Use this resource for your students to practice reading and comparing the story elements of two fiction texts.

Answers: 1b 2c 3a 4c 5d 6d 7b 8a (cause and effect) linking_words_phrases (linking words) (linking words)

Are you writing a thriller novel? In this post, I show you how to outline and write a well-structured thriller novel that readers will love! #amwriting #writingtips

English Language Learners are very resourceful students. You may notice your ELLs checking the name plate that's hanging outside your door to spell your name correctly, or referring back to a read-aloud you did last week because they've forgotten what a carved pumpkin is called. Developing this ability to independently retrieve information is critical for ELLs. As teachers, we can help them become more proficient with this skill by creating and posting quality anchor charts in our classrooms. Anchor charts reflect the learning that is going on in a classroom. They might outline a classroom routine or procedure so that students can remember what to do. Or, they may review content vocabulary so that students can refer to these words in their speaking and writing. ELLs rely on these charts to help them remember what's expected of them. Anchor charts help orient ELLs in the unfamiliar language environment of the classroom. Anchor charts lose their utility, however, if students can't quickly locate needed information. Sometimes our walls become so full of words and lists that students become overwhelmed. When designing charts with ELLs in mind, it's critical to make it as easy as possible for your students to find and interpret the relevant information. Below are some ways you can help students get what they need from your anchor charts. 1.) Get rid of the clutter. Only post charts containing information that students will need to refer back to. You'll know you've made a great anchor chart when you see students getting out of their seats to check it, or see them glancing at the chart while working. Rotate anchor charts depending on students' needs and the units you're teaching. Try not to let your walls get so crowded that the most important information is lost in a sea of words. 2.) Categorize. Rather than charting lists upon lists, try organizing your charts using categories. For example, instead of simply listing alternative words for "said" (a lesson many of us teach every year during narrative writing units), group those words into categories by their emotional connotations. This way, students can start to understand the nuances that different words carry in their reading and writing. Even something as simple as color-coding different categories makes it easier for ELLs to quickly see which words belong together. ELLs' writing will be clearer when they make deliberate decisions about which word to choose in order to convey their character's feeling. In reading, students can make better inferences when they understand the subtle differences between these words. 3.) Label. Labels are especially helpful to ELLs because they allow you to convey the most important information with the fewest words. Labels can be particularly helpful in creating anchor charts for classroom rules and procedures. The visuals make it easy for students to quickly find the appropriate chart to remind them what they should be doing. You can use charts like the one below to display class routines, such as what to do during reading block, writing block, partnerships, in the hallway, etc. Even beginner students can be held accountable for classroom rules and routines. Simply point to the appropriate part of the diagram to remind students of the behavior you expect. Did you find this post useful? Here are some other posts you might like! For ideas about how to promote reading comprehension in ELLs and communicate expectations to parents, click here. This post explains the importance of using graphic organizers to help ELLs structure their thinking. Click here to take a quiz to see how well you're amplifying for the ELLs in your classroom, and here for some ideas to help you amplify further.

I've got one more summarizing idea to share with you! Did you see my other posts about writing summaries HERE and HERE?

By Presto Plans A few years ago I became a part-time student and enrolled in a master's course called Writing Instruction. The professor took a unique approach by having us, a group of English teachers, write our own poetry and fiction. It was an eye-opener. I realized that somewhere between high school and my first teaching job, I forgot the lonely and uneasy feeling of staring at a blank page, not knowing where to begin. When the professor allowed us to work with another teacher on the next writing piece, there was a sense of comfort in that I had someone to discuss, collaborate, and share ideas with. Collaborative writing not only broke down my reserve and hesitation, but also allowed me to foster a relationship of trust and partnership with my co-author. I wanted to bring this experience into my own classroom, so I made a point to allow more opportunities for students to write creatively with a partner or a group. Try 5 of my favorite engaging, low-prep collaborative writing activities that you can use in your class tomorrow. Snowball writing is an activity that your middle and high school students will always remember. It can be used with almost any writing genre and is highly-engaging for even your most reluctant writers. I use this method for narrative, poetry, descriptive, and essay writing. I even use it as an introductory icebreaker activity during back-to-school or a semester change! How It Works: - One student starts the writing process for a timed period decided by the teacher. - When time is up, the teacher tells students to crumple up their work into a “snowball” and throw it somewhere else in the room. Get ready to see lots of confused faces J. - Students retrieve one of the snowballs, smooth out the paper, and continue the writing process! (Tip: have students use a pen to make the writing easier to read for the next student) This process is repeated as needed. When all parts are completed, the paper goes back to the original writer who creates a final copy. If you want to know more about how I use this for narrative writing, read this detailed blog post that gives the step-by-step process in more detail. Have your students write a descriptive paragraph using vivid imagery with an activity called Shared Sensory Writing. How it works: - Put students into groups of three and give them an object to describe. - As a group, they decide which of the 3 senses they will focus on (sight, taste, smell, touch, hearing). Each person is assigned a sense, and they write a short paragraph describing the object based only on the sense they receive. - The group combines elements from each of the paragraphs to create a final descriptive piece. Download this activity for FREE by clicking here: Shared Sensory Writing One of the challenging parts of creative fictional writing is developing the story elements that will form the plot. Use the graffiti fiction brainstorming technique as a way for students to work together to spark fictional writing. How It Works: - Set up 4 chart-paper stations around the room with the following titles: Conflicts, Character Traits, Settings, and Themes. Break the class up into 4 groups and have each group go to one of the stations. - The group members work together to “graffiti” the page with potential conflicts, character traits, settings, and themes that could emerge in a fictional story. I fill in a couple of my own examples to get them started. - Have each group spend 3-4 minutes filling the chart paper up with their ideas. Then, have them all circulate to the next station to repeat the process. - When they are done, have each student select one character trait, conflict, setting, and theme from the graffitied pages to develop a unique narrative. You can choose to have them write independently or with a partner. Tapestry poetry was developed by Avril Meallem (of Israel) and Shernaz Wadia (of India). The two women started writing tapestry poetry collaboratively via email. The form consists of two authors writing a 9-line poem based on the same title, and then working together to meld it into one seamless finished product. How It Works: - Put your students into pairs (or let them choose a partner). - Have one of the students select a title for the poem. This student who selects the title is the only one who has the option of using it in the poem (to avoid repetition). - Both students write a 9-line poem. - When they are done, the pair works together to interlace the poem into one. All 18 lines must be included. Students are permitted to make grammatical changes (singular to plural, verb tenses etc.), and adjustments to adjectives and adverbs, but the majority of the poems should remain the same. Download this activity for FREE by clicking here: Tapestry Poetry Sketch and scribble writing is meant to be used with descriptive/narrative writing and will particularly appeal to those artistic students in your classroom. How It Works: - Have students form a group of three. Give each of the students a picture as a writing prompt. The picture prompts below are the ones I use. The images should allow them to use a narrative voice to describe a scene. They should keep the prompt hidden from the other members of the group. - Once the time is up, each student passes the writing to another student in the group who will read it and draw the scene based on the description (no words allowed). - When the drawings are done, they are given to the final student who must write a paragraph based on the drawing. In the end, have students compare and contrast the drawings to the original picture writing prompt as well as the two pieces of writing. Want even more ideas for collaborative writing? Check out these activities from some of the other Secondary English Coffee Shop bloggers! Tandem Writing from The SuperHERO Teacher Group Writing Challenges from Room 213 Two Truths and a Lie from Secondary Sara Round Robin Writing from Nouvelle ELA Have other ideas for collaborative writing? Click the comment button at the top of the post to join the conversation! SaveSave SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

Learning how to a scene will change your writing practice. In this post, I'll show you how to write a well-structured scene using the '5 Commandments of Storytelling.'

Whether you're teaching second graders to simply identify and describe characters or you're having fifth graders compare and contrast characters between the beginning and end of the story or between two stories, they need to have a good grasp of character traits. Like with any skill, repeated practice and exposure is the key to your students truly understanding and mastering the skill. As I'm planning for the week ahead, I'm racking my brain and resources for character traits ideas and activities. After coming up a wee bit short, I turned to Pinterest and the world wide web. What follows is simply a collection of resources, ideas, and activities I have found and plan on tweaking to meet the needs of my kiddos. I do NOT take credit for any of these great ideas, simply passing along some great resources in one location. Starting with a Mentor Text At Lesson Plan SOS there is a great activity use the story Bad Case of the Stripes. Her blog not only contains info on this great idea, but also several other mini-lessons and activities using the same book. Here is a link to her Camilla Character Trait FREEBIE!! Providing Hand-outs & Resources for Students Although you don't want students to become dependent on a list of traits, it is definitely a great thing to use in the beginning and to serve as a reference throughout the application of the skill. It's also a great writing resource to help them expand their vocabulary. Here is one such Character Trait list. It's from the blog Workshop Classroom, and I especially love this one because it breaks the traits up into categories and categorizes them. I think that this would be great for ELL students and those who need a little extra support. Here's a direct link to the FREEBIE. Here is another list. This one is from Totally Terrific in Texas' blog. She includes the list and a character map via a google doc. (Also a FREEBIE!) Interactive Notebook Fold-able for Hands-on Practice One your kiddos have learned how to use a character's words, thoughts, and actions to infer a character trait, it's time for them to practice. We are currently reading the novel Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper, so I am going to have my kids analyze the characters in the chapters we are reading. Instead of just giving them a worksheet, I'm going to have them do a fold-able to put in their interactive reading notebook. Here is an example of one possible foldable to use by Teaching in Wonderland. (Bonus: It's a FREEBIE!) Fun "Skill to Self" Connection Activity Over at Adventures of Room 129's blog, there's a super cute idea for kids to create a frame that gives them the chance to display some of their own character traits. I' m thinking that after kids create their frame, I'll give them a chance to pick one trait that describes them to share with a partner and then give 'evidence' from their life to prove that it's an accurate trait to describe themselves. For further connection and rigor, kids can then think of a character from a story they have read that shares the same character trait. Do you have any other great ideas? I'd love to hear them and "borrow" them for my classroom :) Feel free to put them in the comments below.

Your students are bright, but they don't always sound like it. Help improve student vocabulary with these 600 ways to say common things.

This week, it’s two-for-one on worksheets! Why? Because they’re basically the same worksheet with a different title.

Inspire your second writers with this list of journal ideas and 2nd grade writing prompts shared by one of our Journal Buddies readers!

The best creative writing exercises help you practise your writing skills in a fun way. Check out these writing exercises and writing prompts for adults.

Creative Writing Worksheet – Scene Writing (PDF) Here is a worksheet I needed to write for myself this week! Often when you create an outline, you know what needs to happen when, but not necessarily how the action should unfold, or in what way you should relate it. This worksheet will help you brainstorm some…

One of the things I get asked most is how to get back into writing. There is no magic pill or one-size-fits-all answer. But I have a few ideas. NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate links provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to products. Original photo by Hannah […]

When I was in a long term assignment in a special needs classroom, story writing was a difficult task for most of the children. I made this organizer to help the children come up with ideas that they could turn into a story. The organizer is broken down into the 5 "W" questions: Who, What, Where, When, Why. There is a second page for the children to write down their rough draft using the ideas on their organizer. The children were able to write some very creative stories using this organizer as a tool in the process! I am anxious to try this organizer with first, second and third graders this year. Thanks for looking! Below are links to some of my other items that might interest you. Thanks for looking! Monthly Writing Prompts / Writing Templates / Great for 1st, 2nd & 3rd Grades Spelling Word Definitions / Spelling Words Activity Identifying Parts of Speech / Reading Activity / Weekly Story or Chapter Books

You’re finally ready. Something has pushed you to write a book about your experience, your methods, your way of thinking. But why does it actually matter? And why would someone want to read it? People are often inspired by others who have overcome challenges or developed a plan of attack to help them out. They […]

This colorful chart shows the evolution of the alphabet over the last 4000 years, from Proto-Sinaitic, through Phoenician and Greek, to Latin. It also includes various medieval scripts and shows how several letters changed positions over the centuries and how others were added and dropped.

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Other Ways to Say; Happy – Pretty – Nice – Good – Bad – Sad – Scared – Angry – Improve Your English with us;

Don't let your literature anthology dictate the short stories you read with your middle school and high school students. There are so many wonderful short stories out there, many of which can be used to teach a variety of literary elements and paired with other texts. Read on for 13 of my favorites, which literary terms and skills they lend themselves to teaching, plus suggested text pairings and activities.

This product is meant to be a reproducible puzzle template for any timeline project. It can also be used for story retelling, sequencing, and any other writing and illustrating that needs to be done in order. This product includes: Front cover, middle pages, and end pages for rough draft Front cover, middle pages, and end pages for final draft See pictures on my facebook: https://www.facebook.com/owlalwayslove2ndgrade www.owlalwayslove2ndgrade.blogspot.com