What's Trending? 5 YA Fantasy Books Teens Love

I’m a #BookTok-er. It’s basically my entire For You Page (#FYP). And when you’re on BookTok, you come across repetitive recommendations.

ELA Activity: Practice Annotating Texts

Annotation is a life skill, especially for our college-bound students. Reading something with a purpose, a strategy to comprehend at a higher level, and interact with a text are all things every person needs to function in our society. It is our job as educators to help nurture that skill as we...

Books Your Students Might Have Missed Over Summer Break

To some students, summer is an exit from all things academic and literature, which means they might be coming back in the fall clueless on the newest or most popular literary hits from the summer months. They might be new releases or simply ones that soared in popularity from June to August. Either...

Interview with a Character (ELA Activity)

There are so many more interesting methods to writing a character analysis than writing an analysis paragraph. Oftentimes, English or language arts teachers forget that there is creativity in language and we should embrace it while also staying on track to grade based on our standards or curriculum...

ELA Activity: 10-Song Playlist

As a high school language arts teacher, I’m always trying to provide my students with alternate but equal assessments that aren’t always an essay. It’s true—you can totally assess a set of skills using claim, textual evidence, and reasoning in creative ways. This 10-song playlist project is one...

10 YA Reads for Summer

I just finished my tenth year teaching high school English and let me tell you, teens like to read… well, most of them. Some of you might be doubting me, but hang on! 

Students Who Love This Streaming Show Will Love These Books!

Students' favorite streaming services, movies, and video games are all packed with compelling storytelling. To get them more excited about reading, I like to recommend books similar to my students' favorite shows. I have a bulletin board in my school's English hallway with "If you liked ____ try...

Tough Topics But Important Stories

Many adults forget teens are experiencing a lot for the first time—friendships, love, heartbreak, and peer pressure. Sometimes these experiences lead to poor decisions, addiction, changes in behavior, or legal issues. In high school, every grade counts toward their future aspirations. That’s a lot...

Please Judge These Books: Our Favorite Books of 2022

The golden rule of reading is “don’t judge a book by its cover,” and even though I’m not in this instance, it would lead to the same decision: buy it, read it, love it. This last year has been filled with beautiful book after beautiful book and entertaining storyline after entertaining storyline....

Best YA Debut Authors of 2022

Jennifer Epping shares her top five favorite young adult debut authors of 2022. There's stories of the apocalypse, a moon goddess, budding romances, and coming-of-age stories. Pick up one of these stories and download the accompanying lessons now!