ALEX Learning Activity Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2015] (5) 24 :

24 ) Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. [W.5.3]

a. Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator, characters, or both; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. [W.5.3a]

b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations. [W.5.3b]

c. Use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to manage the sequence of events. [W.5.3c]

d. Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely. [W.5.3d]

e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events. [W.5.3e]

Students will look at stock images of different people as an introduction to developing interesting characters in a piece of narrative fiction writing. The students will brainstorm to establish character traits and backgrounds that are interesting and then write a short character summary.

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SS2010] USS5 (5) 11 :

11 ) Identify causes of the Civil War, including states' rights and the issue of slavery.

•  Describing the importance of the Missouri Compromise, Nat Turner's insurrection, the Compromise of 1850, the Dred Scott decision, John Brown's rebellion, and the election of 1860

•  Recognizing key Northern and Southern personalities, including Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Joseph Wheeler (Alabama)

•  Describing social, economic, and political conditions that affected citizens during the Civil War

•  Identifying Alabama's role in the Civil War (Alabama)

Examples: Montgomery as the first capital of the Confederacy, Winston County's opposition to Alabama's secession (Alabama)

•  Locating on a map sites important to the Civil War

Examples: Mason-Dixon Line, Fort Sumter, Appomattox, Gettysburg, Confederate states, Union states (Alabama)

•  Explaining events that led to the conclusion of the Civil War

[ELA2015] (5) 24 :

24 ) Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. [W.5.3]

a. Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator, characters, or both; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. [W.5.3a]

b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations. [W.5.3b]

c. Use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to manage the sequence of events. [W.5.3c]

d. Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely. [W.5.3d]

e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events. [W.5.3e]

This learning activity can be used during or after a lesson or unit on the Underground Railroad and/or the Civil War. The Underground Railroad is a “choose your own” learning experience allowing students to make a series of choices that affect their journey along the Underground Railroad. Presented from a first-person perspective, the learning experience immerses students in the action as they escape from a southern plantation and head north toward freedom. Along the route, students make key decisions that will lead them to one of several possible outcomes.

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2015] (5) 24 :

24 ) Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. [W.5.3]

a. Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator, characters, or both; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. [W.5.3a]

b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations. [W.5.3b]

c. Use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to manage the sequence of events. [W.5.3c]

d. Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely. [W.5.3d]

e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events. [W.5.3e]

In this activity, students will use the app Werdsmith to help organize their thoughts during the writing process. Werdsmith turns our iPad, iPhone, or iPod into a portable writing studio.   Werdsmith helps you organize ideas and thoughts, write and share.