Homeschool Writing Assessment (by date, oldest first)

This 3 page test is a perfect test for your students. * match the antonym * change the antonym * fill in the blanks

This 30-page EDITABLE curriculum has everything you'll need to help students write write phenomenal college application essays! This is the PREMIERE bundle for any English teacher, college counselor, or tutor working to help students master the Common App essay!

The materials in this bundle were designed by a Ph.D. who has taught English at top-ranked high schools and colleges for over 20 years. He has worked closely with former college admissions officers from Harvard, Brown, and NYU. This 30-page unit features all the wisdom he's gathered over a decades-long career in secondary and higher education. The unit is packed to the brim with writing tips and formatting advice that will help your students craft truly remarkable college essays!

Here are some highlights from the 30-page curriculum:

• How to Get Started (Handout #1): Tips for how to get started on one's college essay and overcome writer's block. (1 page)

• Strategies for Crafting Vivid & Lively Prose (Handout #2): While the question of what students choose to write about will be important, the question of how they write will be equally important since a writer's style can reveal a lot about their personality. This handout features advice on how students can write essays using vibrant and virtuosic prose that will enamor any admissions officer. (2 pages)

• The Opening Line: Attention-Grabbing Hooks (Handout #3): The opening paragraph is the single most important part of a college essay. How will your students capture the interest of admissions officers? How will they make a memorable first impression? This handout offers several suggestions for how to focus an opening paragraph, followed by concrete examples of opening paragraphs by top essayists like Annie Dillard, Frank McCourt, Louise Erdrich, Naomi Shihab Nye, and others. (4 pages)

• How to Format a College Essay (Handout #4): This handout offers advice for the structural organization of college essay, with tips on what should be included in each paragraph. The strategy offered here will enable students to showcase their skills at descriptive writing, narrative writing, informational writing, and reflective writing — all in less than 650 words! (1 page)

• Sample Essays: Show your students eight successful college essays written by students who were recently admitted to top-ranked colleges and universities. These were the favorite essays that wowed admissions committees at Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Cornell University, Hamilton College, New York University, and Tufts University. (18 pages)

• Writing Assignment: This carefully scaffolded writing assignment will help students to get practice at writing narrative essays in response to actual prompts on the Common App from 2023-2024. (1 page)

• Writing Rubric: Use this rubric to evaluate the narrative essays that your students write in response to to the prompts from the Common App of 2023-2024. (1 page)

This resource packet will come to you in two separate formats: Word doc and PDF. Because the Word doc is editable, you'll be able to customize the materials to suit your teaching style and/or the skill levels of your students — year after year! If you don't have Microsoft Word, you'll still be able to access the materials in PDF format, which is easy to navigate and quick to print!

Because I believe that teachers should be able to see what they're getting before they make a purchase, the preview for this resource provides access more than a dozen actual pages from the resource. Click on the green preview button to see exactly what you’ll get....

Thank you for choosing “Rigorous Resources”!!

Happy teaching!

Adam Jernigan, Ph.D.

adamjernigan@gmail.com

P.S. Don't forget to click “follow” for email updates on new products by Rigorous Resources. New products will be 50% OFF for the first 24 hours!

Feel free to check out these other resources on writing:

How to Write an Analytical Essay

How to Write an Poem Analysis Essay (AP Lit FRQ 1)

How to Frame Quotations or Embed Evidence

Figurative Language Stations

Looking for a final writing assignment on Shakespeare's Julius Caesar? This resource features everything you'll need to lead students through the process of writing an analytical essay about Julius Caesar.

The resource features 5 writing prompts which will motivate students to think with nuance about important themes in the play. The resource also includes scaffolding to help students select evidence, generate an outline, and begin writing. For teachers, the resource features an assessment rubric which can be used to grade and provide feedback on students' analytical writing.

As a bonus, this resource also features a two-page handout on how to embed quotations within an analytical essay. The handout provides students with three techniques for framing textual evidence: the block quotation, the clause-and-colon method, and the integration of short quotations into one's own sentence.

Here's what you'll find in this editable 10-page resource:

• Analytical Writing Assignment: Challenge students to take their interpretations one step further by writing an analytical paper on Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Let students choose from one of 5 thought-provoking sample topics — or invite them to develop a topic of their own. Writing schedule, outline template, and rubric included. (4 pages)
• Framing Quotations: This handout provides students with advice about how to embed textual evidence into a body paragraph. The handout familiarizes students with three different methods for framing quotations: the block quotation, the clause-and-colon method, and the integration of key words and phrases within one's own sentence. (2 pages)
• Outline Template: Provide students with the scaffolding necessary to write a five-paragraph essay. This outline template challenges students to fill in a text box for every part of their essay: hook, thesis, topic sentences, evidence, analysis, and conclusion. (3 pages)
• Assessment Rubric: Evaluate student essays in a quick and efficient manner by using an analytical writing rubric. (1 page)

The entire unit will come to you in two separate formats: Word Docs *and* PDFs. Because the Word docs are fully editable, you'll be able to customize them to match the skill levels of your students year after year. If you don't have Microsoft Word, you'll still be able to access PDF versions which are easy to navigate and quick to print.

Rigorous Resources is your one-stop shop for top-quality resources on William Shakespeare. Wishing you an amazing experience with teaching the Julius Caesar. If you have any questions along the way, please don't hesitate to get in touch. I love hearing from fellow teachers who share a passion for great literature! 

Happy teaching!

Adam Jernigan, Ph.D.

adamjernigan@gmail.com

P.S. Remember to “follow” my store to receive email updates on new products by Rigorous Resources. New products will be 50% OFF for the first 24 hours!

Feel free to check out these complete units on Shakespeare's masterpieces:

COMPLETE UNIT with Workbooks on Romeo and Juliet

COMPLETE UNIT with Workbooks on Julius Caesar

COMPLETE UNIT with Workbooks on Macbeth

COMPLETE UNIT with Workbooks on Othello

COMPLETE UNIT with Workbooks on Hamlet

COMPLETE UNIT with Workbooks on Much Ado About Nothing

INTRO TO SHAKESPEARE: Biography, Globe Theater, Language, & Meter

This product features an engaging final project that meaningfully incorporates technology in a culmination of your unit on Edgar Allan Poe.

For this final assignment, students will showcase their knowledge of Edgar Allan Poe, his works, and his life by creating brochures using Microsoft Word. Students will love the chance to practice using technology with this project as opposed to writing the same-old same-old essay and if they are like my students, will not even realize how much research and writing they are actually accomplishing with this project.

Product Includes:

• Complete Assignment Directions
• How to Make Brochure Directions
• Scoring Rubric
• Teacher Model including proper Works Cited Page using Microsoft Word
• Pictures of Exemplary Student Examples

This project works for any of the stories you read during your Edgar Allan Poe unit.

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Save 20% off this resource when you purchase as part of a bundle of Edgar Allan Poe products:

⭐ Edgar Allan Poe Resource Bundle

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Also, check out these great products by Language Arts Excellence to supplement your Edgar Allan Poe unit:

⭐ Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe PowerPoint

⭐ Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe Scavenger Hunt

⭐ Edgar Allan Poe ESCAPE ROOM

⭐ Edgar Allan Poe Bell Ringer Journal Prompts

⭐ Edgar Allan Poe Crossword Puzzle

⭐ Edgar Allan Poe Brochure

⭐ Edgar Allan Poe's Obituary

⭐ Edgar Allan Poe Human Tic Tac Toe Review Game

⭐ Edgar Allan Poe Quote Posters

Chilling literature guides to frighten your students for months:

⭐ The Raven Literature Guide

⭐ The Tell-Tale Heart Literature Guide

⭐ The Black Cat Literature Guide

⭐ The Pit and the Pendulum Literature Guide

⭐ The Cask of Amontillado Literature Guide

⭐ The Fall of the House of Usher Literature Guide

⭐ The Masque of the Red Death Literature Guide

⭐ Edgar Allan Poe Short Story BUNDLE

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Click to Follow Language Arts Excellence

This 3-page form asks students to specifically rate their performance on the 6 components of effective effort on a given essay: TIME, FOCUS, RESOURCEFULNESS, USE OF STRATEGIES, USE OF FEEDBACK, and COMMITMENT. This product is modeled after teachings from The Skillful Teacher by Jon Saphier, Mary Ann Haley-Speca, and Robert Gower and encourages a growth mindset in students. I provide this form to my students every single time I assign a paper and am always pleasantly surprised at how honest they are in their responses, especially as the incentive for guessing their grade is 2 bonus points! ____________________________________________________________________________ Also, check out this great lesson plan for teaching Effective Effort by Language Arts Excellence: ⭐Effective Effort Lesson Plan ____________________________________________________________________________ ⭐Click to Follow Language Arts Excellence⭐

This 3-page form asks students to specifically rate their performance on the 6 components of effective effort on a given essay: TIME, FOCUS, RESOURCEFULNESS, USE OF STRATEGIES, USE OF FEEDBACK, and COMMITMENT. This product is modeled after teachings from The Skillful Teacher by Jon Saphier, Mary Ann Haley-Speca, and Robert Gower and encourages a growth mindset in students. I provide this form to my students every single time I assign a paper and am always pleasantly surprised at how honest they are in their responses, especially as the incentive for guessing their grade is 2 bonus points! ____________________________________________________________________________ Also, check out this great lesson plan for teaching Effective Effort by Language Arts Excellence: ⭐Effective Effort Lesson Plan ____________________________________________________________________________ ⭐Click to Follow Language Arts Excellence⭐

Self-reflection is so important for students of all ages and what better time to reflect on learning than at the end of each term? With that in mind, I created this end of term reflection assignment that prompts students to consider all of the meaningful experiences they had for the quarter in my class. My students really get into this assignment and I'm sure yours will too! I've included in this product a model of my assignment and a fully editable template for you - it will only take a few minutes to tweak it and make it your own. Your students will thank you for offering this differentiated assessment! I also included three exemplary student examples. _________________________________________________________________________ Also, check out these great resources that can be adapted for any novel by Language Arts Excellence: Novel Soundtrack Assignment Socratic Seminar Lesson Plan and Materials Adaptable for ANY Topic Differentiated End of Term Reflection Activities Book Recommendation Form Differentiated Essay Prompts for use with ANY Novel – FREE!

**Now with newly added material!**

This resource features a bundle of all of our best-selling lesson plans, materials, and activities for your unit on the Master of Suspense, Edgar Allan Poe. Resources perfectly complement any of Poe's twisted tales and can be used to introduce the unit (like the Scavenger Hunt and PowerPoint), throughout the unit (Bell Ringers and the Obituary Project), as a review (Escape Room, Brochure, Human Tic Tac Toe Game), and even to decorate your classroom (Quote Posters). Each product is thoughtfully crafted and inspires students to delve deeply into Edgar Allan Poe's life and works. Lessons have all been classroom-tested and allow for differentiation while encouraging optimal student engagement. You will not find tedious lists of comprehension questions and vocabulary words in this bundle; instead you will find materials that will make Edgar Allan Poe relevant in the eyes of your students and bring the Father of Horror back to life!

Included in this Bundle:

⭐ Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe PowerPoint

This product features a highly-engaging introductory PowerPoint Presentation for the Father of Horror himself, Edgar Allan Poe. A unit of study on Poe is not complete without learning the gory and heartbreaking details of his life and what made him into the master poet and writer whom we continue to marvel at today. This 20-slide powerpoint runs through his tragic family life and childhood, relationships, early occupations (before he was the Poe that you know), synopses of some of his most famous works, death theories, and current pop culture references. It concludes with a 10 question quiz to see how well students listened... and trust me, they will be hanging on your every word! This powerpoint encourages class participation, is fully editable to suit your class' needs, and lasts about 30-40 minutes to run through. I suggest presenting this on the very first day of your unit on Edgar Allan Poe. Enjoy and let the horror begin!

⭐ Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe Scavenger Hunt

This resource features a comprehensive introduction to the life and times of Edgar Allan Poe. Students will be shocked to learn some of the gruesome details of his life. The scavenger hunt includes 15 questions about Poe, a full answer key, and links for credible websites to use to find the information.

⭐ Edgar Allan Poe Bell Ringer Journal Prompts

This resource features a set of 20 reader response journal prompts for use during your unit on Edgar Allan Poe. Each bell ringer is comprised of a quote from the Master of Suspense himself and a thoughtfully crafted question that encourages students to personally connect and appreciate the timelessness of his musings. Prompts can be used as bell-ringers (most popular and mean the first 5 minutes of every class for more than a month are planned for you!), exit tickets, stations, full class or small group discussion questions, for homework, task cards, sub plans, as a filler activity… the possibilities are endless!

⭐ Edgar Allan Poe ESCAPE ROOM

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 the Edgar Allan Poe 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 on the Father of Horror himself. Planning an escape room may seem like quite the daunting task, 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!

⭐ Edgar Allan Poe Brochure - Final Project

This product features an engaging final project that meaningfully incorporates technology in a culmination of your unit on Edgar Allan Poe. For this final assignment, students will showcase their knowledge of Edgar Allan Poe, his works, and his life by creating brochures using Microsoft Word. Students will love the chance to practice using technology with this project as opposed to writing the same-old same-old essay and if they are like my students, will not even realize how much research and writing they are actually doing!

⭐ Edgar Allan Poe's Obituary - Halloween Lesson Plan

This product features an engaging activity that will fit in perfectly with your unit on Edgar Allan Poe or on Halloween. Students get the chance to create the epitaph for the gravestone of one of the most revered authors in American literature. The activity encourages students to be thoughtful with their knowledge of Poe but also to be creative with their inscriptions. This can be done in or outside of class and also works as a great emergency substitute plan during the month of October. To be festive, I love to give this assignment on the anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe's actual death day, October 7.

⭐ Edgar Allan Poe Human Tic Tac Toe Review Game - newly added material!

This resource features a lesson plan and materials for the Human Tic Tac Toe Review Game, an engaging and competitive way to review the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe. Let's face it, review days can be boring for both teachers and students, so liven them up with this collaborative game. The resource includes not only a meticulously detailed lesson plan and set-up instructions, but 25 questions on the Master of Suspense. Besides simple set-up, very little preparation is needed for this lesson and if your students are like mine, they will ask for this form of review for every unit of study!

⭐ Edgar Allan Poe Quote Posters

Make your classroom pop with this set of 25 beautifully-made posters featuring quotes from Edgar Allan Poe. Each 7.5 x 7.5 (square) PDF poster contains a noteworthy Poe quote imposed over a stunning photograph that will spruce up your ELA classroom, especially during Halloween. The square format is reminiscent of Instagram and makes for an eye-catching arrangement on your wall or bulletin board. I suggest laminating the posters and using them not just during your Edgar Allan Poe unit, but all year long.

By purchasing these great resources as a bundle, you save 20% off the cover price of all materials!

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Looking for something more specific? We have enough Edgar Allan Poe literature guides to frighten your students for months:

⭐ The Raven Literature Guide

⭐ The Tell-Tale Heart Literature Guide

⭐ The Black Cat Literature Guide

⭐ The Pit and the Pendulum Literature Guide

⭐ The Cask of Amontillado Literature Guide

⭐ The Fall of the House of Usher Literature Guide

⭐ The Masque of the Red Death Literature Guide

⭐ Edgar Allan Poe Short Story BUNDLE

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⭐Click to Follow Language Arts Excellence⭐

Bat Opinion Writing and Craft Bulletin Board is art, writing and math, all in one great project!

After learning about bats with the included nonfiction text, have your students write an opinion piece about whether they think bats are creepy or cool. Afterwards, will have fun making their cute little bats!

This product makes a very impressive showcase of learning when you add in the graph, showing how many students think bats are creepy and how many think bats are cool!

Bat Opinion Writing and Craft Bulletin Board is a perfect way to decorate your bulletin board for October!

I would love to see your finished projects! If you post them on Instagram, please tag me! @smalltownteacherlife or use #smalltownteacherlife

Thank you!

-Leslie

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.

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.

Explains and defines three kinds of irony: dramatic, situation, verbal. Includes examples with worksheet activities for application. Students choose the correct answer for the examles given. Can be complete individually or in groups. Excellent Irony assessment tool!

Everything you need to begin a color-coding, peer workshopping approach to writing! 44 slides that take teachers from understanding why visual learning is important in a writing classroom to activities to implement peer workshopping. Includes: How students learn vs. taught Learning styles overview Memory activities Adaptable Weekly Progression of Skills list Daily Class Routine Three Kinds of Writing Multigenre Getting to Know Students activity with examples A Writer's Many Roles Understanding Punctuation (Road) signs/Writer as Reader Author's Style and Finding Patterns Types of Sentences Comma Rules Color-coded, Peer Workshopping student examples Grading and Conferencing Workshopping Guidelines and handouts Scoring Rubric Four resources slides with free audio/visual presentation Extra Handouts Section with grammar activities Visual writing is excellent for adult learners, ESL, and middle to high school students. Simple and easy to implement, and students will be able to find and correct errors easily.

20 Non-fiction writing prompts to help students with assessment writing. Comes with 20 handouts with graphics and writing space. Includes:

In my future I see...

People say I'm a dreamer...

My life is like a song...

Home represents...

Gossip spreads like wildfire...

plus 15 more non-fiction writing prompts that relate to students' lives!

Excellent for assessment prep, journal prompts, non-fiction connections to readings. Use the prompts as introduction into research then use the writing process and peer workshop essays for Common Core requirements.

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!

Ready to teach literary elements and concepts combined with historical fiction and social skills? This zip packet contains: Preview file with cover image 3 Readers theater-like scripts of 3-4 pages each 1 Readers' Script Getting Started Packet Readers' Script Critical Thinking handouts: Readers' Script Information Guideline for implementing activities Subject Theme Plot line Mood Tone Character analysis Text evidence Symbolism Genres 6 Project based assignments 2 Fact based, real life connection assignments Fabulous Vocabulary Handout with graphic organizer Differentiated vocabulary list 3 Readers' Scripts Stories: Readers’ Script Overview Script 1 Title: The Great Steamboat Race Genre: Historical Fiction Four Characters: Tom, Abby, Mr. Millborn, Mrs. Millborn Setting: Banks of Mississippi River No. of Acts: 1 (3 pages) Script Overview: Tom and Abby can’t wait for the Mississippi River steamboat race! Both are surprised when Tom’s former classmate is spotted working aboard one of the ships. However, Mr. and Mrs. Millborn are shocked to learn their son’s classmate dropped out of school to work on a river boat. Can two parents persuade their son to continue his education, or will an exciting life on the Mississippi River persuade him to join his classmate? Script 2 Title: The Frozen Fiancés Genre: Historical Fiction Four Characters: Narrator, Richard, Lydia, and Captain Setting: Ship’s Deck, December 22, 1850, Rockland Harbor, Maine No. of Acts: 3 (3 pages) Script Overview: Richard and Lydia are aboard a schooner on their way to Owl’s Head Lighthouse to be married when a winter storm delays them. Can the captain safely guide the ship across the harbor, or will their lives end in Rockland Harbor? This historical fiction script is based upon a true story that resulted in Owl’s Head Lighthouse being named the most famous haunted place in America. Script 3 Title: Terror Aboard the Titanic Genre: Historical Fiction Three Characters: Jane, John, Edward Setting: 1915 local newspaper office No. of Acts: 1 (4 pages) Script Overview: Jane and John, twin sister and brother, survived a horrifying night aboard the unsinkable Titanic. Now, the twins relive the story when Edward, a local reporter, interviews them for a fantastic scoop. But, is the journalist more interested in Jane or the Titanic tale? Historical facts about the Titanic and its fateful voyage make this historical fiction script an interesting read. These 3-4 page scripts are perfect for at-risk, ESL/ELL, homeschool, flipped classrooms, and even for AP. Great for classes with short time frames and students with short attention spans! Use for close readings and critical analysis. Perfect for standardized test prep for analyzing text and meaning. Social topics and historical fiction combined for quick lessons that reinforce reading and writing skills. Great for small group settings and literacy centers.

53 slides of Holiday/Christmas themed cartoon pages for student authors to write and color then bind in book format. Includes: comic-like frames with black & white images directions speech/thought bubbles introduction sheet 4 Title pages animals boys elves girls gifts nativity scenes (can be removed from packet) Santa sleighs snowflakes winter homes scenes wreaths 4 "The End" pages optional lesson plan ideas peer workshopping component instructions for binding Project is excellent for increasing inferencing skills, practicing peer workshopping, using writing concepts and working on process factual/fictional statements.

Ten four-leaf clovers with St. Patrick's Day vocabulary for individual, small or whole group creative writings. Hand one to each student/group and have students use the vocabulary to build creative writings or timed assessment writings. Great for incorporating St. Patrick's Day terminology into lesson plans.

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.

New standardized tests, such as ACT and SAT, ask students to define the problem, sort through solutions, find the best solution, and explain why they chose their answers. This free graphic organizer will help students with working through the process!