Compare and Contrast Themes

There are several elements of a text that a student must pay attention to as they read. Theme is one of them.  Theme is addressed in two of the Common Core Standards. Standard RL.2 asks students to determine the theme of a text.  Standard RL.9 asks students to compare and contrast how authors convey theme.

One way to help students in this area is to have students closely read a text to look for ways than two different authors teach the same theme.  The setting, characterization, and also the choice of characters that an author includes in a text each contribute to helping readers determine what the theme of a text is.

Point of View

If you have looked at the new Common Core Standards, then you already know that Common Core (RL.6 and RI.6) both want students to know some interesting things about point of view.  They must know more than first and third point of views.  At some grade levels, students must compare firsthand and secondhand accounts of information. They must also determine how a narrator's point of view affects how events are retold. This set of 36 task cards covers each of these Common Core requirements and more.Click Here To Access It.

The task cards are differentiated to cover the different point of view requirements across multiple grade levels.  They contain text dependent questions and also use wording from the Common Core Standards.  Since many students are still trying to understand the Common Core Standards, the task cards also teach and review.  Plus, the document comes with a printable box.  This is great to use as a point of view learning center.  Or, send home a box of self-teaching task cards with a student that needs extra practice.Click Here To Access It

Multi-Step Math Questions

These Common Core aligned task cards do more than provide practice, they also help students gain the skills that they need to meet the demands of the new Common Core Standards.  Beginning at second grade level, Common Core expects students to be able to solve two-step or more word problems. Students are also expected to solve fraction word problems beginning in the fourth grade.Click Here To Access Task Cards

A detailed, step-by-step explanation of how to solve each problem has been included with the task cards to help students understand how to solve these problems too.  The task cards contain real world scenarios so that students can see how fractions apply to everyday life.

This Common Core aligned resource is a great tool to help students meet the demands of state assessments.  Click Here To Access Task Cards

How to Answer Short Response Questions

I have found that short response questions are troublesome for many students to answer. The biggest reason is students tend to use an all or nothing approach.  What I mean is they include all text details or all explanation.  I created this wall chart to remind my students that they must balance both types of information when they write a short response.

Welcome to Middle School Rush

Welcome to Middle School Rush.  This is a new middle school blog from Literacy and Math Ideas.  Literacy and Math Ideas is a duo with sixteen years of combined teaching experience in elementary, middle school, high school, and college level instruction.  We have amazing blog posts and teaching ideas to share with you that we used with our own students.  Visit often.