and activity ★ Enga

SOAPSTone Text Analysis StrategySOAPSTone is an acronym for Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Speaker, and Tone. It is the BEST way I have found to teach analytical skills to students. You can use this strategy with poetry, nonfiction, speeches, videos, commercials, and even fiction passages (such as monologues). I use SOAPSTone as the starting point for all deep and meaningful text analysis that occurs in my classroom. This resource has the tools you need to teach the strategy as well as tw

About this resource: Bathroom breaks...the dark necessity of classroom life. Students need (want?) to go; you want them to spend class time actually IN class. This system is a happy compromise that greatly reduces the number of restroom breaks my students take. Students get a visual reminder of how many passes they have left. They also get a reward (I use extra credit) for not using the passes at all. I assign passes quarterly, but you can use whatever works for you. ✔ Files come both as P

MLK’s “I Have a Dream” Week-long Unit with Station Activities!Why teach “I Have a Dream” with Stations? Frankly, there are just so many wonderful concepts to explore with this great American speech that it would be a shame to only devote your classes’ attention to one or two aspects. “I Have a Dream” is a treasure trove for English teachers! Not only is it one of the most significant speeches in American history, it also provides the perfect opportunity to utilize nearly all the Common Core info

Teaching students to meet the Common Core’s expectations for argumentative writing can be a challenge. Teenagers seem very skilled at making claims (perhaps due to their natural inclination to having very strong opinions!?), but seem to struggle to find and use effective evidence to support those claims. This 3-day lesson is designed to ease students into using evidence to support claims. Students first learn to identify and evaluate the six main types of evidence before being asked to find evi

Why use Bell Ringers? ✔ Get students engaged and working the minute they walk in your class ✔ Establish a routine that refocuses busy minds ✔ Review concepts ✔ Practice valuable skills ✔ Common Core aligned- no “fluff” here About this resource:This set of Bell Ringers/Warm-ups for secondary English classes is four years in the making! I have tried so many other resources and was not happy for one reason or another. I wanted Bell Ringers that fit into a 10-minute window and weren

Looking for a way to incorporate nonfiction into your classroom? Article of the Week is the perfect way to expose students to a variety of nonfiction articles and promote critical thinking! Article of the Week is the brainchild of the talented Kelly Gallagher. Middle and high school students closely read, analyze, and then write about a current event article each week. Article of the Week is a brilliant way to. . . ✔ Incorporate nonfiction into your classroom ✔ Get students intellige

I made this colorful, modern syllabus template to engage students from the first day of school while setting the tone for an exciting and productive school year. Syllabi don't have to be boring! Students are much more likely to read and keep your syllabus if it is eye-catching and creative. Why Choose This Template?Colorful & Playful Design: Crafted with vibrant hues and playful elements, this template engages students from day one.Fully Editable with Canva: Tailor the template to your specific

Why use Bell Ringers?✔ Get students engaged and working the minute they walk in your class ✔ Establish a routine that refocuses busy minds ✔ Review concepts ✔ Practice valuable skills ✔ Common Core aligned- no “fluff” here About this resource:This set of Bell Ringers/Warm-ups for secondary English classes is four years in the making! I have tried so many other resources and was not happy for one reason or another. I wanted Bell Ringers that fit into a 10-minute window and weren’t too easy or too

Langston Hughes Let America Be America Again Poetry Analysis and Close Read Let America be America Again may not be Hughes' most popular poem, but it is my favorite of his works. The poem is very accessible for students and the message is so relevant in today’s day and age: Who has been left out of the American dream? Let America be America Again is perfect for pairing with stories, novels, and nonfiction texts concerned with Civil Rights. It would also work well when incoporated into Black His

For my fellow teachers who are Swifties at heart (and also those looking for a way to engage and connect with their students!). These figurative language posters feature fan-favorite Taylor Swift lyrics, imagery, and music video references. Students will never look at figurative language the same way again. Why You'll Love This Set:14 High-Quality Posters: Covering key terms like metaphor, simile, alliteration, and more.Taylor Swift Vibes: Each poster is designed with Taylor Swift-inspired col

Why use Bell Ringers?   ✔ Get students engaged and working the minute they walk in your class     ✔ Establish a routine that refocuses busy minds    ✔ Review concepts     ✔ Practice valuable skills     ✔ Common Core aligned- no “fluff” here About this resource:At long last, here is the second quarter of Bell Ringer warm-ups for the 6th-9th grade English Language Arts classroom! The first quarter is available here. Quarter 1 and 2 bundle available here. This set of Bell Ringers/Warm-ups for se

As teachers, we know that effort and determination are the biggest factors in our students’ success. All too often, this message doesn’t get communicated to our students. We often hear, “I can’t...It’s too hard...I’m not good at that.” The best way to shift that negative/fixed thinking is by implementing a growth mindset program. I created this week-long unit for upper grades (specifically high school or advanced middle schoolers) because I could not find quality age-appropriate resources to tea