Cathy Allen Simon

Grades   5 – 9  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick: Using Illustrations to Guide Writing

Students use illustrations from The Mysteries of Harris Burdick as a guide to write mysteries
and then present their stories to the class for students to discuss to which illustration each
story corresponds.

 

Grades   2 – 4  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

A Recipe for Writing: Fairy Tale Feasts

 

Grades   4 – 7  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

As a pre-reading activity for The Cay, groups of students choose and study a Caribbean island, create a final product in the format of their choice, and finally, do an oral presentation to share information learned.

 

Grades   4 – 7  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

Boars and Baseball: Making Connections

In this lesson, students will make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections after reading In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. After sharing and discussing connections, students choose and plan a project that makes a personal connection to the text.

 

Grades   6 – 8  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

 

Grades   5 – 10  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

Songs of Our Lives: Using Lyrics to Write Stories

Students learn about the life and music of John Lennon, write a short story from their lives integrating lyrics from some of their favorite songs, and create a class book of stories.

 

Grades   5 – 12  |  Strategy Guide

Brainstorming and Reviewing Using the Carousel Strategy

This strategy guide introduces Carousel Brainstorming, also known as Rotating Review, and offers suggestions to implement this technique in your classroom for brainstorming about new topics or reviewing learned information.

 

Grades   K – 12  |  Strategy Guide

Exit Slips

This strategy guide introduces the concept of using Exit Slips in the classroom to help students reflect on what they have learned and express what or how they are thinking about the new information. Exit Slips easily incorporate writing into the content area classroom and require students to think critically.

 

Grades   3 – 12  |  Strategy Guide

Inquiry Charts (I-Charts)

This guide introduces I-Charts, a strategy that enables students to generate meaningful questions about a topic and organize their writing.

 

Grades   K – 8  |  Strategy Guide

Introducing Ideas and Vocabulary with the Concept Sort

A Concept Sort is a vocabulary and comprehension strategy used with students to introduce new topics and/or familiarize students with new vocabulary.

 

Grades   5 – 12  |  Strategy Guide

Introducing New Content with Seed Discussions

 

Grades   3 – 8  |  Strategy Guide

Making Connections

 

Grades   6 – 12  |  Strategy Guide

Power Notes

The strategy examined in this Strategy Guide teaches students an outlining technique to help them differentiate between main ideas and details in their reading and writing.

 

Grades   3 – 12  |  Strategy Guide

Question the Author (QtA)

 

Grades   K – 6  |  Strategy Guide

Using Paired Reading to Increase Fluency and Peer Cooperation

 

Grades   K – 8  |  Strategy Guide

Using Partner Talk to Strengthen Student Collaboration and Understanding

 

Grades   5 – 12  |  Strategy Guide

Using the RAFT Writing Strategy

This strategy guide introduces the RAFT technique and offers practical ideas for using this technique to teach students to experiment with various perspectives in their writing.

 

Grades   K – 12  |  Strategy Guide

Using the Think-Pair-Share Technique

In this strategy guide, you will learn how to organize students and classroom topics to encourage a high degree of classroom participation and assist students in developing a conceptual understanding of a topic through the use of the Think-Pair-Share technique.

 

Grades   3 – 8  |  Activity & Project

Amazing Biographies: Writing About People Who Change the World

 

Grades   6 – 12  |  Activity & Project

Beguiling Billboards: Finding Inspiration along the Road

 

Grades   K – 2  |  Tip & How-To

Engaging the Five Senses to Learn About Our World

 

Grades   K – 12  |  Tip & How-To

How to Encourage Higher Order Thinking

Practicing Higher Order Thinking (HOT) skills outside of school will give kids the tools that they need to understand, infer, connect, categorize, synthesize, evaluate, and apply the information they know to find solutions to new and existing problems.

 

Grades   3 – 12  |  Tip & How-To

 

Grades   K – 3  |  Tip & How-To