How to Create Engaging ELA Review Games That Spark Classroom Excitement
ELA review games: my secret weapon for the post break blues. I know the struggle—coming back from a break, students feeling the lingering holiday joy, and the challenge of reigniting their focus. That were ELA review games save teh day. These aren’t your ordinary games; they’re my answer to turning the struggle of refocusing into […]
How to Teach Literary Elements in a Story in an Engaging Way
Literary elements in a story are some of the major standards covered in an curriculum especially in high school but sometimes those lessons can become dry. By the time our students reach us in high school, we expect them to know about point of view or conflict or characterization. BUT and that’s a big BUT, […]
How to Build Better Discussion with Socratic Seminars
My favorite days of teaching are when I don’t have to do any of the work, and I can sit at my desk and just observe my students doing the hard work like with socratic seminars. One of the best ways to have an “easy” day in the classroom is to hold a Socratic Seminar. […]
Teaching Theme with “The Sneetches”
The Importance of Theme and Literary Analysis Teaching theme is one of the most important concepts I teach in my class. Themes are something that students have learned before but this unit is the first time that they will have to apply literary analysis to theme in a formal essay. I find that students grapple […]
Making Inferences: The First Step in Literary Analysis
If you need a good place to start with analysis then making inferences is the perfect solution for you. As we embark on our first unit of study and tackle writing our first literary analysis essay, my students always struggle with how to elevate their writing from summary to analysis. In order to help them […]
How to Make Independent Reading Engaging
The debate over independent reading is trending right now. There are so many teachers out there who think that independent reading is a bonus not a necessity. Unpopular opinion coming your way. YOU HAVE TO include independent reading in your daily routine. There are so many benefits to giving your students time to read. But […]