November Lesson Plans for Middle School ELA

It is time to plan November Lesson Plans for Middle School ELA. With the calendar turning to November, it is no longer possible to pretend that winter isn’t upon us. The biting wind, the short days, and the snowflakes in the air (and sometimes on the ground) remind us that the world is becoming a greyscale for the near future. But just like winter, November also brings crackling fires and hot cocoa; lessons can be enjoyable too. Check out my November Lesson Plans for Middle School ELA.

My November lessons are basically split half and half:

For two weeks, I focus on Remembrance Day. By incorporating civic studies and social studies into my English curriculum and tying them all to the current holiday, I find that my students have a better and more complete understanding of the holiday and history, as well as the sacrifices and struggles their predecessors endured and why we still should value and honour them. Find the Remembrance Day resource on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
For the other two weeks of the month, I focus on research skills. These skills are so important to students both now and as they progress, and intense focus on them can so often fall by the wayside as we work to fit all that we must into our curriculum. By spending a full two weeks on these skills, I find that this sets up my students for success both later this year and in their academic future.

Here are a few of my November Middle School ELA Lessons:

Focus on Reading

Try a digital or paper reading check in this month.

Independent Reading Journal Assignment – This independent reading assignment is a collection of six Independent Reading Tracking Forms and one Reading Journal Assignment. These reading tracking forms help students stay organized and purposeful during reading workshop or independent reading time. Easy-to-use assessment forms are included to ensure student accountability and less teacher marking stress. Find this resource on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Digital Reading Check-Ins – Students will use one of these five digital reading check-in templates to track their independent reading. Teachers choose which of the five options suits their students at any given time. Templates are 100% editable as they have been created in Google Forms™ and Google Slides™. Find this resource on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.

Focus on Writing

Remembrance Day Unit

Help your students develop a deeper connection this holiday with a two-week-long middle and high school-focused teaching unit. Teachers are provided with in-depth, engaging, and relevant multimedia lessons to help their students explore and understand key concepts related to Remembrance Day. Written reflections and other written components are an integral part of this unit. Find the Remembrance Day resource on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.

Focus on Speaking and Listening

Global Holiday Celebrations Research Assignment

Help students learn about different cultures, celebrations, and faiths with this holiday research assignment. Students will work in pairs to research one of the sixteen suggested holiday and/or cultural celebrations or a holiday of their own choosing. To support the research process a graphic organizer is provided with prompting questions as well as a space to record research. Students will present their research findings in a slideshow format to their classmates. This assignment is an informative and interesting way to cover research, writing, and oral presentation curriculum expectations. Find this resource on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.

Focus on Media Literacy

Remembrance Day Unit – Using the unit described in the Focus on Writing section above, students will also focus on media literacy through the lens of Remembrance Day.

I also use one of the lessons from this Consumer Awareness Lessons (Bundle) – I pick one of the consumer awareness lessons in this bundle to use each month. Topics include check-out charities, clothing waste, gender price differences, outlet vs. retail, bottled water, misleading food labels, breakfast sandwiches, makeup testers, fast food chicken, and healthy or junk food. There is no particular order that these have to be covered in, I just pick what appeals to me, my students, and any current trends in my classroom. Find this resource on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.

Special Occasions

Daylight Savings Article – This resource contains 1 non-fiction article and 3 post-reading activities to assist with reading comprehension. Find this resource on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Diwali Non-Fiction Article – Students will learn about the celebration of Diwali in this non-fiction article. This resource contains 1 non-fiction article and 3 reading activities to assist with reading comprehension. (The date of this holiday changes each year, but it usually occurs in October or November.) Find this resource on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.

Teacher Reads

Remembrance Day Lesson Plans – The weeks around Remembrance Day are a great time to remember and acknowledge the contributions of veterans and current soldiers who fight in the name of freedom. I’ve built a unit to support you in teaching these important lessons to your students. This Remembrance Day Unit helps our students further understand and appreciate the impact and legacy of war heroes.
World War Two Themed Novels – This is a list of teacher recommended World War Two themed novels for middle school students. These would be great additions to your classroom library or something to suggest your school librarian purchase.

Life is not strictly categorically compartmented, so why should our classrooms be? Here are some ideas and practical suggestions for bringing cross-curricular instruction and learning to your ELA classroom. And that is my month of November. I hope that you find at least some of my experiences, ideas, and lessons useful to your own classrooms.

Have a great day, and stay tuned for December!

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