LAFS.7.W.1.3Archived Standard

Who knew the eldest Oyster could have saved them all? This lesson is the final lesson in a three-lesson series and can be used on its own or as the culmination of a unit using the poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter" by Lewis Carroll. In this final lesson, the poem's lessons are used to introduce an informational text on bullying and the bystander effect. The lesson involves close reading, chunking the text into digestible parts using a graphic organizer, text-dependent questions, and a narrative essay summative assessment.

Type: Lesson Plan

This two-day lesson, "A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words: From Image to Detailed Narrative," by Traci Gardner, is provided by ReadWriteThink.org, a website developed by the International Reading Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, with support from the Verizon Foundation.

In the lesson, students view an image that tells a story and brainstorm the possible event or situation the image illustrates. Each student then writes a narrative from the point of view of one of the characters, revealing the character's thoughts/feelings and the events that led up to the image or the events that will follow.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will conduct three close readings of an excerpt from Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.

For the first reading, the students will complete a graphic organizer to define select vocabulary words. In the second reading, students will complete another graphic organizer to analyze the types of figurative language used in the story and how they impact the tone and meaning. They will also complete a T-chart comparing and contrasting the sensory details used to describe a before and after of the author's home. In the final reading, students will answer text-based questions about the excerpt. Answer keys for the graphic organizers and text-based questions are included.

The summative assessment, in the form of a narrative/descriptive essay, will require the students to choose a special place of their own and describe it with specific words and figurative language that convey the appropriate tone.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will engage in the narrative writing process to brainstorm ideas, produce organized, thoughtful drafts, provide peer feedback, edit their writing, and produce a final product. Students will create a list of ideas they will use as a basis for their writing. They will also practice each stage of the writing process (brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) during writing workshop. Students will receive feedback from peer reviewers at each step of the way as they perfect their writer's craft. Students will produce a final narrative essay for the summative assessment.

Type: Lesson Plan

Upon reading Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron", students will write a prequel to the text that focuses on the cause or causes that led to the United States becoming a dystopian society by 2081. The students will use logical sequencing to connect the prequel to the original text.

Type: Lesson Plan

This activity engages the students into time scheduling, budgeting, and decision making to maximize time efficiency.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will be able to analyze how Rudyard Kipling uses theme and short story elements to create the classic story, "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi." Students will engage in various pre-reading activities to scaffold background knowledge, vocabulary, and ability to identify theme. Working in cooperative groups will allow students to discuss and evaluate their learning in a non-threatening environment. At the conclusion of the lesson, students will write an original narrative using what they learned in this lesson to create their own story.

Type: Lesson Plan

The goal of this one day exemplar is to give students the opportunity to use the reading and writing habits they've been practicing on a regular basis to discover the rich humor and moral lesson embedded in Twain's text. By reading and rereading the passage closely, and focusing their reading through a series of questions and discussion about the text, students will explore the problem Tom Sawyer faced and how he "solved" his conundrum. When combined with writing about the passage, students will learn to appreciate how Twain's humor contains a deeper message and derive satisfaction from the struggle to master complex text. At the end of the lesson, students are provided two writing prompts to constructive a narrative inspired by Twain's text.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this animated video from TEDed, students will learn why words like "bad" and "good" are not descriptive and have no place in their writing. They will also be able to choose many other more appropriate and expressive words to improve their writing once they finish the video.

Type: Video/Audio/Animation