What Makes a Hero

A comprehensive 60-minute ELA lesson focused on the animated short film 'The Present'. Students explore core reading skills—inferential thinking, prediction, citing evidence, and concrete symbolism—by analyzing the boy, the box, the dog, and the final reveal.

Focuses on using Metaphors and Similes to create powerful figurative imagery. Includes a final "My Poetry Masterpieces" portfolio cover and peer celebration review pages.

Focuses on shape, movement, and visual arrangement with Concrete (Shape) Poems and Free Verse. Provides scaffolded outline guides, word maps, and sensory feeling prompts.

Focuses on structure, rhythm, and sound through Acrostic Poems and Rhyming Couplets. Offers step-by-step graphic templates, letter grids, rhyming dictionaries, and syllable beat counters.

Focuses on Sensory and Color Poetry (Haiku and Color Poems). Students explore imagery using their five senses, utilizing highly visual sensory organizers, word banks, and syllable counters.

A cohesive lesson and drill series designed to help students master the connection between explicit literary devices and the central themes of literary texts.

An interactive, gamified lesson where students become 'Genre Detectives' to identify fiction subgenres and mixed literature genres. Includes an interactive classroom presentation, a printable student recording sheet, and a comprehensive teacher guide with full answer keys.

A planning and writing lesson centered around Joseph Bruchac's novel Two Roads, guiding students to write a structured narrative letter from Cal to Possum with differentiated scaffolding.

A narrative writing lesson based on Joseph Bruchac's novel *Two Roads*, where students write a three-paragraph letter from Cal to Possum detailing his decision about returning to Challagi Indian Industrial School. Includes an anchor chart, a graphic organizer, and a formal assignment sheet with editing support.

Focuses on using Metaphors and Similes to create powerful figurative imagery. Includes a final "My Poetry Masterpieces" portfolio cover and peer celebration review pages.

Focuses on shape, movement, and visual arrangement with Concrete (Shape) Poems and Free Verse. Provides scaffolded outline guides, word maps, and sensory feeling prompts.

Focuses on structure, rhythm, and sound through Acrostic Poems and Rhyming Couplets. Offers step-by-step graphic templates, letter grids, rhyming dictionaries, and syllable beat counters.

Focuses on Sensory and Color Poetry (Haiku and Color Poems). Students explore imagery using their five senses, utilizing highly visual sensory organizers, word banks, and syllable counters.

Students compile their four-sentence creative stories into a comic strip layout, add simple illustrations, and celebrate their storytelling accomplishments.

Students resolve their story's problem, writing their fourth sentence using "Then, ..." and selecting a happy resolution symbol.

Students introduce a simple conflict or surprise for their character, writing a sentence with "Suddenly..." and problem-based action icons.

Students choose a creative setting (such as outer space or a magic forest) and write a sentence using "They are in..." with visual setting prompt cards.

Students invent a fictional character (such as a superhero or friendly animal) and write a sentence describing them using "This is..." and physical descriptors with visual symbols.

Students present their informational posters to peers using verbal or non-verbal communication supports, celebrating their factual discoveries.

Students assemble their key fact, evidence sentence, and concluding statement into a coherent, illustrated informational poster.