ELA+best+practice+resources

Effective Speaking in a Debate
[] A lesson designed to improve debating skills by confronting stage fright.

= = =Drama=

Standards: 9-12 Advanced
[] This page contains the text of the National Performing Arts Standards at the advanced level. Each standard is linked to a variety of lesson plans and materials which can be used to help students meet the standard.

Standards: 9-12 Proficient
[] This page contains the text of the National Performing Arts Standards at the proficient level. Each standard is linked to a variety of lesson plans and materials which can be used to help students meet the standard.

Unit Lesson Plans
[] The following lessons are all designed to teach various aspects of the Drama curriculum through interactive activities. A partial list of activity titles follows: Fundamentals of Acting, Blocking, Character Development in Acting (//contains 10 separate lessons: Character Interviews, Characterization and Imitation, Pushing Objectives, Tactics, Exploring Emotions, Face and Body, Communication, Monologue Rehearsal, Performance, and Performance 2//), Characterization (//includes: Emotions, Vocalization, Articulation and Projection, Creating Character Habits/Traits, Exploring Movement in Communication, Character Behavior in Various Situations, Relationships, Objectives, Character History, and Giving Characters Views and Values//), Comedy as Social Commentary, Costume Construction, Creating Characters (//contains 10 separate lessons: Discover Types of Characters, Building a Character Around a Name, Creating a Character Using Costumes, Building a Character Through Movement, Creating a Character Using Props, Recognizing Character Objectives, Creating a Character’s History, Getting to Know a Character’s Home, Creating a Music Video, and Character Created//), Dramatic Structure, Improvisation, Introduction to Acting, Introduction to Directing Unit, Kabuki, Movement and Mannerisms, Scene Development, The Stage, The Structure of a Play, Theater Games, and much, much more!

= = =Ethan Frome=

Core Literature: Ethan Frome
[] This site contains online quizzes, an online version of the text, study questions, a vocabulary list, a web quest, information about the author, and links to additional resources (including a study guide produced by a high school).

Edith Wharton Quotes
[] This page lists quotes from Edith Wharton, organized by topic areas.

Ethan Frome
[] This page has a collection of little worksheets and things. I included it because of the poetry activity over //The Snowman// at the end.

Help For Teachers
[] This page will take you to a set of “differentiated” assignments related to the novel that progressively increase in cognitive complexity.

Kidreach: The Online Reading Center
[|http://www.westga.edu/~kidreach/ethanfrome.html] I thought this pre-reading activity was a neat way to get kids engaged in thinking about (and, hopefully, discussing) the concepts and themes that they will encounter in the text. I also liked the way that it helps them to consider which reading strategies they will use when they encounter words that are difficult to pronounce //prior// to actually finding themselves in that situation.

Literature Annotations
[] This is a //fabulous// database that takes you to online versions of the text (nice for when you are making up worksheets and need to cut and paste quotes—or for kids who have forgotten their books), to online information about the author, and to key word links to related topic areas. Those links take you to information about related works of art, film, and other works of literature! Do a little clicking around—it is a pretty quick and painless way to add incredible dimension and depth to what you are teaching! I can see using the art as writing prompts, for example, or showing clips from the films as discussion prompts on specific themes and motifs. The site is also indexed by genre, era, and can even be searched by key words and phrases (useful if you want to look at cross-sectional clips of other literary works with related themes).

The Literature Network
[] This searchable site contains the entire text, online, has nice chapter summaries, and student reviews of the book.

McDougal Littell
[] This lesson plan for //Ethan Frome// focuses on the theme of isolation in the novel.

PinkMonkey.com – Monkey Notes
[] This site contains printable notes related to key literary elements of the work (such as setting, characters, conflict, plot, themes, mood, background information, and historical/literary information); chapter summaries with notes; overall analyses of the characters, plot, and theme; and study questions.

Sadcore.com
[] This site contains collections of music, print materials, art, and movies that share the theme of sadness.

Scans Integrations
[] This site asks students to complete a “performance evaluation” from a variety of perspectives for various characters from the novel.

Stillgar Home Page
[] This page contains a list of informational links related to various pieces of literature, including //Ethan Frome//.

Vocabulary Classic Texts
[] This page contains a suggested vocabulary list, organized by chapter.

Web English Teacher
[] This site will take you to various links related to //Ethan Frome//. I thought that the following 2 links were particularly helpful: [|Edith Wharton's //__Ethan Frome__//] and [|The Mount: Edith Wharton and the American Renaissance].

= = =General English/Language Arts=

The Advertising Artwork of Dr. Seuss
__[]__ This online collection includes advertising artwork done by Dr. Seuss for companies such as Ford, General Electric, Macy, NBC, and Standard Oil.

The Author Comes to Life
[] This post suggests that students give a twenty minute presentation in character after researching the life, works, and criticisms of an author.

Canterbury Tales
[] This post describes a research project which results in a re-enactment of the Canterbury Tales.

The Center For Learning Interdisciplinary Units
[] This page contains a series of sample lessons for various novels and plays which are linked to a companion lessons for Social Studies. Sample lessons include: A Tale of Two Cities, A Stranger Is Watching (Bestsellers), Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl, Alice’s Adventurs in Wonderland, Jane Eyre, Cry, The Beloved Country, Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind/Haveli, Anna Karenina, All Quiet on the Western Front, Witch of Blackbird Pond/My Brother Sam is Dead, Hiroshima, Johnny Tremain, A Gather of Flowers: Stories About Being Young in America, Night, Walden/A Different Drummer, Julius Caesar, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Joy Luck Club, and __The Christmas Box/A Christmas Carol__.

Chessboard Novel
[] This post describes the use of a chess game as a means of helping students constructing short stories which are eventually connected to form a novel.

Cinderella Stories
[|http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/cinderella.html] This link will take you to a variety of variants on the Cinderella story. These other links will take you to lesson plans for some of the Cinderella variants listed above [|Tattercoats], [|Cap o'Rushes], [|The Twelve Months], and [|The Princess and the Golden Shoes]. Some of the pre-reading, during reading, and post-reading activities are good and would work nicely at the high school level, but beware that other segments of these materials are a little elementary in nature.

Cliff’s Notes Okayed
[] This lesson plan describes a cooperative activity in which students investigate the use of literary supplements such as Cliff’s Notes. Students read a novel in groups and create their own literary supplement as a culminating activity.

Comics
[] This site will take you to a collection of popular comic strips (Blondie, Peanuts, etc.) published in the Seattle paper.

Dr. Seuss Went to War: A Catalog of Political Cartoons by Dr. Seuss
[] The title of this one says it all!

Early American English Lit. Writing Assignment
[] This post describes a writing assignment in which students are asked to imagine that they are colonists on Mars as a means of helping them to understand the Puritan experience and to imitate the standard Plain style of writing.

Education Place - Graphic Organizers
[] Lots of typical graphic organizers (more elementary in nature) from Houghton Mifflin are available as .PDFs on this site.

Food for Thought—Eat Your Heart Out
[|http://www.intranet.csupomona.edu/~tassi/food.htm] This site contains lesson plans for a literature-based thematic unit on food that touches on subthemes of celebration, communication, connection to the past, emotion, and expression of culture/identity/ritual/community.

Free Language Arts Resources
[] Contains links to well-designed online projects related to a wide array of topics in Language Arts.

]Literary Circles [ncte-talk]
[] This post discusses the use of cooperative learning in literature—specifically a lesson plan for using literary circles with The Scarlet Letter.

The Literary Me
[] This lesson plan is designed to help students consider the traits of the literary characters they meet and to find in them similarities to themselves which are ultimately explored by means of an essay.

One Hundred Things to Do With Books
[] The title says it all!

Teaching The Crucible: A Guide to Curriculum Integration
[] This site containes a variety of supplemental curriculum resources for teaching with (and about) the film //The Crucible//. It also includes related resources for teaching about the Salem witch trials and the more recent McCarthy hearings.

Tolerance.org
[] This site contains activities for raising awareness about difference, power, and discrimination—particularly as it relates to issues of language, and is divided into lessons of various lengths of time.

=Journalism=

The First Ammendment
[] This site contains links to numerous resources for teachers of journalism and photojournalism, including links to cartoons, information on copyright and libel, lesson plans, media ethics cases, and other teaching resources.

=Poetry=

Collaborative Poetry
[] This group activity is designed to lead students through the process of writing poetry.

]Emily Dickinson [ncte-talk]
[] This post discusses a spoof on the New Criticism in which the poem //Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening// can be sung to the tune of Jingle Bells.

]Poetry lesson—magnetic poetry [ncte-talk]
[] This post describes a lesson plan for teaching poetry through magnetic poetry kits.

Sonnets from Hester
[] This post describes a cooperative jigsaw discussion activity which eventually results in the creation of a sonnet about Hester Prynne.

Writing a Poem
[] This post describes a step-by-step process for teaching students to write a poem using all five senses and adding figurative language, details, and other poetic devices in subsequent revisions.

= = =Reading Strategies=

Guided Reading
[] This site contains information about the purposes of pre-, during, and post-reading tasks and links to information about, ideas for using, and examples of activities from each of those categories. (Note: The examples are kind of buried in layers—just keep on clicking!)

=Writing=

A Guide to Writing in Mathematics Classes
[] This site is a wonderful resource for math teachers who have been asked to include writing as a part of their curriculum.

The ABCs of the Writing Process
[] An nice set of materials designed to teach the writing process to students.

Indispensible Writing Resources: A Complete Collection of Writing Essentials
[] This site contains links to writing web sites related to [|business], [|creative writing], [|journalism/public relations], [|literature], [|science/technical writing], and [|speech writing]. It also includes a lengthy list of [|online writing labs].

On Writing Well
[] This site is dedicated to copy writing and includes sections on conceptualizing, reporting, and writing.

OWL Writing Handouts: Complete Index by Topic
[] This site contains an extensive list of handouts on stages of the writing process; grammar, spelling, and punctuation; research and documenting sources; business and professional writing (such as resumes); and English as a Second Language. It also offers online, self-checking practice exercises.

Psychology: Tips for Writing Well
[] This is a beautifully crafted set of suggestions about writing well that a professor has written for his psychology students.

The Writer's Home
[] Contains quotations on writing.

Writer’s Resource Center
[] Primarily devoted to creative writing, this site includes information on the craft of writing, poetry, technical writing, writing and technology, and the business of writing.

Writing a Well-organized Persuasive Essay
[] This post (which uses Julius Caesar as the example) describes a process by which students can be taught to write effective persuasive essays.

Writing Fix.com
[|http://www.writingfix.com]

[|Left-Brained Friendly Writing Ideas] [|Right-Brained Friendly Writing Ideas] [|Daily Topic Generator] – Ideas for writing prompts [|Writing Fix for Teachers] – Includes links to assignments based on the 6-trait model; ARG online scoring practice for teachers; links to revision activities, checklists, and rubrics; and links to other interactive writing sites.

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