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Murder Mystery Inference Activity: Lamb to the Slaughter Mini Unit
By TooBookedUp
Engage your middle school students with a thrilling 5-day detective unit centered around Roald Dahl's gripping short story, "Lamb to the Slaughter." This comprehensive unit combines critical thinking, inferencing, and multimedia analysis, making it perfect for ELA classrooms. Students will step into the shoes of detectives, analyze texts, watch film adaptations, and compare their experiences, all while meeting key CCSS standards.
What’s Included:
Day-by-Day Breakdown:
Day 1: Introduction to the Detective Activity
Day 2: Writing an Opinion Essay
Day 3: Reading "Lamb to the Slaughter"
Day 4: Comparing Text and Film
Day 5: Final Analysis and Discussion
CCSS Alignment:
This unit aligns with CCSS standards for grades 5-8, focusing on quoting accurately from texts, citing textual evidence, and analyzing multimedia elements. Standards covered include:
Benefits:
Bring excitement and depth to your ELA classroom with this 5-day detective unit on "Lamb to the Slaughter." Your students will love stepping into the role of detectives while honing their reading and analytical skills.
A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury 10 question multiple choice quiz with answers
By The Red-Haired Reader
This is a 10-question quiz for Ray Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder". This text-based quiz asks about symbolism, characterization, elements of suspense, figurative language, syntax, and foreshadowing. An answer key is included for your convenience!
Flying Lessons and Other Stories BUNDLE- First 5 Stories
By Ms. J's ELA
This bundle includes resources for the first five short stories in the book Flying Lessons and Other Stories. Those stories are: How to Transform an Everyday, Ordinary Hoop Court into a Place of Higher Learning and You at the Podium, The Difficult Path, Sol Painting, Inc., Secret Samantha, and The Beans and Rice Chronicles of Isaiah Dunn.
Each resource includes a presentation and student worksheets which come in color and b/w for easy printing.
This bundle includes:
38 student worksheet pages
52 slides
Answer Keys
Each resource includes:
story vocabulary
pre-reading activities
tiered reading questions
an emphasis on one particular ELA standard
Depending on the length of your class periods, this resource could last 4 days or 2 weeks.
The Fall of the House of Usher Escape Room
By Language Arts Excellence
This activity features an engaging escape room in which students tackle 5 puzzles covering plot, vocabulary, figurative language and quotes from Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher!
There is no wonder why escape rooms are so popular; they are highly engaging and encourage people to work together and think creatively in order to solve different puzzles... all while trying to beat the clock! This meticulously-crafted resource features all of the materials you need to conduct a full-length Escape Room for The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe. Planning an escape room may seem like quite the daunting task (and it is!), but this product provides everything from the basics and set-up instructions to signs and answer keys so that yours runs smoothly from start to finish. The activity involves movement, energy, creative thinking and most of all, collaboration. It is the perfect activity for Halloween, Poe's Death Day on October 7, or any day you want to shake it up with your students without sacrificing learning. Your students will be having so much fun that they won’t even realize the higher order thinking skills they are applying in the playing of this game!
How does it work?
In this escape room, students will try to escape out of the haunted house of Usher by solving 5 different skills-based puzzles, discovering a hidden message, and finding clues along the way.
Product Includes:
- Escape Room Basics
- Detailed Day-Of Instructions
- Escape Room Print Checklist
- Student Teams Chart
- Welcome Sign for Your Door
- Materials for 5 Tasks: task signs to be folded upright, task instructions (2 per page for easy printing), and supplementary materials to be kept at stations
- Student Answer Booklet
- Teacher Answer Keys
- Escape Room Reflection for homework or in-class writing activity
- Theme Reflection for homework assignment or in-class writing activity
Because this is a skills-based escape room, it is perfect for a review of the story before the test.
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Check out these great products to supplement your study of The Fall of the House of Usher:
⭐ The Fall of the House of Usher Literature Guide
⭐ The Fall of the House of Usher Digital Escape Room
⭐ The Fall of the House of Usher Digital Literature Guide
⭐ The Fall of The House of Usher Anticipation Guide and Lesson Plan
⭐ The Fall of the House of Usher Socratic Seminar
More resources to round out your Edgar Allan Poe unit:
⭐ Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe PowerPoint
⭐ Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe Scavenger Hunt
⭐ Edgar Allan Poe Bell Ringer Journal Prompts
⭐ Edgar Allan Poe ESCAPE ROOM
⭐ Edgar Allan Poe's Obituary
⭐ Edgar Allan Poe Quote Posters
⭐ Edgar Allan Poe Resource Bundle
And because your students will be begging for more escape rooms...
⭐ The Raven ESCAPE ROOM
⭐ The Tell-Tale Heart ESCAPE ROOM
⭐ The Black Cat ESCAPE ROOM
⭐ The Pit & the Pendulum ESCAPE ROOM
⭐ The Masque of the Red Death ESCAPE ROOM
⭐ The Cask of Amontillado ESCAPE ROOM
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⭐⭐⭐For the escape room enthusiasts out there, you can now build your own bundle at 20% off the cover price of 3 or more escape rooms! Click the link to check out all of the escape rooms Language Arts Excellence has to offer: Build Your Own Escape Room BUNDLE⭐⭐⭐
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A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury Speed Dating Discussion for Text Analysis
By The Red-Haired Reader
"Speed Dating" is a fun alternative to a traditional class discussion. Students have a set amount of time to discuss a question with their partner, then quickly move onto the next partner and question. This product includes directions and 12 "big idea" discussion questions for Ray Bradbury's short story "A Sound of Thunder". I have also included a reflection question as a ticket out the door for after the activity.
Please let me know if you have any questions! Thank you!
Eraser Tattoo by Jason Reynolds Lesson
By Ms. J's ELA
This lesson should accompany the short story Eraser Tattoo by Jason Reynolds. The story can be found in the anthology Fresh Ink.
This lesson focuses on making inferences and identifying themes. Students will provide and explain textual evidence that supports inferences and themes that they identify from the story.
This resource includes 6 slides for display at the front of the class and 2 student worksheet pages which come in color and b/w.
The Gift of the Magi & The Necklace Compare Contrast Essay
By Language Arts Excellence
This product features all the materials you need to assign a compare/contrast essay for two classic tales of irony: O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi and Guy de Maupassant's The Necklace.
For this assignment, students will need to think critically and specifically about the similarities and differences between the two famous stories. Two comprehensive literary device charts are provided to prompt students to take a close look at both tales and to think beyond the obvious (like the fact that they are written by different authors) and consider the deeper similarities and differences differences (like plot structure, values of the characters, and lessons the stories try to teach) between them. These thoughtfully-constructed materials will help students develop exemplary compare/contrast essays that they can be proud of!
Product Includes:
This assignment is perfect during the holiday season or can be used as a part of any short story unit!
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Also, check out these resources to round our your unit on The Gift of the Magi:
⭐ The Gift of the Magi Anticipation Guide & Lesson Plan
⭐ The Gift of the Magi ESCAPE ROOM
⭐ The Gift of the Magi Socratic Seminar Materials
More great holiday products by Language Arts Excellence:
⭐ Christmas ESCAPE ROOM
⭐ Christmas Poetry ESCAPE ROOM
⭐ A Christmas Carol ESCAPE ROOM
⭐‘Twas the Night Before Christmas Figurative Language Lesson Plan
⭐ The Little Match Girl Sensory Details Lesson Plan
⭐"Christmas Talk" Lesson Plan
⭐Figurative Language in Christmas Songs Task Cards
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Click to Follow Language Arts Excellence
Dark They Were, and Golden- Eyed by Bradbury Speed Dating Discussion Analysis
By The Red-Haired Reader
This set of 12 Speed dating questions are a fun alternative to a traditional class discussion and will help your students analyze "Dark They Were, and Golden- Eyed", originally published as "The Naming of Names", by Ray Bradbury!
In order to prepare, you simply have to copy the 12 discussion prompts below and cut them into separate strips. You can laminate them if you’d like! Arrange your classroom so pairs of students will be facing one another. My classes have about 24 students in each, so I set up my desks facing one another down the center of the classroom. Alternatively, you could do two concentric circles depending on the space you have to work with!
When it’s time for the speed dating to begin, each “couple” will flip over their question and discuss it. I usually set a timer for 60 seconds, but you can do longer or shorter depending on the needs of your students. When the timer buzzes, one row (or circle) moves one way, and the other goes in the opposite direction. In this way, each student will have the opportunity to discuss every question.
I've included a reflection/ ticket out the door half sheet question for afterwards if time allows!
Please let me know if you have any questions about this activity! I’d love to hear your feedback after you complete it in your classroom. Thank you so much!
Sol Painting, Inc. Short Story by Meg Medina
By Ms. J's ELA
This resource should accompany Meg Medina's short story Sol Painting, Inc. This short story can be found in the book Flying Lessons and Other Stories, which is an amazing compilation of short stories by diverse authors about diverse characters. This resource includes a 12 page presentation and 6 student worksheets. The worksheets and presentation include a pre-reading journal entry, a focus on theme and central idea (which I teach as two separate things), vocabulary using context clues, tiered reading questions, and post-reading questions regarding the story's themes and central idea. The worksheets come in a colored version for posting online and a b/w version for printing.
This resource defines theme as the message, lesson, or moral of the story. Central idea is defined as what the story is all about- a single sentence which unifies all elements of the story.
By Language Arts Excellence
This resource features a comprehensive test covering Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s chilling dystopian tale, Harrison Bergeron. The test covers vocabulary, plot, characters, themes, vocabulary, and 3 short answer questions and is fully editable so that you can determine point value and/or change questions to reflect what you've taught.
Resource Includes:
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Also, check out these great resources to supplement your unit on Harrison Bergeron by Language Arts Excellence:
⭐ Harrison Bergeron "Silent Conversation" Quote Pass Activity
⭐ Harrison Bergeron ESCAPE ROOM
⭐ Harrison Bergeron Human Tic Tac Toe Review Game
⭐ Harrison Bergeron Literature Guide
⭐ Harrison Bergeron Pre-Reading Activity
⭐ Harrison Bergeron Socratic Seminar
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Click to Follow Language Arts Excellence
The Minister's Black Veil by Hawthorne Write The Room Silent Discussion
By The Red-Haired Reader
Hello!
This is a Write The Room Silent Discussion activity that will aide your students in analyzing Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil"! It's an alternate way to do a station rotation and will foster a deep- thinking discussion that takes place on chart paper!
To set up, you’ll need to copy the large questions and paste them onto larger poster size paper. (I like to use those giant Post-Its so I can hang them up afterwards!) I have included 7 questions so that you can place one at each table or station. You will also need to project the page of directions onto your Smart Board, or make a copy of them and put them where students can see. My students like to write their comments in colored ink, marker, or colored pencil in order to make it a little more fun.
To begin this discussion, students will first read the question. Then they will scan the answers their classmates have already written, and write an answer that hasn’t already been said. They may put a hashtag comment for fun after their comment. As the activity goes on, they have the option of responding to a comment that a classmate has already made instead. After a set time you deem appropriate for your students has elapsed, direct them to silently move to the next station.
Sometimes a Dream Needs a Push by Walter Dean Myers Short Story Lesson
By Ms. J's ELA
This resource should accompany Walter Dean Myers's short story Sometimes a Dream Needs a Push. The story is not included but can be found in the book Flying Lessons and Other Stories.
This resource includes 5 worksheet pages in color for posting online and in b/w for easy printing. A presentation aligns with the worksheets and includes an answer key for vocabulary and short answer questions.
This resource has:
- a pre-reading journal prompt
- story vocabulary
- tiered reading questions
- a focus on the standard: Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
- answer keys
The Lottery ESCAPE ROOM (Shirley Jackson)
By Language Arts Excellence
Get ready to have the most fun you'll have teaching with a lesson that your students will be talking about for years to come with Shirley Jackson's The Lottery ESCAPE ROOM!
There is no wonder why escape rooms are so popular; they are highly engaging and encourage people to work together and think creatively in order to solve different puzzles... all while trying to beat the clock! This meticulously-crafted resource features all of the materials you need to conduct a full-length Escape Room for The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. Planning an escape room may seem like quite the daunting task (and it is!), but this product provides everything from the basics and set-up instructions to signs and answer keys so that yours runs smoothly from start to finish. The activity involves movement, energy, creative thinking and most of all, collaboration. Your students will be having so much fun that they won’t even realize the higher order thinking skills they are applying in the playing of this game!
How does it work?
In this escape room, students will try to escape the picturesque American town with a dark secret by solving 5 different skills-based puzzles, deciphering an encrypted message, and finding clues along the way.
Product Includes:
- Escape Room Basics
- Detailed Day-Of Instructions
- Escape Room Print Checklist
- Student Teams Chart
- Welcome Sign for Your Door
- Materials for 5 Tasks: task signs to be folded upright, task instructions (2 per page for easy printing), and necessary information to be kept at stations
- Student Answer Booklet
- Teacher Answer Keys
- Escape Room Reflection for homework or in-class writing activity
- Theme Reflection for homework assignment or in-class writing activity
Because this is a skills-based escape room, it is perfect for a review of the story before the test.
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Check out these great products to supplement your study of The Lottery:
⭐ The Lottery Digital Escape Room - paperless version
⭐ The Lottery "Tossing Lines" Pre-Reading Activity
⭐ The Lottery Social Media Activities
⭐ The Lottery Socratic Seminar Lesson Plan and Materials
⭐ The Lottery Comprehension Questions, Literary Elements & Vocabulary
Check out these great DYSTOPIA resources to frame the study of this tale:
⭐ Introduction to Dystopia Powerpoint Presentation
⭐ Escape from Dystopia ESCAPE ROOM
⭐ Dystopian Literature Socratic Seminar
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⭐⭐⭐For the escape room enthusiasts out there, you can now build your own bundle at 20% off the cover price of 3 or more escape rooms! Click the link to check out all of the escape rooms Language Arts Excellence has to offer: Build Your Own Escape Room BUNDLE⭐⭐⭐
___________________________________________________________________
Click to Follow Language Arts Excellence
Quitters Inc. by Stephen King Speed Dating Analysis Activity + Reflection!
By The Red-Haired Reader
This set of 12 Speed dating questions are a fun alternative to a traditional class discussion and will help your students analyze "Quitters, Inc." from Night Shift by Stephen King!
In order to prepare, you simply have to copy the 12 discussion prompts below and cut them into separate strips. You can laminate them if you’d like! Arrange your classroom so pairs of students will be facing one another. My classes have about 24 students in each, so I set up my desks facing one another down the center of the classroom. Alternatively, you could do two concentric circles depending on the space you have to work with!
When it’s time for the speed dating to begin, each “couple” will flip over their question and discuss it. I usually set a timer for 60 seconds, but you can do longer or shorter depending on the needs of your students. When the timer buzzes, one row (or circle) moves one way, and the other goes in the opposite direction. In this way, each student will have the opportunity to discuss every question.
I've included a reflection/ ticket out the door half sheet question for afterwards if time allows!
Please let me know if you have any questions about this activity! I’d love to hear your feedback after you complete it in your classroom. Thank you so much!
The Beans and Rice Chronicles of Isaiah Dunn by Kelly J. Baptist LESSON
By Ms. J's ELA
This resource should accompany the short story The Beans and Rice Chronicles of Isaiah Dunn by Kelly J. Baptist. The page numbers listed in this resource align with the book Flying Lessons and Other Stories. This resource includes 4 pages of both color and b/w worksheets which include a pre-reading journal question, tiered reading questions, vocabulary, and a focus on supporting analysis with textual evidence. A 10 page presentation accompanies the worksheets and includes an answer key.
This is a sensitive story. One of the tiered reading questions addresses coping strategies in times of grief. This question needs to be approached in an open, honest, non-judgmental way. If this is not the way you operate, skip this resource.
Lamb to the Slaughter & The Black Cat Compare Contrast Essay
By Language Arts Excellence
This product features all the materials you need to assign a compare/contrast essay for Roald Dahl's Lamb to the Slaughter and Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat.
For this assignment, students will need to think critically and specifically about the similarities and differences between the two famous stories of marital strife taken to the extreme. A comprehensive chart is provided to prompt students to take a close look at both tales and to think beyond the obvious (like the fact that they are written by different authors) and consider the deeper similarities and differences (plot structure, mental state of the narrators, and elements of suspense, etc.) between them. These thoughtfully-constructed materials will help students develop exemplary compare/contrast essays that they can be proud of!
Product Includes:
This assignment works well in any short story unit but is best near Halloween when creepy is the way to go!
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Also, check out these great products to supplement your units on Lamb to the Slaughter and The Black Cat:
⭐ Lamb to the Slaughter Literature Guide
⭐ Lamb to the Slaughter Anticipation Guide & Lesson Plan
⭐ The Black Cat Literature Guide
⭐ The Black Cat ESCAPE ROOM
⭐ Unreliable Narrator of The Black Cat Lesson Plan
⭐ The Tell-Tale Heart/The Black Cat "Breaking News" Article and Illustration Activity
⭐ The Tell-Tale Heart/The Black Cat Socratic Seminar Materials
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Click to Follow Language Arts Excellence
A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings by Marquez Write the Room Silent Discussion
By The Red-Haired Reader
Hello!
This is a Write The Room Silent Discussion activity that will aide your students in analyzing Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings"! It's an alternate way to do a station rotation and will foster a deep- thinking discussion that takes place on chart paper!
To set up, you’ll need to copy the large questions and paste them onto larger poster size paper. (I like to use those giant Post-Its so I can hang them up afterwards!) I have included 8 questions so that you can place one at each table or station. You will also need to project the page of directions onto your Smart Board, or make a copy of them and put them where students can see. My students like to write their comments in colored ink, marker, or colored pencil in order to make it a little more fun.
To begin this discussion, students will first read the question. Then they will scan the answers their classmates have already written, and write an answer that hasn’t already been said. They may put a hashtag comment for fun after their comment. As the activity goes on, they have the option of responding to a comment that a classmate has already made instead. After a set time you deem appropriate for your students has elapsed, direct them to silently move to the next station.
Choctaw Bigfoot, Midnight in the Mountains by Tim Tingle Lesson & TEST
By Ms. J's ELA
This resource should accompany Tim Tingle's short story Choctaw Bigfoot, Midnight in the Mountains. This resource includes 4 student worksheet pages in both color and b/w. There is also a 12 page presentation to accompany the worksheets. The presentation contains answer keys for vocabulary and short answer questions. You will also get an Easel reading quiz with this resource.
This resource includes:
- a pre-reading journal question
- story vocabulary
- tiered reading questions
- questions focused on ELA standard about point of view and its impact on suspense and humor
- an Easel reading quiz
The Fall of the House of Usher Activity Bundle
By Language Arts Excellence
This resource features a bundle of all of our lesson plans, materials, and activities for Edgar Allan Poe's tale of the original haunted house, The Fall of the House of Usher. Each product is thoughtfully crafted and allows students to think outside the box by delving deeply into the story's themes, characters, vocabulary, and plot development. Lessons have all been classroom-tested and allow for differentiation while encouraging optimal student engagement. This activity bundle provides a week's worth of material to bring the story to life!
Included in this Bundle:
The Fall of the House of Usher Literature Guide: This resource features a comprehensive Common Core-aligned literature guide for use while reading the story. The packet provides an excellent basis for comprehension and vocabulary acquisition for the short story and encourages students to think critically about Poe's use of literary elements, figurative language, plot elements, and symbolism. Also included is a creative "Snap Chat!" activity that will bring the story to life in the 21st century. A full answer key is provided along with two bonus student-tested lesson plans. The wide range of activities in this guide will keep your students engaged in this difficult story and help them to gain a deep understanding of one of the most shocking tales of American literature.
The Fall of The House of Usher Anticipation Guide and Lesson Plan (also included within Literature Guide): This resource features an anticipation guide for the story and a detailed lesson plan that I believe is the absolute best way to approach a new story. Using a non-intimidating method called "Numbered Heads", this activity will get your students thinking, writing, conversing, and reporting about themes you will be encountering during your study of The Fall of the House of Usher and your overall Poe unit. This lesson is particularly useful for Poe's tale which can be difficult for students to understand at first. I am confident that your students will enjoy this thoughtful, engaging activity and beg you to begin reading Poe's tale of the most haunted of houses!
The Fall of the House of Usher ESCAPE ROOM: This meticulously-crafted resource features all of the materials you need to conduct a full-length Escape Room for The Fall of the House of Usher. Planning an escape room may seem like quite the daunting task (and it is!), but this product provides everything from the basics and set-up instructions to signs and answer keys so that yours runs smoothly from start to finish. The activity involves movement, energy, creative thinking and most of all, collaboration. It is the perfect activity for Halloween, Poe's Death Day on October 7, or any day you want to shake it up with your students without sacrificing learning. Your students will be having so much fun that they won’t even realize the higher order thinking skills they are applying in the playing of this game!
The Fall of the House of Usher Socratic Seminar: This resource features lesson plans and materials to conduct a formal set of Socratic Seminars for The Fall of the House of Usher. Socratic Seminars (or "Fish Bowl" Conversations as referred to in this resource) are higher order ways of assessing whether your students are able to understand and react to your class texts. These seminars rely on the power of inquiry and allow students to take the lead in their learning and discussion. The only problem? They require a great deal of preparation. Fortunately, this student-tested resource includes everything you need to conduct a structured and formal set of Socratic Seminars in your classroom surrounding The Fall of the House of Usher... and no preparation is required by you at all.
Full Text of the The Fall of the House of Usher
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Click to Follow Language Arts Excellence
BUNDLE! Bradbury short story unit 4 stories and final synthesis assessment!
By The Red-Haired Reader
This bundle includes products to teach a mini unit of 4 short stories by Ray Bradbury! Included is:
1. Mystery Escape Room for "The Veldt"
2. Speed Dating Analysis Activity for "A Sound of Thunder"
3. A mystery escape room for "A Sound of Thunder"
4. Station activity for "All Summer in a Day"
5. Tabletop Twitter Silent discussion for "There Will Come Soft Rains"
6. A Foldable for Poetry Analysis for the Sara Teasdale poem "There Will Come Soft Rains"
7. A Comprehension Quiz for "There Will Come Soft Rains"
Also included as a bonus file is a final writing assignment that requires students to synthesize what they've read by writing about a theme that is present in multiple texts. I use this writing assignment as a test grade to wrap up the Bradbury mini unit.
My students LOVE Bradbury and these short stories are some of his finest! I like to do these stories before or after reading a Bradbury novel, such as Fahrenheit 451 or Something Wicked This Way Comes. Please let me know if you have any questions at SaraJoy916@gmail.com!
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