“After Twenty Years” by O. Henry is a great story for students to read out loud! Read on to see how I teach this story, and print a free handout in the link below! In my classroom, I require my students to complete a close read of the first paragraph. This first paragraph can be intimidating […]
My lesson plans for “Amigo Brothers” by Piri Thomas include the right amount of Common Core standards and fun! Click the link below for our FREE handouts! Before we read the story, I teach my students a little boxing terminology and even have them mimic a few boxing moves (not on each other LOL, but in […]
This past year I introduced my students to O. Henry’s “Hearts and Hands” for the first time. To make things fun, I decided to allow students to read the story readers’ theater style. I typed up the story as a script, put the students in groups, and had them read it aloud. I provided them […]
“The Ruum” by Arhur Porges is most likely the hardest story in our seventh grade Literature book for students to read. This means the story is perfect for a “close read”. The problem is that many students just don’t know how to read closely. After I had my students read several paragraphs and groan the […]
Every October, we read the short story “Three Skeleton Key” by George G. Toudouze in my seventh grade classrooms. My lesson plans for “Three Skeleton Key” include Common Core standards as well as a lot of fun! This story is great to read around Halloween because it has some of the elements of horror! Being […]
“The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” is one of the best teleplays to read with middle school students! We use The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street Common Core activities while reading this play, but we have a little fun as well! Before students even know anything about the story, odd things begin to happen in […]
Here’s good news! This page has a link to free Because of Winn-Dixie lesson plans! Yipee! Because of Winn-Dixie is a heart-warming story that makes a perfect class read-aloud or independent novel study. Though this book is used in many elementary classes, it is also the perfect read for a middle school student. In […]
It never fails. I return to school after summer break and spend the few days before the students return anxiously gathering all of my resources on how to teach writing. I am determined to find a new formula, a fresh approach, and a brilliant curriculum that will inspire the most reluctant students and transform my […]
ELA Core Plans provides teacher-written lesson plans, bellringers, and novel units designed to coordinate with Common Core State Standards.
