Bring the vocabulary of film to life through the processes of filmmaking. Students learn terminology and techniques simultaneously as they plan, film, and edit a short video.

This three-session lesson focuses on characterization. Students determine how a character's traits reveal particular character traits, using a list of adjectives as a guide. Then, they write descriptions of those characters. Characters from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone are used for modeling.

Students will learn about careers and entrepreneurial businesses that exist within their own community by taking pictures and interviewing people working. This is a great way of creating career awareness or encouraging a more in-depth study of entrepreneurial careers. This can be used as a way for students to hone communication skills; become more familiar with different kinds of jobs, and expose them to a wealth of career possibilities. This activity can also be used to foster business/community partnerships. It can be used as a formative activity to prompt student motivation and interest, or as a summative assessment through which content is assessed for the inclusion of the targeted learning objectives.

In this lesson students build their knowledge base and learn to read and summarize informational texts. Students will be able to read and summarize informational text, identify key details from surprising details, and recognize the main ideas/concepts presented in articles. They will also be able to listen, take notes, and discuss the issues presented in informational texts with a small group.

These rubrics can be used when students are working in literature circle groups to assess their collaboration and public speaking skills. There is one rubric for the teacher to assess student preparedness and contribution to the group as well as speaking and listening skills. Another rubric has been adapted to allow for students to peer-assess and self-assess at the end of a literature circle cycle. The rubrics provide clear expectations for group collaboration aligned to the Common Core State Standards for Speaking & Listening. 

Students will learn and apply techniques to develop and present a personal narrative/memoir. They will take their writing through all stages of the writing process. Their writing will reflect clear understanding of plot, dialogue, transitions, and descriptive details.

In this lesson students will practice visualizing and understanding that visualization is an important comprehension strategy. Students will share their visualization of the story through original artwork.

Students explore the concept of fair use, apply it to case studies, and
create an original work of fair use.
Students learn how to judge whether something is protected by fair use
by using the Four Points of Fair Use Student Handout. They
apply the four points of fair use to two case studies, a remixed video and
a mash-up song, to judge whether or not they fall under fair use.
Students then create an original work of fair use by reworking
copyrighted material to create a collage or a remix video.

As students read novels - we want to engage them in collaborative talk about text.  This example from Walker Middle school allows students to watch a sample of what a Socratic seminar might look like.