Language Arts Activities, Student Work, & Ideas
Reading Skills Focus: pre-reading strategies, guided reading, independent reading, reading comprehension, literary elements, connections (text to self, world, & other texts), applying themes to historic & personal contexts, making inferences, summarizing, note-taking, chapter summaries, character analysis, making predictions, etc.
Independent ReadingD.E.A.R. (Drop Everything & Read) is our daily silent reading time. I usually do a reading race, where students record home & class reading.
Assignments include: - Book Jacket (about the author, summary, book review) - Book PowerPoint - Book Talk (oral presentation) - Book Poster & Award Show (students present their posters & then vote) - Graphic Organizers (story maps, venn diagrams, preditions chart) - Making picture books (for buddy reading) - Book Reports |
Novel Study Activities:In addition to the typical (& important) reading comprehension questions, chapter summaries, title pages, group discussions, quizzes & projects, here are some activities students enjoy:
· Venn Diagram/Poster comparing & contrasting literary elements (characters, plots, settings, themes)
· Maps /Dioramas of Setting (Middle Earth, Narnia, Island of the Blue Dolphins) · PowerPoint/YouTube videos of novel · Jeopardy Game, 20 ?s, Trivia Games · Newspaper /Newscast of novel · Tableau / Skit of scenes · Character Cards (portrait on front & details/facts on the back) · Research (print or Google) · Character Cards (portrait on front & details/facts on the back) |
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Samples to Download
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Poetry - Reading & Writing
One of my favourite units to teach is poetry. I use the Read & Understand Poetry (see Gr.5 pg), which has a great selection of poems from incredible poets, such as Shakespeare, William Carlos Williams, Basho, Robert Frost, Tennyson, and Lewis Carroll. The resource provides background information about the author, discussion ideas, comprehension questions, and other activities.
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The writing component of my poetry unit involves teaching the following poetry forms: couplet, onomatopoeia, list, haiku, cinquain, ballad, diamonte, free verse, tongue twister, simile, ABC, metaphor, name, and limerick. My students write 2-3 poems of each type, and then choose their favorite ones to include in a typed booklet (complete with great clip art!). Download a sample of some great poetry activities:
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Writing Activities
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