Less than $5 8th Grade Tools for Common Core Resources (by date, oldest first)

Students create avatars with this 22 page handout is based on character traits and character flaws. Students debate for a seat on a lifeboat to survive a luxury cruise shipwreck. Uses social skills combined with ELA skills to practice compare and contrast, fact-based arguments and persuasion. Includes:

Directions

Character Trait List with Definition

Character Flaw List with Definition

12 Male Avatars

12 Female Avatars

Lifeboat Scenario

Group Chart with Note Taking section

Character Reflection Sheet

Extra Resources

Optional Writing, Project, and Video Assignments

Excellent for small/whole group, whether at-risk/GT/AP, that uses character traits and fact-based evidence/proof to practice decision making processes and expository writings.

Become a news reporter and write your own daily column with these 22 inferencing, journalism writing activities. Newspaper format and great graphics are easy for students to work with. Uses writing process and peer workshopping strategies. Comes with two blank templates for creative fun and one lined page for extra writing space. Includes optional media and technology projects for differentiated classrooms. Excellent for use with relationship words, time order, fact vs. opinion, and more...Meets CCSS.

Engage students in the college readiness selection process with this interactive, small/whole group lesson plan to help uncover what type of college is best--small or large.

8 slides include:

Differences between small & large colleges

Characteristics of each

online video links of students

college selection resources by professionals & students

College research project to present information discovered

A fun learning experience for students who need to think about college and narrow their choices. Also, works for parents who need to compare/contrast colleges. Great for individual/group activities, Parent/Student College Night activity, homeschool, etc....

Meets Common Core State Guidelines for ELA/College Readiness.

Use with FREE "Choosing a College Major" at https://www.TeachShare.com/Product/Choosing-a-Major-First-Year-College-Skills-122877

The 20 slide PowerPoint with peer workshopping activities introduces: Sentences: beginnings, dialogues Proper Nouns: people, I, my Specific Places and Dates: General vs. Specific, Days of Week/Month, Holidays Everyday Life: Organizations, Companies, Institutions, Specific Products, Aircrafts, Ships, Spaceships, Ethnic Names, Languages, Nationalizations, Religions Extra Resources Examples are given so students can follow authors' imitations. Easy explanations of color-coded rules and guidelines for using capital letters sentences and essays. Peer workshopping activities help reinforce capital letter rules.

Connect fact based, real life writing to process/patterned writing by having students "Write an Award Winning Business Letter". The 16 slide presentation includes: Parts of a business letter: date, inside address, greeting/salutation, body, closing, signature line Examples of 6 parts Checklist Extra resources Easy to follow and can be used with individuals,small or whole groups. Easily guides students through the process of writing business letters. Be sure to send letters once they are finished!

An easy-to-follow guide to using and writing effective titles: what to capitalize, what to italicize, plus includes examples of effective titles, and discussion slides of famous novels and their alternate titles: 1984 Gone With the Wind The Great Gatsby Treasure Island Vanity Fair Also, includes an activity slide for writing titles with articles, pictures, and essays. There are 12 slides.

40 prompts to help students with on-demand writing. Each handout has a black and white image to color that is non-fiction, real life related. Factual, lined page, story starters for critical thinking, assessment-style, standardized writing practice. Topics include: In my future, I see... Some people say I'm a dreamer... The road of life has many obstacles... The root system of a tree is as complicated as... Home represents... If I could soar like a bird... To walk a mile in another's shoes... The world's future is.... One of the biggest exaggerations I've heard or told was... I have a place in my heart for... Gossip spreads like wildfire. An example of this is... My friends are as unique as leaves on a tree... plus so many more fact-based prompts... Full page lined writing handout for 2 sided copying Copy and handout to students for on-demand, non-fiction writing practice, diagnostic testing, assessment practice, peer workshopping practice, and more. Meets Common Core and State ELA Standards for writing.

Do your students have trouble determining when to use "I" or "Me"? This easy-to-follow PowerPoint includes: Simplified Rules for Using"I" and "Me" Easy to follow Examples Peer Workshopping Activity This to-the-point presentation is for individual, small, or whole group introduction and review.. Make learning to use "I' or "Me" easy!

16 Halloween coloring images with holiday word banks that include: Cats Bats Dracula Frankenstein Ghosts Pirate Pumpkins Trick or Treat Witches Zombies and more... Includes Suggestions For Use sheet and template to create your own vocabulary word bank. Upper levels can use for poetry and contest writing. Fun way to assess writing skills in an ELA classroom. Grab a blanket and flashlight, turn on the lighted pumpkin, and have a classroom read-around of Halloween stories!

Do you feel like part educator and part entertainer? Try this 32 slide, training presentation to encourage and empower first-year teachers, to revive veteran teachers, or to help students understand brain based learning. Activities include: Templates for active learning based classroom lectures Lecture vs. Active Learning Active vs. Passive Learning Speech Rates of Teachers Left/Right Brain Quiz Comprehension Postcards Connectors/Icebreakers Multigenre Connector Activitiy Find Someone Who Connector Finding Patterns Learning to Chunk Research Extensive Resources section Fun learning facts Excellent for professional development, implementing active learning strategies, and enhancing active learning libraries. Easy, fun, and educational!

Everything students need to know to understand, practice, and write paraphrases, summaries, and ellipses. Includes: Easy to Understand Definitions Examples Practice Activity Slides Extra Resources Individual or group practice writing slides helps students apply skills to transfer to future research projects. Use for assessment of skills. Meets CCSS.

15 Commonly Confused Words A-I with engaging activities for students to learn. Includes:

A-I 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. accept except

2. aloud allowed

3. bare bear4. brake break

5. coarse course6. council counsel

7. desert dessert

8. dose doze

9. envelope envelop

10. forbear forebear

11. grisly grizzly

12. glance glimpse

13. hair hare

14. hole whole

15. ingenious ingenuous

Students will have fun learning these Commonly Confused Words.

Every April, students can celebrate Tell-a-Story Day, which occurs at the end of the month. This 16 page handout will help students with organizing and telling fact-based stories. Great for building oral communication, evidence/proof, and re-telling memories. Includes: Finding storytelling topics Graphic Organizers for planning stories in chronological order Setting up a storytelling event Designing advertisements/invitations Peer workshopping stories Links to multicultural, professional, international/national storytelling centers, storytelling videos and websites Can be used any time of the year! Students will enjoy sharing stories while learning how to use fact-based information. Fun and educational!

Twitter-like page with tweets handouts for social media discussions and short responses, such as main ideas, paraphrasing and summarizing. Includes: Directions and Suggestions for Use ______'s Page for creating a social media page Top 5 Trending, Add Pic/Photo, Subjects to Share, Banner, @_________ new social media name Tweets boxes with 140 spaces for writing short responses Use with CCSS and other state aligned materials to help students with short answer responses. Fun way to include social media an discussions about appropriate online guidelines and posts!

Free checklist of parts of an introductory literary analysis for AP, Pre-AP, G/T, college level writers. Students are asked to locate: Hook--different kinds list Author's name Title of text Summary Area of literary analysis list Thesis, and write down your thesis Makes writing an introduction for a literary analysis easier to understand. Great for ELA test prep! Meets CCSS.

Complete set of 7 graphic organizers for cause and effect writings. Easy to use and follow, and comes with: Cause and Effect Relationship Word Chart Cause and Effect Topics Sheet Categories: Arts, Humanities, Music, Education, STEM 7 different Graphic Organizers to Xerox Writing Tips Writing Challenges Reinforces fact based writing, cause and effect relationship words, planning stage, working with writing process, and peer workshopping. Critical thinking skills needed! Great for ELA and STEM connections, AP, charter, ESL, GT, dual credit, and homeschool students.

15 World War posters with ELA/SS/History writing activities or discussion starters for secondary students. Use as individual assignments or with small/whole group settings. Excellent graphics with 3 thought provoking prompts per each page.Includes: use: Propaganda (Definitions, Activity for defining, and application of) Critical thinking skills Analysis Explanation Illustrating Inferencing Designing Problem Solving Segregation and much more! Excellent for teaching fact-based, textual evidence with inferencing and critical thinking, as well as for standardized testing practice.

Students are Hollywood stars in this movie-themed, narrative writing project. Differentiated writing project Includes: Brainstorming handouts Plot line for upper level students Lined essay paper Credits/playbill page Directions for use Narrative definition Project Extensions for GT/AP Supplemental Resources Fun, engaging format for working with narrative writing. Use as introduction to narratives or for assessment purposes. Meets CCSS.

Get students thinking about presidential elections and political campaign promises with 16 handouts that generate higher level learning.The journal-like prompts include historical facts that will have students wondering, "What if.I was president..?" Social issues to write about include:

family issues

government growth

importing goods

internet issues

laws and rules

leadership style

national debt

national security

social security

space exploration

succession

transportation problems

war

world peace

There are sixteen famous presidents, with their greatest accomplishments. Included are: Adams, Bush, Clinton, Cleveland, Coolidge, Eisenhower, Jackson, Johnson, Kennedy, Lincoln, Nixon, Reagan, Roosevelt,Washington

Includes Extra Resources (videos, web-links) and Ideas for Use in the classroom.

Can be used with English, Government, History classes.

What's it take to be a peer workshopper? This quick introduction to peer workshopping will help students understand the process and includes a Peer Workshopping Checklist, as well as an example, to get students started! Use with college prep, homeschool, flipped classrooms, upper level learners, higher ed, and teacher training/professional development programs to introduce what peer workshopping is and how to get started. Excellent prep for writing tests. Follows Common Core and State Assessment Writing guidelines.