bespoke ela

Blendspace (TES Teach):  An Easy Way to Bundle Resources for the Classroom

Blendspace (TES Teach):  An Easy Way to Bundle Resources for the Classroom

Blendspace.com (now known as TES Teach) is an online tool through the education curriculum company TES.com.  It is a tool that is used for collecting and bundling information for a multitude of uses.

The Worst Essay of Your LIFE: A Unique Approach to Assessing Writing at the Beginning of the School Year

The Worst Essay of Your LIFE: A Unique Approach to Assessing Writing at the Beginning of the School Year

The beginning of the school year is an important time to assess the writing skill levels of new students in our English classes.  One way to do this is to assign a diagnostic essay in order to "diagnose" each student's writing level.

Support for Struggling Writers: How Essay Interviews can HELP During Writing Workshop

Support for Struggling Writers:  How Essay Interviews can HELP During Writing Workshop

The term “struggling” writer really applies to every single human being.  We have all struggled with writing at some point and will continue to struggle moving forward.  The difference between successful writers and unsuccessful writers (“success” being defined as students who turn in completed essays that convey meaning effectively versus those who do not) lies in being able to work through frustration.  

Three High-Interest Writing Assignments to Motivate Struggling Writers

Three High-Interest Writing Assignments to Motivate Struggling Writers

Motivating struggling writers can be quite a challenge.  With struggling writers, it is important to create high-interest assignments that students will want to work on, assignments that they will want to put forth the effort on in order to succeed.  If struggling students are bored with a writing topic, they won’t be as invested in it and won’t want to put the time and effort in to make it the best it can be. 

10 Songs for the END of the School Year to Inspire Reflection

10 Songs for the END of the School Year to Inspire Reflection

I can't believe that another school year is almost over!  Are you looking for super quick and easy reflective prompts to wrap up the end of the year?  Here is a list of TEN songs along with prompts to inspire reflective writing.

A Philosophy for Assessing Writing: Aim for Improvement, not Perfection

A Philosophy for Assessing Writing:  Aim for Improvement, not Perfection

Over the past 10+ years of teaching high school, my philosophy for writing instruction has changed greatly.  It has been a decade of experimentation and adaptation; a decade dedicated to finding what works and trying out new methodologies...

20 Great Quotes to use as Mentor Sentences in Secondary ELA

20 Great Quotes to use as Mentor Sentences in Secondary ELA

One of the best ways to teach students how to integrate literary and rhetorical devices into their writing is to imitate the style of great writers. Here are 20 Great Literary Quotes to use as Mentor Sentences in Secondary ELA...

Secondary ELA Book Club: A Menu of Options

Secondary ELA Book Club:  A Menu of Options

The first rule of Book Club is:  you do not talk about Book Club.  The second rule of Book Club is:  you DO NOT talk about Book Club!  Kidding.  The only rule of Book Club is: DO IT...

The Romantics vs. the Imagists: A Comparison of Two Different Styles

The Romantics vs. the Imagists:  A Comparison of Two Different Styles

Contrasting literary movements as a pedagogical approach to teaching literature is a debatable method, but I have found that juxtaposing literary movements...

Acronyms for Literary Analysis: A Comprehensive List of Strategies

Acronyms for Literary Analysis: A Comprehensive List of Strategies

When I set out to write the blog article for this week, I didn’t intend on writing about the various acronyms for literary analysis.  In fact, I didn’t realize there were quite so many acronyms out there...

Releasing Control in Second Semester

Releasing Control in Second Semester

The holiday break is OVER, and it’s time to face the reality that we have 5-6 more months left of school.  So the question is:  How do we get through the next 5 months without getting burnt out? 

The Complex Themes of Winter Poetry: Creating a Winter Poetry Unit for Secondary ELA

The Complex Themes of Winter Poetry:  Creating a Winter Poetry Unit for Secondary ELA

This winter season, I found myself missing the snow for the first time in my life because we made a big move from a cold climate where we have lived for the past six years to a warm climate where there is no snow.  I never fully realized... 

Teachers: Five Ways to Work in Exercise at School to Stay in Shape

Teachers:  Five Ways to Work in Exercise at School to Stay in Shape

Do you struggle with getting in at least three quality workouts during the week?  Are you like me and bring your gym bag to school everyday...