Category: Lesson Ideas

Why “Weight” Should Be on Your Must-Teach Short Story List

In my mission to revamp my inventory of short stories to use with my freshmen, “Weight” is hands down my favorite addition. Keep scrolling; you won’t be disappointed. It’s on CommonLit I hate to say it, but cost sometimes comes into play when figuring out my curriculum. Sure, there are plenty of illegal PDFs floating …

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Using “Sing” to Teach Characterization

Blog post main image. Picture of Sing movie characters on a laptop screen and the text: Teach characterization in sing. Free worksheet included.

The perfect review/intro to characterization for ANY grade. Students of all ages love this movie and the creator did a fabulous job introducing each of the characters in the open credits. You can buy or rent the movie from Amazon by clicking HERE *It’s an affiliate link which just means you pay nothing extra, but …

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Using Walter Mitty to Teach the Hero’s Journey

Need something quick for your unit on the Hero’s Journey? I’ve got you covered with this semi-recent movie: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Why Walter Mitty? This unexpected gem landed in my lap a few weeks back and at first I had low expectations. For one thing, I knew just from the trailer it …

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Teaching ELA with Prep and Landing

Teaching vocab with Disney's Prep and Landing movie screen and worksheets to learn the new words

Looking for something new this holiday season? Check out this vocabulary lesson using Prep and Landing. For a movie that’s geared at younger children, there is still a smattering of elevated language that makes this perfect resource to use in almost any classroom. Common Sense Media puts this PG movie as suitable for ages four …

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Using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs with Wiesel’s Night

This lesson plan is for the third chapter of Night by Elie Wiesel when Elie and his family are either killed or processed at Auschwitz. Even if your class is not reading the entire text, Chapter three can stand on its own and show the horrors of the concentration camps. **I suggest getting the audio …

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Review Plot Diagram with The Simpsons

This is a quick refresher or a nice (educational) brain break to cover plot diagrams. Instead of using an entire episode, I found a segment of the first Halloween special that works well and is only seven or eights minutes long. I pull this out when I want to do a quick review or have …

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Funny Essays to Use as Mentor Texts

Seriously – stories both you and your students will laugh out loud reading. Humor varies from person to person, so I have two very different essays in the hopes that you and your students will at least be able to connect to one. To make sure this is actually useful for everyone, I’m only including …

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Literary Elements in Zootopia

Need an engaging review of literary elements? I’ve got you covered with these hilarious clips from Disney’s Zootopia. The video below is a compilation of clips. I’ll post the video here at the top and then detail the literary elements for each of the scenes – except the first when she’s arriving. Pun Who doesn’t …

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Virtual Classroom Murder Mystery Lesson

Desperate for something that will engage students during virtual meetings? Try a virtual classroom murder mystery! Students all get a character card and interview each other during a virtual classroom meeting. Can your students solve the mystery?

Desperate for something that will engage students during virtual meetings? Try a virtual classroom murder mystery! In this post I’m explaining how to adapt my murder mystery lesson to an online meeting. Click here if you haven’t yet read my post about murder mystery lessons. Okay, so let’s talk about how this very social lesson …

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How to Host a Romeo and Juliet Murder Mystery Game

Engage your students with a Romeo and Juliet murder mystery party! Students take on character roles and try to find out who killed one of the Capulet servants. Can you solve the mystery???

It’s a classroom murder mystery party with all the students as Romeo and Juliet characters! This idea came to me randomly one night and I stayed up all night making it happen. I knew it would be perfect for my R&J unit. Read on and I’ll share what I came up with and any snags …

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