20 Idioms About Love and the Heart

20 Idioms About Love and the Heart

20 Idioms About Love and the Heart

An idiom is a saying that began long ago, persisted in our culture, and can confuse you if you take it literally. It makes sense that there are many idioms about love. But, do you ever wonder why there are idioms about the heart, which are also about love? What do the heart and love have to do with each other? Perhaps it has something to do with how being near the one you love (or even thinking about them) can make your heart beat faster. While they’re at it, that loved one can even “take your breath away.” They also do quite a number on your eyes and other body parts, according to many idioms below. As you read these idioms, take some guesses as to how you think they originated.

valentine's day blog post and language activity 20 idioms about love and the heart

Valentine’s Day is a great occasion to have ELA students read and write idiomatic expressions about love and the heart: You can have students make a Valentine’s Day greeting card that contain some, write a poem using a couple, research their origins (assign each student one to share with the class), and/or have them write their literal meanings using a simple free language activity printable (that’s also interactive digital). No matter what you use them for, have fun.

Also, check out my post “A Valentine’s Day in ELA You’ll Love” for more ideas.

my heart skips a beat

tug at one’s heartstrings

from the bottom of my heart

my heart goes out for you

my heart bleeds for you

have your heart in the right place

pour your heart out

joined at the hip

take my breath away

puppy love

a match made in heaven

three little words

break or split up

love is blind

tie the knot or get hitched

only have eyes for you

head over heels

fall in love or fall for someone

have a crush on someone

love at first sight

wear your heart on your sleeve

have the hots for someone

you caught my eye

Here’s the FREE ONE-PAGER WITH THE LANGUAGE ACTIVITY that gets them to write the literal meanings of figurative idioms (just like Standard L.5 says they should).

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AND YOU CAN GRAB ANOTHER FREE VALENTINE’S LESSON ABOUT THE HISTORY OF VALENTINE’S DAY!

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AND CHECK OUT THE BLOG POST “A Valentine’s Day in ELA You’ll Love” for more ideas.

Valentine's Day in English Language Arts blog post
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I HOPE YOU AND YOUR STUDENTS ENJOY CELEBRATING VALENTINE’S DAY IN ELA.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

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Since teaching ELA for 10 years, I’ve been a contracted learning resource and assessment writer while running my store “Loving Language Arts.” I know how to align to standards like the back of my hand, yet I always aim to make resources high-interest to motivate reluctant readers and writers.

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The 6th Grade Practice Tests Test Prep Workbook “is a high quality, beautifully-aligned resource. It is no-frills, to the point, yet high-interest for students. It is helping us prepare for standardized testing in a hybrid, synchronous, difficult year.”

ReBeckha L.

Sixth Grade Teacher, Teachers Pay Teachers

How about save this pin to your “Valentine’s Day in ELA” or “Teaching Idioms” or “Current Seasonal Resources” Board so that you can come back to this post again?

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Humongous List of 500 Character Trait Words

Humongous List of 500 Character Trait Words

Humongous List of 500 Character Trait Words

We all have character traits formed by a combination of behavior, attitude, upbringing, genetics, mood, practice, trauma, praise, social skills, education, and more. We don’t display them at all times. They can be inconsistent and change. They can be both positive and negative. Character trait words are helpful for readers to analyze protagonists and antagonists. They are also helpful for writers who are creating characters. Additionally, they guide us in self-reflection.

When I was making this list, I was originally aiming for 100 words. Then, I realized there were at least 300. As I kept going, I quickly got to 400. I finally stopped at 500, but I didn’t have to. I could list these for days! But I have other things to do. Anyway, I think 500 is more than enough. I hope you find them to be helpful.

blog header 500 character trait words to use in reading and writing

1.       abrasive
2.       absentminded
3.       active
4.       adaptable
5.       admirable
6.       adventurous
7.       affectionate
8.       afraid
9.       aggressive
10.   agile
11.   agreeable
12.   aimless
13.   alert
14.   alive with energy
15.   aloof
16.   ambitious
17.   amenable
18.   amiable
19.   amicable
20.   angry
21.   animated
22.   anxious
23.   apathetic
24.   argumentative
25.   aristocratic
26.   arrogant
27.   artificial
28.   aspiring
29.   astonished
30.   athletic
31.   attentive
32.   attractive
33.   authoritarian
34.   awkward
35.   babyish
36.   balanced
37.   beautiful
38.   belligerent
39.   bewildered
40.   biddable
41.   blunt
42.   boastful
43.   boisterous
44.   bold
45.   boorish
46.   bored
47.   boring
48.   bossy
49.   brave

50. bright

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51.   brilliant
52.   broadminded
53.   busy
54.   calculating
55.   callous
56.   calm
57.   capable
58.   careful
59.   cautious
60.   charismatic
61.   charming
62.   cheerful
63.   childish
64.   church-going
65.   clearheaded
66.   clever
67.   Close-minded
68.   clown-like
69.   clownish
70.   clumsy
71.   coarse
72.   cocky
73.   cold-hearted
74.   commanding
75.   committed
76.   communicative
77.   compassionate
78.   competitive
79.   compulsive
80.   conceited
81.   concerned
82.   condemning
83.   confident
84.   confrontational
85.   confused
86.   congenial
87.   conscientious
88.   conservative
89.   considerate
90.   controllable
91.   controlled
92.   courageous
93.   courteous
94.   cowardly
95.   cranky
96.   creative
97.   critical
98.   cross
99.   cruel

100. cunning

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101.                         curious
102.                        dangerous
103.                        daring
104.                        dashing
105.                        deceitful
106.                        decisive
107.                        defensive
108.                        demonstrative
109.                        dependable
110.                        dependent
111.                        desperate
112.                        destructive
113.                        detached
114.                        detail-oriented
115.                        determined
116.                        devoted
117.                        difficult
118.                        dignified
119.                        diligent
120.                        diplomatic
121.                        discerning
122.                        disciplined
123.                        discouraged
124.                        discreet
125.                        discriminating
126.                        dishonest
127.                        disloyal
128.                        disobedient
129.                        displays endurance
130.                        displays perseverance
131.                        displays stamina
132.                        disrepectful
133.                        distinctive
134.                        distrustful
135.                        docile
136.                        dominant
137.                        dominating
138.                        doubtful
139.                        down-to-earth
140.                        driven
141.                        dull
142.                        durable
143.                        eager
144.                        eager-to-please
145.                        eager-to-serve
146.                        easy-to-train
147.                        easygoing
148.                        effective
149.                        efficient

150.              elegant

 

151.                        eloquent
152.                        embarrassed
153.                        encouraging
154.                        endearing
155.                        enduring
156.                        energetic
157.                        engaging
158.                        enthusiastic
159.                        envious
160.                        environmentally conscientious
161.                        equable (in temperament)
162.                        erratic
163.                        even-tempered
164.                        excitable
165.                        exciting
166.                        exotic
167.                        experienced
168.                        extravagent
169.                        extreme
170.                        facetious
171.                        fair
172.                        faithful
173.                        family-friendly
174.                        fanatical
175.                        fearful
176.                        fearless
177.                        feminine
178.                        fidgety
179.                        fierce
180.                        flexible
181.                        flighty
182.                        focused
183.                        foolish
184.                        forbearing
185.                        fragile
186.                        free
187.                        friendly
188.                        frustrated
189.                        fun-loving
190.                        funny
191.                        gallant
192.                        game
193.                        gay
194.                        generous
195.                        gentle
196.                        gentle-mannered
197.                        glamorous
198.                        gloomy
199.                        good-humored

200.                         good-natured

201.                        graceful
202.                        grateful
203.                        greedy
204.                        gregarious
205.                        grouchy
206.                        gutsy
207.                        happy
208.                        hard-driving
209.                        hardworking
210.                        hardy
211.                        hateful
212.                        helpful
213.                        heroic
214.                        hesitant
215.                        high spirit
216.                        highly trainable
217.                        honest
218.                        honorable
219.                        hopeful
220.                        hopeless
221.                        hostile
222.                        humble
223.                        humorous
224.                        hyperactive
225.                        idealistic
226.                        ignorant
227.                        ill-natured
228.                        imaginative
229.                        immature
230.                        impartial
231.                        impolite
232.                        imposing
233.                        impulsive
234.                        inactive
235.                        incisive
236.                        indecisive
237.                        independent
238.                        independent thinker
239.                        indomitable perseverance
240.                        innovative
241.                        inquiring
242.                        inquisitive
243.                        insightful
244.                        insistent
245.                        insulting
246.                        intelligent
247.                        intense
248.                        intolerant
249.                        introverted

250.                        intuitive

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251.                        irrational
252.                        irritable
253.                        jealous
254.                        jovial
255.                        joyful
256.                        judgmental
257.                        keen attitude
258.                        keen inclination to work
259.                        kind
260.                        kindly
261.                        lazy
262.                        level-headed
263.                        liberal
264.                        lighthearted
265.                        likeable
266.                        lively
267.                        logical
268.                        lonely
269.                        loveable
270.                        loving
271.                        loyal
272.                        lucky
273.                        magnanimous
274.                        majestic
275.                        masculine
276.                        mature
277.                        mean
278.                        menacing
279.                        merry
280.                        meticulous
281.                        mild
282.                        moody
283.                        multi-talented
284.                        mysterious
285.                        naive
286.                        narcissistic
287.                        neat
288.                        negative
289.                        nervous
290.                        noble
291.                        noisy
292.                        non-aggressive
293.                        non-confrontational
294.                        non-judgmental
295.                        noticeable
296.                        obedient
297.                        objective
298.                        obnoxious
299.                        observant

300.                        obstinate

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301.                        open
302.                        open-minded
303.                        opinionated
304.                        optimistic
305.                        organized
306.                        original
307.                        outdoor-loving
308.                        outgoing
309.                        overbearing
310.                        overexuberant
311.                        passionate
312.                        patient
313.                        patronizing
314.                        peaceful
315.                        pensive
316.                        perceptive
317.                        perseverant
318.                        persistent
319.                        personable
320.                        pessimistic
321.                        picky
322.                        pioneering
323.                        placid
324.                        plain
325.                        playful
326.                        pleasant
327.                        poised
328.                        polished
329.                        polite
330.                        popular
331.                        positive
332.                        powerful
333.                        precise
334.                        prim
335.                        principled
336.                        procrastinating
337.                        professional
338.                        profound
339.                        protective
340.                        proud
341.                        provocative
342.                        prudent
343.                        punctual
344.                        puritanical
345.                        purposeful
346.                        quality
347.                        quarrelsome
348.                        quick
349.                        quick-witted

350.              quiet

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351.                        quixotic
352.                        rambunctious
353.                        rangy
354.                        rash
355.                        rational
356.                        ready
357.                        ready-for-action
358.                        refined
359.                        relaxed
360.                        reliable
361.                        relieved
362.                        religious
363.                        resentful
364.                        reserved
365.                        resistant
366.                        resolute
367.                        resourceful
368.                        respectful
369.                        responsible
370.                        responsive
371.                        restless
372.                        robust
373.                        rollicking personality
374.                        romantic
375.                        rough
376.                        rowdy
377.                        rude
378.                        rugged
379.                        sarcastic
380.                        satisfied
381.                        scared
382.                        scholarly
383.                        scrupulous
384.                        secretive
385.                        self-assured
386.                        self-confident
387.                        self-indulgent
388.                        self-reliant
389.                        self-willed
390.                        selfish
391.                        sensible
392.                        sensitive
393.                        serious
394.                        sharp
395.                        showy
396.                        shy
397.                        silly
398.                        sincere
399.                        skillful

400.                        slow

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401.                        sluggish
402.                        sly
403.                        smart
404.                        sneaky
405.                        snobbish
406.                        snobby
407.                        sociable
408.                        solemn
409.                        somber
410.                        sound
411.                        speedy
412.                        spirited
413.                        sporty
414.                        stable
415.                        steadfast
416.                        steady
417.                        stern
418.                        stingy
419.                        stoic
420.                        stoical
421.                        stouthearted
422.                        straightforward
423.                        strange
424.                        strict
425.                        strong
426.                        strong-minded
427.                        strong-willed
428.                        stubborn
429.                        stylish
430.                        suave
431.                        submissive
432.                        subtle
433.                        suspicious
434.                        sweet
435.                        sweet natured
436.                        sympathetic
437.                        tactful
438.                        talented
439.                        talkative
440.                        tasteful
441.                        temperamental
442.                        tenacious
443.                        tender
444.                        terrified
445.                        territorial
446.                        thankful
447.                        thorough
448.                        thoughtful
449.                        thoughtless

450.              threatening

 WebQuest Practice Tests are Great Too!

  • Students read several authentic texts with the same theme
  • For example, the students read two texts all about the history of schools
  • Incorporated visuals with photographs too!
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WebQuest Practice Test #1 The History of Schools GIF

 

451.                        thrifty
452.                        timid
453.                        tireless
454.                        tolerant
455.                        touchy
456.                        tough
457.                        tractable
458.                        trainable
459.                        trusting
460.                        trustworthy
461.                        unapproachable
462.                        unassuming
463.                        uncontrolled
464.                        unfriendly
465.                        unhappy
466.                        unkind
467.                        unrealistic
468.                        unreliable
469.                        unruly
470.                        unscrupulous
471.                        unselfish
472.                        unstable
473.                        unyielding
474.                        upset
475.                        upstanding
476.                        useful
477.                        valiant
478.                        vengeful
479.                        versatile
480.                        vicious
481.                        vigilant
482.                        vigorous
483.                        vindictive
484.                        vivacious
485.                        vulgar
486.                        warm
487.                        warm-hearted
488.                        watchful
489.                        water-loving
490.                        weak
491.                        well-balanced
492.                        well-rounded
493.                        wickedly smart
494.                        willing attitude
495.                        willing-to-obey
496.                        willing worker
497.                        wise
498.                        withdrawn
499.                        witty
500.                        worried

Since teaching ELA for 10 years, I’ve been a contracted learning resource and assessment writer while running my store “Loving Language Arts.” I know how to align to standards like the back of my hand, yet I always aim to make resources high-interest to motivate reluctant readers and writers.

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Grade 4 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
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Grade 8 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 9 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
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Click below for FREE ELA PRACTICE TESTS – each targeting specific reading, writing, language, and speaking/listening/viewing standards.

Check out these GRADE-SPECIFIC test prep books with practice tests that target EVERY GRADE-SPECIFIC READING INFORMATIONAL TEXT STANDARD, one by one. An added bonus is that students LOVE the texts! In Easy-Print or Self-Grading Online Versions.
Grade 4 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 10 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 5 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 11 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 6 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 12 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
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Grade 9 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
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The 6th Grade Practice Tests Test Prep Workbook “is a high quality, beautifully-aligned resource. It is no-frills, to the point, yet high-interest for students. It is helping us prepare for standardized testing in a hybrid, synchronous, difficult year.”

ReBeckha L.

Sixth Grade Teacher, Teachers Pay Teachers

How about save this pin to your “Characterization” or “Writing” or “Literary Analysis” Board so that you can come back to this post again?

pin 500 character trait words

Analyzing Characterization 6 Ways in 6 Stories With 6 Characters

Analyzing Characterization 6 Ways in 6 Stories With 6 Characters

Analyzing Characterization 6 Ways in 6 Stories With 6 Characters

In literature, there are flat characters and there are round characters. No, I’m not talking about Flat Stanley and Humpty Dumpty (lol). I’m talking about the generic characters whose depths of personality we will never know (the FLAT ones) and the robust characters whose depths of personality we do get to know (the ROUND ones). The flat ones are pretty dull, but on the other hand, they are often necessary just to keep the plot moving along. The round ones are way better! What they say, think, feel, and do keep the reader interested. And, in the best stories, characters change. In this post, I give you 6 ways to analyze characters, or characterization, in 6 different stories. These characterization activities get students to analyze what makes characters round: what they say, think, feel, and do.

 blog header analyzing characterization 6 ways in 6 stories with 6 characters

 

1. What He Said (or She Said):

  1. For this activity, make sure the story you choose has plenty of dialogue or is written from the first-person point-of-view, so that students can find examples. This works for most stories, but the ones that are told by a third-person narrator with very little thoughts or dialogue from the character’s point of view can make this activity feel like pulling teeth. Ouch!
  2. You can either have the student find three quotes (what they say out loud) and/or thoughts (what they say in their heads), or you can provide them for the student.
  3. Then, you have students figure out what these quotes and/or thoughts say about the characters. Essentially, the quotes and thoughts are the text evidence and the statements about them are inferences.
  4. Here is an example I made to study the characterization of Jay Berry from the novel The Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls. It’s a great story with a first-person narrator. You can get the novel, watch the movie, or do the free and quick option which is to have students read this excerpt from Chapter One.
  5. You can get the free template in both easy-print and distance learning digital format, and in both a “HE said” and a “SHE said” version in my free Analyzing Characterization 6 Ways Pack.

What He Said: Jay Berry from The Summer of the Monkeys

sample What He Said Jay Berry from Summer of the Monkeys

2. Prove It!

  1. For this activity, make sure the story you choose is conducive to making inferences about a character whether from dialogue, actions, or description.
  2. You can either have the student find the inferences, or you can provide them. Conversely, you could provide the evidence and have them make the inferences. Or, they can do it all on their own.
  3. Here is an example I made to study the characterization of Jo March from Chapter 5 of the novel Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Here is a link to the excerpt I used. Or, you can access the whole book for free online. It’s a great story with a third-person narrator and plenty of dialogue.
  4. You can get the free template in both easy-print and distance learning digital format in my free pack.

                  Prove It: Jo March from Little Women

example of prove it jo march little women
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3. What a Character!:

  1. For this activity, students select character traits to describe a character. So, in the spirit of this activity, I made a humongous list of character trait words. At first, I was just going to make a list of 100. But then when I got to 100, I felt like there were still so many I hadn’t written yet. When I got to 200, I felt the same way. So, then I decided to just go for several hundred. I finally decided to stop at 500, but I tell you, I could easily have kept going because there are so many words to describe people! The thing about character traits is we don’t display them simultaneously, or even consistently, and they change. They are affected by our attitude, behavior, genetics, upbringing, trauma, praise, education, events, and more.
  2. For this activity, students only need to select 5 words, which out of 500, seems like a piece of cake. Then, in the spirit of always asking them to provide text evidence, they need to provide evidence, either by providing quotes or retelling what was in the text, that proves the character does in fact display those traits.
  3. I have provided two examples here. One is for Sadako from the short novella, available free online, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. She is a multi-faceted adolescent students can relate to. By the way, I have another blog post all about teaching the novella complete with pre-reading, comprehension questions, and a fun post-reading activity. Check it out!
  4. The other example is Margot from the short story by Ray Bradbury All Summer in a Day. The main character is an awkward girl who struggles with being bullied, so sadly some students can also relate to her. By the way, I made a short free lesson for that story as well, which has been very popular, especially because the story is full of figurative language.
  5. Get this template and 5 more in my free Analyzing Characterization Pack.

 

 

                  What a Character!: Sadako from Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

 
Reading literature is assessed on standardized tests. But did you know that at least 50% of the tests assess reading informational text? I created high-Interest one-page informational texts that get students to practice ALL 10 READING INFORMATIONAL TEXT STANDARDS. Students keep reporting how much they LOVE the texts!!! TRY BOTH VOLUMES:
cover workbook informational texts and tasks volume 2
workbook cover informational texts and tasks volume 1
Sample what a character Sadako character traits and evidence chart
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sample character traits margot from all summer in a day

4. Character Attribute Web

  1. Fill out the LOOKS section with phrases — no need for complete sentences here! Consider: distinguishing features, clothing/style, stylish or plain, neatness level, how much he/she pays attention to appearance, whether or not he/she spends a lot of money on appearance, etc.
  2. Fill out the ACTS section with phrases. Consider: behaviors often displayed, moodiness level that is shown, whether introverted or extroverted most of the time, flirtatious, shy, humorous, loving toward certain people, etc.
  3. Fill out the FEELS section with phrases. Consider: happy, angry, sad, scared, joyful, optimistic, distressed, judgmental, easily upset, jealous, hopeful about something, etc.
  4. Fill out the SAYS section with quotations (whole or parts) straight from the text: choose things the character says that truly represent how the character thinks, feels, and acts in general.
  5. I have provided a sample of Anne Frank from The Diary of Anne Frank, which is not in the public domain, but is available in a free excerpt online which provides plenty to work with.
  6. You can get the free template in my Analyzing Characterization Pack free!

 Character Attribute Web: Anne Frank from The Diary of Anne Frank

example anne frank character attribute web

Since teaching ELA for 10 years, I’ve been a contracted learning resource and assessment writer while running my store “Loving Language Arts.” I know how to align to standards like the back of my hand, yet I always aim to make resources high-interest to motivate reluctant readers and writers.

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Grade 4 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 5 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 6 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 7 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 8 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 9 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 10 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 11 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 12 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
High School Bundle Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Writing Modules General Promotion Pin

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5. 5-Senses Poem

  1. Either student selects a character or teacher selects character for student. Student will write a five-line poem for each of the five senses as experienced by the character.Brainstorm individually or as a class to come up with ideas. For example, after reading The Diary of Anne Frank, 8th grade students in a class came up with these ideas:       
    • see: soldiers, cat, clocktower, children suffering, airplanes in sky, birds, smoke, Mummy
    • hear: quarrels, bombs, gunshots, radio, screams, whispers, silence, quiet voices, burglars
    • smell: strawberries, dust, rats, beans, gun-smoke, cigarette smoke
    • touch: Peter’s hand, hair, cat, shoes, diary, pencil, window
    • taste: strawberries, beans, vegetables, potatoes, coffee
  1. In a related blog post, you can see more samples of the poem and the ideas for stationery you can use. Also, you can get the free template in both easy-print and distance learning digital format in my free Analyzing Characterization Pack.
5 senses poem from Anne Frank's point of view

6. Get Inside the Mind of a Character:

  1. Student selects a literary character or teacher selects characters for students. By the way, I have a blog post all about this activity that shows several examples. But I will show you a couple here.
  2. Students take about five minutes to brainstorm any ideas they have about what is likely going on inside their characters’ minds such as: recurring thoughts, fears, joyful thoughts, strong memories, recent feelings, recurring images, dreams, convictions they live by, things they say a lot, how their minds work, etc. Students can make lists or quickly jot down ideas on a scratch piece of paper.
  3. Using the template of a head, which I provide in my free Analyzing Characterization Pack, students turn their ideas into images, quotations, and miscellaneous “thoughts” going on in their characters’ minds. The final product should be visually appealing and neat. In my example below, I focused on about 13 total “thoughts” going on in the mind of Anne Frank. I have also provided another example made by a seventh grade student of Pi Patel from The Life of Pi, which is a great book!
what's in Anne Frank's head sample
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sample characterization pi patel from the life of pi

You know what else students LOVE? These high-interest informational texts and tasks. I went out of my way to make the articles super interesting to upper elementary and middle schoolers by writing about things that interest them. And, guess what? It worked. I keep hearing from teachers how kids get so into these passages. They actually want to answer the questions. They even want to discuss the articles as a group. 

Click below for FREE ELA PRACTICE TESTS – each targeting specific reading, writing, language, and speaking/listening/viewing standards.

Check out these GRADE-SPECIFIC test prep books with practice tests that target EVERY GRADE-SPECIFIC READING INFORMATIONAL TEXT STANDARD, one by one. An added bonus is that students LOVE the texts! In Easy-Print or Self-Grading Online Versions.
Grade 4 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 10 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 5 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 11 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 6 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 12 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 7 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
we sail for america by samuel mcclure ela practice test

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Grade 8 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
be ready to help passage and ela practice test free

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Grade 9 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
why onions make you cry passage and practice test

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The 6th Grade Practice Tests Test Prep Workbook “is a high quality, beautifully-aligned resource. It is no-frills, to the point, yet high-interest for students. It is helping us prepare for standardized testing in a hybrid, synchronous, difficult year.”

ReBeckha L.

Sixth Grade Teacher, Teachers Pay Teachers

How about save this pin to your “Reading Literature” or “Graphic Organizers” or “Characterization” Board so that you can come back to this post again?

pin analyzing characterization 6 ways with 6 graphic organizers

5 Cool Facts About Ice Cream

5 Cool Facts About Ice Cream

5 Cool Facts About Ice Cream

Here are 5 Cool Facts About Ice Cream:
1. Long before modern refrigeration and freezers, around 200 BC, the Chinese enjoyed a frozen mixture of milk and rice sweetened with syrup. It was made frozen by pouring snow mixed with an ancient salt over the ingredients. Roman Emperors have been known to have snow retrieved from mountaintops in order to create the finest chilled delicacies. The Ancient Greeks, around the year 400 AD, ate snow mixed with honey and fruit in Athens.
2. Air is a key ingredient in ice cream (and is what makes it a foam). Although it is not listed in the ingredients, air makes up approximately a third to one half of the total volume of ice cream. When the ingredients in ice cream are whipped together, air bubbles get beaten into the mixture. Often in an ice cream maker, a blade will continuously move throughout the mixture to aerate it, or move air through it. You must whip together and freeze the ingredients all at the same time in order to create and suspend the most important ingredient  – air bubbles! Air is what gives ice cream its light. smooth texture. It’s also what escapes as ice cream melts, which is why ice cream shrinks down and is never quite the same after you refreeze it. Ice cream is a foam — a light mass of fine bubbles formed in liquid.
3. Ice cream is an emulsion.  Under normal circumstances, if you simply mixed the ingredients in ice cream together, they would quickly separate apart. The fat globules from the milk would rather stick together than be spread out among ice crystals, air bubbles, sweeteners, and flavorings. To truly make it an emulsion, which is a mixture of liquids in which one liquid is scattered throughout the other but is not dissolved, you can whip up the ingredients to really spread them out and then trap them timelessly by freezing them so they won’t “escape.”
blog picture ice cream cone graphic organizer
4. One key to creating this foamy emulsion – whether in an ice cream maker or in a plastic baggie – is to freeze it quickly. While the ingredients are being whipped together, the liquids will only turn into ice crystals if they are cooled with something that is even colder than ice. That is why rock salt is added to the ice that surrounds the barrel in ice cream machines or in the baggie of ice you can use to make ice cream yourself at home. The ice cream must be frozen quickly so that the liquid ingredients will turn into ice crystals that will “trap” all the other ingredients, including all those air bubbles, in place.
5. The discovery of the freezing-point depression was a real game-changer in the history of ice cream making. Adding salt to ice artificially lowers the freezing point of water. This is called freezing-point depression. The discovery of this principle was a real game-changer in the history of ice cream making. Before this, people had to make do with mixing ingredients with snow and ice to make a chilled delicacy. But once people discovered how to lower the freezing point of liquids (by adding rock salt to ice), they could not only chill their mixture – they could freeze it. And that is how we got ice cream!

But wait, there’s more!

In my FUN-YET-EDUCATIONAL (AND CURRENTLY FREE) reading informational text and tasks lesson gets students to meet several standards for Literacy in Science & Technical Subjects and Writing, plus they have fun learning all about the science behind ice cream and the procedure for making their own ice cream.

In addition to summarizing central ideas, writing to explain the scientific procedure of how ice cream is made, writing a narrative about an ice cream incident, learning scientific vocabulary, citing evidence, getting the recipe for homemade ice cream in a baggie, and even doing a fun Mad Lib activity about ice cream, students fill out a graphic organizer like this in the free lesson:

You might also like these FREE items in the series. They all align to CCRA.R.7 and RST.6-8.7, which requires students to integrate quantitative or technical information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually (such as simulations, diagrams, videos, infographics) and quantitatively (such as tables, graphs, models, diagrams).

And, check out this COOL and FREE logic puzzle! It takes about 15 minutes of critical thinking, so it would be a good bellringer or free-time activity in any subject. For grades 4-9 more or less.

Since teaching ELA for 10 years, I’ve been a contracted learning resource and assessment writer while running my store “Loving Language Arts.” I know how to align to standards like the back of my hand, yet I always aim to make resources high-interest to motivate reluctant readers and writers.

Subscribe

Grade 4 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 5 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 6 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 7 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 8 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 9 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 10 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 11 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 12 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
High School Bundle Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Writing Modules General Promotion Pin

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You Know What Else Kids Love?

These workbooks! I made the articles super interesting to kids by writing about things that interest them! AND IT WORKED! I keep hearing from teachers how kids get so into these texts that they actually WANT to answer the questions!

Click below for FREE ELA PRACTICE TESTS – each targeting specific reading, writing, language, and speaking/listening/viewing standards.

Check out these GRADE-SPECIFIC test prep books with practice tests that target EVERY GRADE-SPECIFIC READING INFORMATIONAL TEXT STANDARD, one by one. An added bonus is that students LOVE the texts! In Easy-Print or Self-Grading Online Versions.
Grade 4 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 10 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 5 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 11 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 6 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 12 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
Grade 7 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
we sail for america by samuel mcclure ela practice test

Try a Freebie!

Grade 8 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
be ready to help passage and ela practice test free

Try a Freebie!

Grade 9 Reading Passages and Practice Tests Workbook - Informational Text Edition
why onions make you cry passage and practice test

Try a Freebie!

The 6th Grade Practice Tests Test Prep Workbook “is a high quality, beautifully-aligned resource. It is no-frills, to the point, yet high-interest for students. It is helping us prepare for standardized testing in a hybrid, synchronous, difficult year.”

ReBeckha L.

Sixth Grade Teacher, Teachers Pay Teachers

How about save this pin to your “Literacy in Science” or “Creative ELA” Board so that you can come back to this post again?

blog header 5 cool facts about ice cream