Less than $5 Middle School Close Reading Literature Circles

A close reading activity of the Declaration of Independence which asks students to cite textual evidence to evaluate author's purpose, persuasive techniques, and literary devices. Good for any ELA or History class.

*Update* Available under TeachShare Digital Resources which adds an interactive layer on top of the pdf for distance learning.

This 38-page EDITABLE poetry unit promises to elicit dynamic engagement from all students without compromising on intellectual rigor. The 10 poems in this mini-unit all focus on different kinds of ethical dilemmas.

Because teenagers are genuinely intrigued by ethical dilemmas, these poems will set the stage for your class to have authentic discussions that inspire a whole new depth of reflection. The literary devices quizzes, discussion prompts, and analytical writing assignment will challenge your students to dig beneath the surface of the text and generate profound interpretive insights!

Here are some highlights from this 38-page curriculum:

• Homework Packets with Poems about Ethical Dilemmas: The two homework packets contains a total of 10 poems by a diverse range of award-winning poets such as Robert Frost, William Stafford, Ada Limón, Jan Beatty, Ross Gay, and others. Every poem focuses on some kind of ethical dilemma. Because teenagers are genuinely intrigued by ethical dilemmas, these poems will set the stage for your class to have fascinating and profoundly productive discussions!! (10 pages)

• Literary Devices Glossary: A glossary with definitions and examples of the various types of figurative language, imagery, stanzas, and syntactic devices. Many teachers already have a glossary of literary devices, but I'm providing this in case you need one. (2 pages)

• Literary Devices Quizzes: Open each class with a quiz of 10 questions to assess whether your students can accurately identify the literary devices used in the poems from the nightly homework packets: metaphor, personification, symbolism, imagery, alliteration, etc. The digital versions of the quizzes on Google Forms will grade every student's work and generate a list of their scores. Answer keys included. (4 pages).

• Discussion Questions: This bundle features a list of discussion questions for the first poem in each of two nightly homework packets. The discussion questions will ensure that every class discussion starts on a productive foot. Every discussion question is grounded in concrete textual details and challenges students to arrive at lucid interpretive insights! The questions lend themselves to a range of different pedagogical uses: 1) to focus students’ thinking prior to beginning a discussion, 2) to prompt in-class writing, 3) to assign written reflections for homework, etc. Guaranteed to elicit student engagement and foster deep thinking! Answer keys included. (7 pages)

• Quick Writes: The quick writes give students an opportunity to capture and refine the best ideas generated in the discussion. Quick writes can also help reticent students to gather their thoughts so they'll feel ready and eager to contribute. (3 pages)

• Analytical Writing Assignment: Challenge students to take their interpretations one step further by writing an analytical paper on a poem of their choice. The assignment sheet contains detailed instructions for how to generate a formalist analysis of a poem (analyzing how the poem's formal features contribute to its meaning). This kind of formalist analysis is exactly what students are asked to generate on the AP Literature exam! Sample paper included. (3 pages)

This entire 38-page unit will come to you in two separate formats: Word *and* PDF. Because the Word doc is fully editable, you'll be able to customize the materials to suit the skill levels of your students — year after year! If you don't have Microsoft Word, you'll still be able to access all of the materials as a PDF — which is easy to navigate and quick to print! Finally, as a free bonus, I'm including links to digital copies of every document in user-friendly platforms like Google Docs and Google Forms.

My store is called “Rigorous Resources” because all of the resources contain rigorous content that will motivate students to engage in thought-provoking and productive discussions. Thank you for choosing Rigorous Resources!!

Happy teaching!

Adam Jernigan, Ph.D.

adamjernigan@gmail.com

Links to all of the poetry units in this collection:

Poetry Unit #1: Sensory Imagery in Poetry

Poetry Unit #2: Figurative Language in Poetry

Poetry Unit #3: Love Poems

Poetry Unit #4: Ethical Dilemmas in Poetry

Poetry Unit #5: Family Dynamics in Poetry

Store: https://www.TeachShare.com/Store/Rigorous-Resources

This 31 page middle grade lesson plan comes ready to implement with easy to follow, color coded examples and activities for teaching, learning, and mastering author's style and types of sentences. Includes: History of Writing and Changes in Styles (1400s and 1700s to current) Models for writing great author's style and types of sentences Practice activities for sentence lengths and varieties Types of sentences (basic, compound, complex, compound-complex) Colorcoded examples of sentences Tips for writing Peer workshopping activities Excellent for homeschool, flipped classes, Gifted & Talented/Pre-Ap/AP, literacy centers, project based classrooms, and test prep. Meets CCSS and state guidelines for ELA. Requires critical thinking and problem solving skills.

Ce produit complet est conçu pour aider les enseignants à instaurer des clubs de lecture dans leur classe, tout en fournissant des activités engageantes pour permettre aux élèves de discuter et de mieux comprendre les textes qu'ils lisent.

Ce que contient ce produit :

• Fiches de travail et organisateurs graphiques pour guider les élèves dans l'analyse des personnages, du vocabulaire, des thèmes, et des intrigues de leurs livres.
• Cartes de discussion imprimables avec des questions variées pour favoriser des échanges riches et des réflexions profondes pendant les réunions de clubs de lecture.
• Conseils pratiques pour les enseignants sur la manière d'implanter un club de lecture dans la classe, ainsi que des idées pour organiser les discussions en petits groupes.
• Une activité unique pour permettre aux élèves de tester différents livres dans la classe, évaluer leurs intérêts, et noter leurs préférences, afin d'aider l'enseignant à former des groupes de lecture basés sur leurs niveaux, intérêts et besoins.

Ce produit est parfait pour encourager vos élèves à lire de manière critique et à collaborer dans un environnement stimulant et structuré, tout en vous offrant des outils clés en main pour une mise en place facile et efficace.

Vous en voulez plus ? Voici quelques ressources de mini-leçons en FRANÇAIS à découvrir :

• Écriture: Générer les idées
• Écriture: Endurance et motivation
• Écriture: La structure et la fluidité
• Écriture: Améliorer le choix de mots
• Écriture: Introductions & Conclusions
• Lecture: Solutionner les mots
• Lecture: La visualisation
• Lecture: Faire des liens
• Lecture: Connaissances antérieures
• Lecture: Faire des prédictions
• Lecture: Faire des inférences
• Lecture: Informations clés
• Lecture: Stratégies de réparation

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Mme Kaitlyn

**This product can be used with the full novel OR the excerpt that appears in the 8th grade Pearson text. The questions are "big idea" questions that can be answered using details and evidence from the novel or excerpt.**

This file contains 2 different packets of Socratic Circle questions- packet A and packet B. Each packet contains 3 different questions that require students to answer and provide two quotes from the text to back up their answers. Students are also required to come up with 3 additional questions they will ask if there's time in their circle. Finally, the packet has a page where each student will monitor a partner in the opposite circle. They will make a check each time their partner speaks, and paraphrase a meaningful comment their partner made. Lastly, the file contains the socratic circle rubric.

When you print out the file, you'll see packet A on the top half of the sheet, packet B on the bottom half, and then the rubric as the last page of the file. You'll need to cut each packet page in half after you print them out, as each booklet you give to the students is only half a page. They are labeled A and B. Give half your class A, half B, and allow them to plan! The day of the circle, you'll let A discuss for maybe 20-30 minutes, then flip-flop your circles and have B discuss.

My students really enjoy Socratic Seminars! I have found it works better when you give each group three different questions, so you don't see the same discussion 2 times, which is how this packet is set up.

I used the Socratic Circle as their "final test grade" for Flowers for Algernon. The students need to have finished the story to answer the questions included in the packet.

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This packet is a literature response to Those Shoes. It can be used as a literature response for a book club or as a whole class reading comprehension packet. There are prompts on when to answer each response page in the upper right corner in blue. These are graphic organizers with reading comprehension questions to promote a deeper understanding.

This book is at a Level P.

Reading Comprehension Strategies Addressed-

- Predicting

- Visualizing

- Short Answer Response

- Questioning

- Story Mapping

- Opinion

*** VOCABULARY BOOKMARKS INCLUDED!

For literature response packets for 12 titles leveled N-R, click here <--

Socratic Seminars (or "Fish Bowl" Conversations as I like to call them with my students) are fantastic, higher order ways of assessing whether your students are able to understand and react to your class text. 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, with this resource, the work has been done for you!

This packet includes everything you need to conduct a structured and formal set of Socratic Seminars in your classroom surrounding the novel, Divergent, by Veronica Roth - NO PREPARATION NEEDED!

• Assignment Directions

• 5 Discussion Questions for each “Fish Bowl”

• “Fish Bowl” Preparation Sheet

• Observation Sheets

• Rubric

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Check out these great resources to supplement your unit on Divergent by Veronica Roth:

⭐ Divergent Unit Test

⭐ Divergent "Silent Conversation" Quote Pass Activity

⭐ Divergent Fear Landscape Assignment

⭐ Divergent Faction Personality Quiz

⭐ Divergent Final Project - Long Lost Sixth Faction

⭐ Divergent Symbolism Lesson Plan: Tattoos of Divergent Characters

⭐ Divergent Mock Choosing Ceremony - Lesson Plans and Materials

⭐ Divergent Characters Word Search

⭐ Divergent Faction Acrostic Poem Assignment

⭐ Divergent Worksheet Bundle

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Click to Follow Language Arts Excellence

Ditch the reading logs; ignite your students' analytical fire!

The dialectical journal format becomes a springboard for engaging class discussions, fostering active participation and a deeper understanding of the text. I love to use these when we read short stories or novels when I want the students to notice something, but I want them to have the joy of discovery. Someone always, inevitably, picks up on what I wanted to highlight, and the added bonus is that other students get to share their insights, too. Dialectical Journals have been a great confidence builder!

Empower Students to Analyze, Question, and Create Meaning:

• Go beyond summaries: Unlike traditional reading logs, dialectical journals encourage students to think critically about the text, prompting them to identify key quotes, analyze their significance, and connect them to their own thoughts and experiences.
• Cultivate analytical skills: Students learn to question the author's intent, evaluate evidence, formulate their own interpretations, and ask their own questions.

Everything You Need to Get Started:

• Teacher-Friendly Guide: Get a clear roadmap with a Teacher's Guide featuring an introduction lesson for dialectical journals/lesson suggestions.
• Modeling & Practice: A sample journal page is included to model and practice the dialectical journal process with your students.
• Ready-to-Use Dialectical Journals: Choose from Fiction or Nonfiction templates, easily printed as a weekly journal or stand-alone pages. Both formats include:
  • Journal Cover Page
  • Ideas/Concepts to Consider Page to prime students' thinking
  • 5 Journal Pages for efficient printing
  • Weekly Summary Page to encourage reflection and synthesis
• Flexible & Adaptable: A PDF print version and Google Slides access (for all student pages) is included for a seamless transition into your existing classroom workflow.
• Easy Assessment: Scoring Rubric (suitable for both fiction and nonfiction) simplifies grading and provides clear expectations for students.

I hope you'll find this resource as valuable in your classroom as I have in mine, and I hope it makes your teacher life a little bit easier in the process!

This flip book goes through all the main characters of the play. It includes graphic organizers for your students to fill out in order to better understand character development. It makes a great study guide and a good way to have your students understand the differences and similarities between the different characters of the novel. Offers differentiated instruction to meet the needs of all your students! Rubric included for easy grading. This is the GOOGLE DRIVE version.

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.

This packet is a literature response to Those Shoes. It can be used as a literature response for a book club or as a whole class reading comprehension packet. There are prompts on when to answer each response page in the upper right corner in blue. These are graphic organizers with reading comprehension questions to promote a deeper understanding.

This book is at a Level P.

Reading Comprehension Strategies Addressed-

- Predicting

- Visualizing

- Short Answer Response

- Questioning

- Story Mapping

- Opinion

*** VOCABULARY BOOKMARKS INCLUDED!

For literature response packets for 12 titles leveled N-R, click here <--

Reading The Book Thief? Looking for a way to engage your students? Our graphic organizers go perfectly with this timeless classic. Helping your students learn vocabulary, theme, plot, and symbols. This includes 5 graphic organizers and a rubric for easy grading.

Need Google Drive Version?

CLICK HERE

Studying The Book Thief?

Need more resources?

We got you covered.

The Book Thief Flip book Study Guide

The Book Thief Characterization Flip book

The Book Thief Introduction Power Point

This packet is a literature response to Those Shoes. It can be used as a literature response for a book club or as a whole class reading comprehension packet. There are prompts on when to answer each response page in the upper right corner in blue. These are graphic organizers with reading comprehension questions to promote a deeper understanding.

This book is at a Level P.

Reading Comprehension Strategies Addressed-

- Predicting

- Visualizing

- Short Answer Response

- Questioning

- Story Mapping

- Opinion

*** VOCABULARY BOOKMARKS INCLUDED!

For literature response packets for 12 titles leveled N-R, click here <--

Reading Esperanza Rising? Looking for a way to engage your students? Our graphic organizers go perfectly with this timeless classic. Helping your students learn vocabulary, theme, plot, and symbols. This includes 5 graphic organizers and a rubric for easy grading.

Need Google Drive Version? CLICK HERE

Check out our other reasources for Esperanza Rising

Esperanza Rising- An Introduction PowerPoint

Esperanza Rising Interactive Flipbook Study Guide

Esperanza Rising Characterization Flip book

Act 3 quiz for Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing. Contains 10 multiple choice questions and 2 short response questions. Answer Key is included

5 multiple choice questions and 2 short answer questions on Act 1 of the play Taming of the Shrew. Complete with Answer Key

5 multiple choice questions and 2 short answer questions on Act 1 of the play Taming of the Shrew. Complete with Answer Key

5 multiple choice questions and 2 short answer questions on Act 3 of the play Taming of the Shrew Complete with Answer Key

5 multiple choice questions and 2 short answer questions on Act 4 of the play Taming of the Shrew. Complete with Answer Key

5 multiple choice questions and 2 short answer questions on Act 1 of the play Julius Caesar. Complete with Answer Key.