What is the definition of a hero?
This is the quintessential question that arises when teaching any unit that involves heroism— whether it’s a unit on epic heroes or a unit on everyday heroes.
The Power of Teaching Star-Crossed Love Stories
Close Reading Strategies for Success
5 Must-Read Gothic Short Stories for High School Students
As students read each Gothic text, they can begin to build a list of identifying traits and then create their own definitions of the Gothic genre. I like to have students create a definition essay as a culminating assignment for the unit; alternatively, students can construct a presentation and/or write their own original short stories using the traits they’ve observed from texts in the unit.
Here are five must-read Gothic short stories for high school students.
Zombie-Inspired Assignments for Secondary ELA... Because Zombies are COOL
Three Necessary Lessons for the Beginning of the Year in ELA
The beginning of the school year is a time to reintroduce students to routine, classroom procedures, and the habits of homework and studying…. but I don’t need to tell you that! For us as English teachers, the beginning of the school year means reviewing and reteaching skills that our students will SWEAR they were NOT taught “last year.” We know the joke; we know that isn’t true!
5 Ways to Use Jamboard in Secondary ELA
Jamboard through Google has become a cornerstone tool in my virtual ELA classes because one of my go-to strategies when we had students in class was to use sticky notes on the board. You can read more about the Board but NOT BORING: My Go-to Collaborative Activity for Secondary ELA strategy here.
3 Thanksgiving Activities to Recognize Native Americans
Thanksgiving season provides ELA teachers with the perfect opportunity to engage students in meaningful reading, writing, and speaking activities that can target creative writing, analysis, as well as multiculturalism. It’s an important time of the year not only to give thanks but also to acknowledge both voices in the foundation of the United States: the colonists and the Native Americans.
Ideas for Pairing Classic Lit with Modern Lit
Connecting classic pieces of literature with high-interest modern texts is a great strategy to engage students in the classics while maintaining their interest. Not only that, but intertextuality (making connections between texts) allows students to extend their analysis into a compare/ contrast format that enables them to analyze literary elements and techniques on a deeper level.
Board but NOT BORING: My Go-to Collaborative Activity for Secondary ELA
Because this collaborative activity is so simple, it has become my go-to strategy throughout the school year to reinforce various skills and units. It’s an excellent tool to use for test-prep (see this post) and to scaffold reading, writing, and speaking skills.
The Pick Two Assessment: A Quick Strategy for Comprehension & Analysis
If you’re like me, reading checks and quizzes seem to sneak up every week, and I find that I am not always prepared with an assessment. Coming up with multiple-choice questions or quiz questions takes time, and sometimes, I just need something quick and easy to create. So, I created the “Pick Two Assessment Strategy” in order to cut down on prep time in creating reading checks and reading quizzes.
Teaching Shakespearean Sonnets in Secondary ELA
TEN Children's Books for Secondary ELA
5 Innovative Activities & Projects for Any Novel Unit
Five ESSENTIAL Questions to Guide Textual Analysis
How to get Started with Mentor Sentences
Mentor sentences are an excellent tool to use in the secondary ELA classroom to model essential skills from grammar to literary devices. They reinforce quality writing skills from published in authors in a positive way rather than the traditional sentence correction method that modeled negative traits.
The Art of the One-Pager
Satire Through Subtlety-- Using the Comics of Savage Chickens to Teach Satire in High School English
Jack the Ripper + "Mack the Knife": A Nonfiction Lesson on Deciphering Tone and Bias Through Diction
Murder stories are highly engaging topics for secondary students… and for all students alike. But bringing the crime story of Jack the Ripper into secondary ELA is a sure-fire way to keep students engaged and motivated. Crime stories even motivate at-risk students through engaging content. Jack the Ripper is one of those iconic mystery stories that captures the imagination. Crime stories provide an excellent means to engage the writing process.
