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

After examining recipes written based on students’ favorite fairy tales, students research a recipe related to their favorite story, book, or fairy tale and include it in a classroom recipe book.

 

Grades   4 – 7  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

A “Cay”ribbean Island Study

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   9 – 12  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

Exploring the Power of Language with Six-Word Memoirs

What do the words we write really have to say about us? In this lesson, students examine the power of word choice as they write six-word memoirs of their lives.

 

Grades   6 – 8  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

Sí, Se Puede: Making a Difference, One Letter at a Time

After reading the book ¡Si, Se Puede!/Yes, We Can!: Janitor Strike in L.A., students learn about labor unions, strikes, and organizing for change. Students interview staff members in their school to learn about their daily work life, and write persuasive advocacy letters.

 

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

In this strategy guide, you’ll learn how to elicit ideas and conversation about new concepts or content by effectively holding a Seed Discussion in your classroom.

 

Grades   3 – 8  |  Strategy Guide

Making Connections

In this strategy guide, you’ll learn to model how students can make three different kinds of connections (text-to-text, text-to-self, text-to-world). Students then use this knowledge to find their own personal connections to a text.

 

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)

In this guide, you’ll be introduced to a strategy that requires students to challenge their understanding and solidify their knowledge while reading a text.

 

Grades   K – 6  |  Strategy Guide

Using Paired Reading to Increase Fluency and Peer Cooperation

In this strategy, students read aloud to each other, pairing more fluent readers with less fluent readers. This strategy can also be used to pair older students with younger students to create “reading buddies.”

 

Grades   K – 8  |  Strategy Guide

Using Partner Talk to Strengthen Student Collaboration and Understanding

In this strategy guide, you’ll learn about Partner Talk—a way to provide students with another learning opportunity to make learning their own through collaboration and discussion.

 

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

After reading about historical figures and other important people that have changed the world, children choose someone that they consider to be “amazing”—either someone they’ve heard about or someone they know—and create a book page that highlights this person.

 

Grades   6 – 12  |  Activity & Project

Beguiling Billboards: Finding Inspiration along the Road

For this activity, teens study “Pass It On” billboards created by The Foundation for a Better Life either online or on-the-go, and create an original billboard and inspirational phrase for a person of their choosing.

 

Grades   K – 2  |  Tip & How-To

Engaging the Five Senses to Learn About Our World

The outside world shapes children’s development through experiences that they have, which include using their five senses—hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch. Drawing a child’s attention to the five senses and discussing them increases understanding of and communication about the world around us.

 

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

How to Start a Writer’s Notebook

Writer’s notebooks allow children and teens to take in the world around them and document their daily lives. Use these tips to learn how to start a writer's notebook with your child.

 

Grades   K – 3  |  Tip & How-To

Talk it Up! Expanding a Child’s Vocabulary

One way to help early readers begin to make sense of what they’re reading is to help them build their vocabulary. In this Tip, learn how to ask questions and have conversations with a child to integrate new words into his/her vocabulary.