Middle School Resources

[Robert Rozema]

Use this forum item to share your best resources--unit plans, lesson plans, writing invitations, or other ideas that have worked for you in a middle school setting.

Just reply to this discussion item with a brief description of your resource (e.g., Hatchet Unit Plan) and then attach any files that go along with it. Ideally, we'll have a rich archive for new and veteran teachers alike. Be sure to include your name, and be sure to credit any resources you use from this site.

[Kendra Hilton]

Hi everyone. I'm uploading my pedagogy project for my ENG 311 class at Grand Valley State University. It's titled "Holocaust through Night and Relating it to Life." For a seventh grade classroom this curriculum is taught from Elie Wiesel's novel Night. I focus on allowing the students to become interested in the text and then form their own opinions based on what they have read and researched.

The main component of this curriculum is the "Blue Dot Project" where students participate in a role play for a day. It comes complete with new names, killings, and the "good guys" vs. "bad" guys. The activity is meant to give the students a relatability factor with the book and the events happening in it. It also is meant to give a lasting impression on them that they will remember long after they leave my classroom. If you have any questions feel free to contact me and I will do my best to answer them.

[Megan Roberts]

Hello. My name is Megan Roberts and I am uploading my pedagogy project for ENG 311. It's called "A perfect world? Exploring The Giver in the 8th grade". The main focus of the unit is for students to get an understanding of the main themes in the book. It also might help give them a better appreciation for their memories. The activities included in the unit will help the students become interested in the themes brought up in the book and keep them active throughout. There are quite a few journal prompts to help the student become familiar with what they are reading because they are able to connect/find relationships to certain characters or situations in the book. If there are any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

[Cameron Kutzli]

Hello everyone, I am Cameron Kutzli, and I hope this works. My computer does not give me the option of adding a zip file only a rar file. Anyway, this is a unit plan focused around Art Spiegelman's Graphic Novel Maus and takes up seven class periods in a block schedule. It is designed for seventh grade students and is a good way to incorporate important historical events into a new format for young readers. The unit is discussion based (both small and large group) and allows the students to learn how to engage in good discussion. At the beginning of the unit the students are divided into literature circles where small group discussions will take place throughout the unit. The students are assigned a "Drama Happenings" project (adapted from Jeffery Wilhelm's book "You Gotta BE the Book") at the end of the unit, however they will be introduced to this at the beginning, and allowed to work on it periodically throughout.

If there are any questions or, more importantly, suggestions please let me know!

[Krashawn McElveen]

Hi my name is Krashawn McElveen and this is my unit on Hatchet by Gary Paulsen.The unit is called Hatchet: A Story of Survival. In this unit students will explore stories of survival and their importance. They will learn many things about using figurative language in stories, character development, and how characters develop throughout a novel. This resource includes many class discussions, group work, and journal writing. This unit plan is geared toward 6th to 7th grade students and could be accompanied with a writing unit.

If you have any questions or suggestions let me know!

[Steve Foutz]

Hello, my name is Steve Foutz and this is my pedagogy project for ENG 311 at GVSU. This is a 10 day unit plan on learning Informational Text. This unit is geared toward 6th grade students. The main text that is used is Sharks: Challengers of the Deep by Mary Cerullo and Jeffrey Rotman. It focuses on the improving the students ability to pull information out of any text that they are reading.

If you have any question or suggestions let me know.