Less than $5 7th Grade ELA Test Prep Lesson

Challenge your students with a deep exploration of figurative language with this complete, standards-aligned lesson plan centered on Langston Hughes’ classic poems Dreams and Harlem. Perfect for grades 6-8, this 60-minute lesson introduces and reinforces figurative language skills with a variety of Depth of Knowledge (DOK) levels, from identification to detailed analysis. Through engaging activities, guided notes, fill-in-the-blank practice, and insightful discussions, students will strengthen their understanding of metaphors, similes, personification, hyperbole, repetition, and more!

What's Included:

• Do Now Prompt: Connect students personally to the theme of dreams and aspirations.
• Guided Notes & Slides: Fill-in-the-blank notes and a comprehensive slide deck introduce and review key figurative language concepts.
• Figurative Language Practice Handout: Allows students to identify and categorize figurative language independently or in pairs.
• Detailed Analysis of Dreams and Harlem: Thought-provoking questions and guided analysis help students apply figurative language skills in context, from interpreting similes and metaphors to discussing theme.
• Reflection and Discussion: Encourages students to connect poetic themes to real life and deepen their understanding of how figurative language enhances literature.

Why Teachers Love It: This resource provides a complete and flexible plan that fits seamlessly into any poetry or figurative language unit, with resources to support all stages of learning—from foundational identification to advanced interpretation. It’s ideal for introducing figurative language or deepening students’ analysis skills, making it a versatile addition to any ELA classroom.

Key Features:

• Differentiated Levels of Analysis: Activities move from DOK Level 1 (identifying figurative language) to DOK Levels 3-4 (interpreting meaning and thematic connections).
• Engagement-Boosting Content: Uses two of Hughes’ most powerful poems to explore big ideas about dreams, aspirations, and consequences, making learning relevant and impactful.
• Aligned with Language Standards: Perfect for reinforcing figurative language standards through high-interest texts.

Boost your students' confidence with figurative language and inspire thoughtful conversations with this enriching lesson plan! Download today to elevate your poetry and figurative language instruction with this ready-to-use, engaging resource!

Unlock the power of sentence revision and combination with this comprehensive resource tailored for both high school and middle school English students. Designed to enhance critical thinking skills while honing essential writing abilities, this teaching tool offers a dynamic blend of test preparation materials, engaging worksheets, and collaborative group activities.

What's Inside:

• 15 pages of meticulously crafted PDF worksheets that cover a spectrum of sentence revision and combination exercises.
• 22 PowerPoint slides packed with visually stimulating content to reinforce concepts and aid comprehension.
• 3 versatile activities catered for independent work, group collaboration, and a summative assessment, ensuring diverse learning experiences for every student.

Benefits:

• Ideal for test preparation, this resource equips students with the necessary skills to tackle revising and editing tasks with confidence.
• Foster critical thinking abilities through challenging exercises that encourage students to analyze and improve upon existing sentences.
• Suitable for both individual study and group work, promoting collaborative learning and peer-to-peer support.
• Enhance writing proficiency by mastering the art of sentence structure, coherence, and cohesion.

Whether you're gearing up for standardized testing or seeking to bolster writing skills in the classroom, this resource offers a comprehensive toolkit for educators and students alike. Get ready to elevate your English curriculum with engaging activities that inspire growth, mastery, and creativity.

Make end mark punctuation easy to use for students! 13 slide pdf has student examples, peer workshopping activities, tips for writer as reader, reading with emotion, clarity, and meaning, as well as dangling and misplaced modifiers.Includes "Dear Jack" letter as a fun punctuation piece and "That Is" to get students to think about how punctuation affects meaning.Also, comes with Peer Workshopping End Punctuation Mark Check List handout.Great for introducing basic skills for emergent writers or for reviewing basic skills for test prep. Meets CCSS ELA.

Theme Analysis Made Simple! This resource includes a mini lesson, list of thematic topics, and theme analysis graphic organizers to explore the story element theme, making it perfect for any unit or novel study.

The resource includes:

• Mini Lesson (Google Slides): An engaging presentation that introduces the concept of theme, guiding students in distinguishing it from the main idea and exploring its significance in storytelling.
• Common Thematic Topics List: A curated list of thematic topics to help students recognize and connect recurring themes across different texts.
• Graphic Organizers (3 Choices): Versatile templates for students to organize their thoughts and evidence when analyzing themes, supporting deeper engagement with the texts they read.

This resource is ideal for deepening students' understanding of how conflicts shape character development and story progression!

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Are you trying to make theme sticky for your students? This resource includes practice worksheets for three short films under 5 minutes long: Piper, The Present, Pip available on Youtube for free. Students will love the beautiful graphics of the films, and the heart warming lessons to learn from each. I love using these films as mini lessons of about 10 minutes each or you can combine all three into a 30 minute practice session. This can be used virtually or in person, as extension activities or as direct instruction!

Piper: https://youtu.be/WIPV1iwzrzg

The Present: https://youtu.be/WjqiU5FgsYc

Pip: https://youtu.be/07d2dXHYb94

Free Bonus: Using Pixar to teach Somebody wanted, but, so then (Summary!) with answer keys.

What is it?

Micro texts are made with the intention of getting to the skill or the practice students need FASTER. Each text is less than 400 words. All of the 16 questions is aligned to finding the "bullseye" and helping students think critically about the answer choices and how they can apply critical thinking to get the right answer every time. It also encourages students to read each question and not choose an answer that "feels right".

What's included?

• Google Slides (56 slides)

• PowerPoint (56 slides)

• PDF (26 pages)

• Editable Word file

• Four total passage

• Two micro argumentative texts

• Two micro informational passages

• 16 questions

• Teaching Slides

• Bullseye for students to practice the strategy

• A simple answer key is included as well as a detailed rationale page.

Who's it for?

- Middle and high school

- Teachers who want to teach test strategies before exams

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• Everything Writing

30 non-fictional and fictional story starters with black and white images for coloring and colored images for laminating and re-using. Each handout is lined for writing. Meets Common Core and State Standards. Objectives include: Factual versus Fictional characteristics Genre writing Writing Process Paragraphing skills Transition/relationship words Organization skills Time order Sentence Structures Punctuation Word Choices/Vocabulary Building Problem Solving Directions: Use with small/whole groups. Copy, laminate or place on company desktops or project from overhead projectors Students take turns and add one sentence at a time to build non-fictional and fictional stories. Variations: Set time limits to practice for standardized tests Use as individual writing prompts Use as storytelling prompts for pre-k/k/1/ESL Use with graphic organizers for pre-writing strategies Send home as family activities When finished with writings, do peer workshoppings/whole class edits Revise stories for read-around/publications Display by genre and share with whole school Educational, fun way to enhance students' writing skills

Need to teach tone? Do it in a way your students will immediately understand through greeting cards! This is such a great way to also introduce non-fiction elements such as audience, message, and purpose.

The cards are simple to understand but require a little inferencing too. Using greeting cards means it's a lesson where students can learn and practice quickly.

The lesson has increased complexity, gradual release through group and independent work, and is adapted with a word bank.

What's Included:

• Detailed lesson on what tone is and isn't
• How to identify tone.
• Notes template for students to fill in during the lesson.
• Group practice with explanation.
• Individual practice.
• A two question formative assessment.

For Middle Grade Students, all writers have it, but do you know what style is and how to recognize it? This 15 page presentation for will help students understand and analyze their own writing styles, as well as other authors' styles. Easy to follow format will have students analyzing style in no time! Includes: Checklist for Authors Handout Definitions for Author's Style . Examples of Classic Literature and Fairy Tale to Analyze How to Find Author's Style in Writing Extra Style Analysis Activities Author's Style Workshopping Handout How and Why to Improve Student's author's style Terminologies and definitions include: Audience—listeners, readers, viewers of work Author’s voice—sets writing apart from others; uniqueness of writing Genre—category/organization pattern of writing Purpose—intent of writing Mood—reader’s emotion to the writing Tone—author’s attitude about subject matter Sentence fluency—cadence, flow, transitions used Sentence variety—lengths/mixture of sentences Word choices—descriptions, figurative language, repetitions, synonyms… Excellent for introducing style, writing concepts, standardized testing reviews, class assessments, college readiness, CCSS, literacy centers, and grammar/editing revisions, Students will be able to identify their authors' styles after working through this presentation.

15 Commonly Confused Words J-W with engaging CCSS activities for students to learn. Includes: J-W game with fill-in-the-blank, definitions, make your own sentences/slides (individual/groups & competitive play) 2 Crossword puzzles with Commonly Confused Words 2 Word Searches with Commonly Confused Words All answer sheets included Directions and Suggestions with Extensions Words used are: 1. jewel joule 2. knew new 3. know no4. lay lie 5. loose lose6. moral morale 7. morning mourning 8. nose knows 9. none no one 10. passed past 11. pole poll 12. principal principle 13. rain reign 14. road rode15. sight site cite 16. stationary stationery 17. their there they’re 18. to too two 19. warn worn 20. weather whether Students will have fun learning these Commonly Confused Words.

Common Core approach to Persuasive writing using step-by-step instructions for students. Includes 20 pages of: Definition Persuasive vs. Argumentative Whole/small group and individual activities Ethical Writers Examples of Thesis/Topic Sentences/Details/Facts... Using Figurative Language Outlines Peer Workshopping Persuasive Scoring Rubric (Revision friendly to master skills) Extra Resources: video presentations, handouts, and ESL links Easy to follow and use with students in grades 4 and up. Meets CCSS Opinion and Argument Writing requirements.

A quick, two page review of Grammar Tips (sentence variety with examples and reader as writer instructions) along with a five-step format for structuring standardized essays. Easy to follow with color-coded examples.

What is multigenre writing, and how can you use it in your classroom? This Common Core, across-curriculum, interactive presentation includes: Fact-based/non-fiction or fictional Defining: "Multi" and "Genre" Student examples of multigenre projects Interactive small group activity for introducing multigenre Research and extra resources on multigenres 2 levels of assignments: lower and upper Brainstorming Topics chart Find Your Topic graphic organizer Multigenre list for choosing types of writings Peer Workshopping guide Supplemental Resources Works Cited Ready to use with students, and a great way to re-visit an old topic or to revive research essays, whether using non-fiction or fiction. Can be used to introduce topics or as assessment for unit or research for any discipline.. Multigenre activities are engaging, educational, meaningful, and fun.