Dynamic and flat characterization has been in language arts and English curricula forever, it seems. How do we up the rigor as students advance in secondary classrooms? I find a helpful graphic organizer gives students a perspective on which character is dynamic and which just isn’t. During Women’s...
Analyzing complex characters in a novel or a short story requires students to look at many things such as how they’re described physically, but also their motivations for their actions and events that happen, their reaction to external factors, and the relationships they have.
Teaching vocabulary—integrated into a text or isolation can be tricky when it comes to thinking of engaging ways to create meaning. We fall back on the old “write a sentence that shows the meaning of the word” assignment. But we all know that when students are developing an understanding of a word,...
Many young adult books embrace the idea of a fresh start and characters who also have to rise up, advocate, reassess, and sometimes just get over it. Those journeys are valuable to our students and to put the right book in their hands is important as they start a new year with the best intentions.
Light the menora, hang the mistletoe, and slip on your fuzzy socks—here are 6 YA books that will help get you in the holiday spirit!
In this creative writing activity, secondary ELA students will use what they overhear in the hallways to write poems! Download the lesson template and hear from ELA teacher Jennifer Nash how she implemented this activity in her classroom!
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.
For this activity, students are tasked with creating an Instagram post imagining that their assigned vocabulary word was a person posting on social media. All aspects of the post should relate to the meaning of the vocabulary word. It is more than okay if more than one student is assigned the same...
"The “Words of Doom” were an addition to our spelling instruction in middle school ELA. They could easily be adjusted or modified for upper elementary classrooms.
It’s that time! The school year is beginning and you’re ready to welcome up to 180 new learners into your classroom. Whether you’re in your first year of teaching or your thirty-fifth, the first day of school can bring both excitement and trepidation.
.png "Untitled (Zoom Events Header)")