ELA (3)

5 different book covers

5 Books I've Slept On

We've all been there– you hear endless praise for a book and buy it, fully intending to learn what all the hype is about. But then it sits on your TBR shelf for months collecting dust.

Four students sit around a book and discuss its contents

Active Reading Notes & Purpose Statement

Whether teaching literature or rhetoric, close reading is an essential and often difficult skill to teach. This note-taking system, which is a modification of the Cornell note system, helps students slow down and examine a text closely through a structured approach that requires them to summarize...

8 Young Adult books

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...

Graphic organizer showing the different parts of a narrative plot: exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution

Interactive Plot Map

Carmel McDonald walks you through how she walks her middle school ELA students through narrative structure with an interactive plot map. Download her worksheet below!

Written feedback from teacher that says

Secondary ELA Grading Hacks

As secondary English teachers, we know how important it is for our students to learn to write well. We also know that oftentimes means we have over a hundred papers to grade. 

8 multicolored book covers

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....

Illustration of a pear sitting on top of three books

Perfect Pear-ings

Your Bow Tie Literacy Guy Michael Guevara is showcasing his favorite book pairings! Add these titles to your classroom library and download an accompanying ELA lesson. Happy reading!

purple background with books cascading in front of it

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!