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All About Me

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In this lesson plan, the traditional autobiography writing project is given a twist as students write alphabiographies—recording an event, person, object, or feeling associated with each letter of the alphabet. Students are introduced to the idea of the alphabiography through a presentation giving the instructions of how to create guidelines for writing their own alphabiographies. Students create an entry for each letter of the alphabet, writing about an important event from their lives. After the entry for each letter, students sum up the stories by writing the life lessons they learned from the events. Since this type of autobiography breaks out of chronological order, students can choose what has been important in their lives. And since the writing pieces are short, even reluctant writers are eager to write!

Material Type: Assessment

Author: Sylvia Castro

Accessing Complex Text Through Structured Conversations

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In this lesson students use a structured format (an adaptation of Think-Pair-Share) to discuss and deconstruct complex text. The new core standards emphasize the importance of developing students' speaking and listening skills as well as helping them access complex text through reading, re-reading, re-thinking, and re-examining.The purpose of this lesson is to get the students to focus and stay on topic while they talk. As a result, students are required to think more extensively about a topic by repeatedly reading and discussing with others.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Plots: Grasping Freytag’s Pyramid

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This seminar focuses on the standard plot line. More than just a beginning, middle, and end, plot lines follow an arc with identifiable actions along the way. In short stories, plays, novels, movies, etc., the Freytag Pyramid structure is recognizable. Throughout this seminar, you will use prior knowledge of plot lines to connect to new reading, along with creating your own plot line with identifiable parts. 

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Authors: Bonnie Waltz, Deanna Mayers, Tracy Rains

Examining Primary Sources from the Civil War

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Primary sources provide firsthand evidence and perspectives of historical events by the person writing them.  Students will read various types of correspondence (letters, diaries, and postcards) and analyze their content.  Students will then take on the role of a citizen and write a letter as if they were part of a major event of the Civil War. 

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Authors: Lynn Ann Wiscount, Erin Halovanic, Vince Mariner