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I started teaching in 8th grade English in December of 2005 after a teacher decided not to return from maternity leave. I was hired right after my I finished my student teaching (which I had completed during a fall semester) and basically jumped straight from student teaching into the classroom. This didn't give me much time to plan or think, so I just taught what the other 8th grade teachers were teaching. Our 8th grade curriculum at that time was essentially The Giver, Flowers for Algernon, and The Diary of Anne Frank. Although all of these books are great for their own reasons, I feel underwhelmed looking back on this list now.
At the start of this summer, I decided to go through all of my old materials and start posting them here for any desperate new teacher who might need them, starting with the first books I ever taught. It is so crazy to see how my planning and materials have evolved over time. If you feel like you haven't made any growth as a teacher, I suggest looking back at the first units you ever created. You will notice a huge difference between who you were and you are now.
The Giver was one of the books I ever taught, and it was before I had a system or organizing my units. I am pretty sure I used to try and print my unit plans, as there was not much saved in my Word folder when I went back to look for my Giver materials. I am sure they are in a musty binder somewhere in my current classroom, but I am also sure it is not worth the time and effort to find them. A lot of my early materials were either borrowed from others or are just not worth sharing. I did find a few reading quizzes and a character chart, though, and those are always helpful. They are posted here for those of you who may need them
Tests & Quizzes
Other
If anyone has some amazing Giver materials that they'd like people to know about, please feel free to post in the comments section below. It is a wonderful book that opens doors to conversations about knowledge vs. ignorance.
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