Category Archives: Task Cards

New Year – New “Daily Starter” System | Warm Ups | Bell Ringers |

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This is my sixth year teaching English (at some grade level) and I have YET to successfully implement daily starters in my English class throughout the year. I always start strong – but then the inevitable happens…. I wake up unorganized and it’s all I can do to get my head on and lesson plan together – let alone a relevant daily starter! So what happens? The daily starter routine takes a back seat and usually never returns throughout the year.

I’ve created an entire school year’s worth of daily starters that can be used in any English class ranging from grades 7-12!

These starters come in two formats to fit your classroom: printable and digital (PowerPoint presentation)! You can use these a ZILLION different ways can even get multiple uses out of them in the same year. I am going to use some of them as EXIT SLIPS or SPONGE activities during semester one of this upcoming school year. For example, I just released my all-new 32 Response to Quote Task Cards: Writing – Many Uses – PPT + Printables, which is included in this bundle.

 

These warm ups target five different skill/content categories and are all CCSS aligned:

Reading Literature (RL)

Reading Information (RI)

Context Clues (L)

Creative Writing (W) *Which is one of my personal favorites!

Response to Quotations (W)

Literature tasks for any story!
Informational task cards for any piece of text!
Strengthen your students “context clues” skills!
Brand new “Respone to Quotations” tasks!

I have individual task card sets for each of the concepts/skills listed above in my TPT store!

Most of the warm up tasks have the exact standard that is being targeted listed on the actual task.

Cover page

I think it would be worth your while to check this system out… especially if you’re “daily starter” history is anything like mine 🙂

I will be posting a very detailed “Daily Starter Procedure and Practices” outline in the VERY near future! 😉 Hope this helps…

Tired of Teaching “Elements of Plot”? A New, Fun Approach!

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Are you tired of beginning each school year with the same ol’ “Elements of Plot” lesson? The initial vocabulary and concepts related to “Plot” can be kind of “dry” and “boring”, especially if you’re a student in grades 7th-10th! You know what I’m talking about because we’ve all been there 😉

I took some time (well, quite a bit of time!) designing a new way to introduce the “elements of plot” to my ninth grade English students! Instead of using the original “Plot Mountain” (pictured below) – I decided to take my students on “Plot Roller Coaster Ride”! Sounds fun – right? Obviously, I thought so! With that being said, I took the liberty to create a comprehensive, lesson bundle covering “The Elements of Plot” in alignment with CCSS standards!

Typical Plot MountainTypical Plot Mountain

PlotRollerCoaster5Elements

Plot Roller Coaster Ride

New Plot Roller Coaster

Download FREE Plot Roller Coaster PDF

Inspired by the graphic organizer shown above, I went on to create a PREZI presentation, student note-taking packet and two intertactive activities to use this year as I teach this standard (RL 7-10.3). I’ve included a few thumbnails of these resources below but you can view a full product preview here:

Elements of Plot Bundle – PREZI, Student Note Packet, Activities, Task Cards

Elements of Plot Lesson Plans Elements of Plot Lesson Plans Elements of Plot Lesson Plans Elements of Plot Lesson Plans Elements of Plot Lesson Plans

As you can see, I’ve incorporated “Plot” Task cards into one of the activities in this bundle! I am really excited to use these because I think the students are going to love them! Each “Plot” task card includes a short description the setting, protagonist and antagonist of potential plot structure. There are a variety of ways to use them in the classroom, but students use the Plot Roller Coaster graphic organizer to create their own plot line from the information found on the “Plot” task cards! I’ve included an example of one below 🙂

Screen Shot 2014-07-27 at 4.34.44 PMIf you’re one of those teachers that has taught the same “elements of plot” lesson over and over (just like me!), maybe it’s time you step out on a limb and change it up for the new school year!

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Flash FREEBIE: BACK TO SCHOOL Instagram “Task Card” Activity

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Back to School Instagram Activity

I just used an activity that I created this summer for the first time with a summer school intervention (reading strategies) class. I had such a great experience that it made me want to share it with other educators! The students were diggin’ it and we’re highly engaged the entire time. Discussion was meaningful and it seemed to really spark some critical thinking!

With all of that being said (Can’t you tell I’m excited?), I am now offering my Instagram Task Cards for “Back to School”- 33 Cards and 5 Answer Sheets as a FREE download for a limited time!

Back to School Instagram ActivityThis is 22 pages filled with different strategies to use with task cards, unique Instagram-style task cards and differentiated student response sheets! Enjoy!

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P.s. I would love to know how your experience with this activity went… So, if you feel compelled, drop me an email or a message after using it in your class! I would greatly appreciate it 🙂